"Bring a light, Coates!" I cried. "The lamp has gone out."
"Matches on the table, sir," said Coates.
Instantly I remembered that this was the case, that they lay in fact near to my hand. I struck one, and in its flickering light looked about the room. My visitor had gone—palpably through the window, for certainly the front door had not been opened.
"She has gone, Coates!" I exclaimed.
And on this occasion it was Coates who repeated in an amazed voice:
"She?"
But even as he spoke, my attention had become diverted.
I was staring at that portion of the table upon which Maspero's book lay. Beside it had stood the little Bubastis statuette ... but the statuette was there no longer!