"Lightning's going to strike," muttered McGlory; "I can see it coming."
He followed Matt to the desk. As they lined up there, the clerk fished a small box out of the office safe.
"This was left here for you last night, Matt," went on the clerk. "I was told to hand it to you this morning by the night clerk when he went off duty."
The little box was placed on the counter. Matt and McGlory stared at it.
That was not the first time they had seen that small receptacle. With the counterfeit ruby inside, it had first come into Matt's hands by express, direct from Tsan Ti; then, by a somewhat devious course of events, it had gone into the possession of Philo Grattan.
Why should Grattan have returned the box to Matt? How could he have returned it when, as Matt and McGlory believed, he was at that very moment hurrying to get out of the country and escape the law?
"Shock number one," shuddered McGlory.
"Not much of a shock about this—so far," returned Matt, picking up the box.
"Wait till you see what's inside."
"We'll open it in the dining room," and Matt turned away.