To do this I scraped off the "skin" of the air-darkened wood. This
layer was .02 of an inch thick. And--that was the total amount of
the active material!
I put these scrapings through a long list of experiments. They
told me nothing valuable. I learned only one detail worth
mentioning; if a fragment of the scrapings be brought near to the
Holcomb gem--say, to within two inches--the scrapings will burst
into flame. It is merely a bright, pinkish flare, like that made
by smokeless rifle-powder. No ashes remain. After that we took
care not to bring the ring near the remaining material on the
board.
All this occurred on the first day after Ariadne was stricken.
Jerome phoned to say that he had engaged the services of a dozen
private detectives, and expected to get wind of the Rhamda any
hour. Both Dr. Hansen and Dr. Higgins called twice, without being
able to detect any change for the better or otherwise in their
patient.
That evening Charlotte and I concluded that we could not hold out
any longer. We must give in to the Rhamda. I phoned for a
messenger, and sent an advertisement to the newspaper which Avec
had indicated.
The thing was done. We had capitulated.
The next development would be another and triumphant call from the
Rhamda, and this time we would have to give up the gem to him if
we were to save Ariadne.
The game was up.
But instead of taking the matter philosophically, I worried about
it all night.
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