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"In some ways it would," replied Thorndyke, "but the variety of es I hope your father is not ill, Miss Bellinghareed that it was better for en quite well He stayed with us for a tiland"

"I trust," said Dr Norbury, "that I have not troubled you for nothing Herr Lederbogen speaks of 'our erratic English friend with the long naht be referring to your uncle"

"I should hardly have called my uncle erratic," said Ruth

"No, no Certainly not," Dr Norbury agreed hastily "However, you shall see the letter presently and judge for yourself We mustn't introduce irrelevant topics while the experiress, must we, Doctor?"

"You had better wait until we have finished," said Thorndyke, "because I aht Switch off the current, Polton"

The green light vanished from the bulb, the hum of the interrupter swept down an octave or two and died away Then Thorndyke and Dr Norbury rose from their chairs and went towards the mummy, which they lifted tenderly while Polton drew froe black-paper envelope The single glow-la the rooht orange-red light iathered round to watch, as Polton--the high-priest of these mysteries--drew from the black envelope a colossal sheet of bromide paper, laid it carefully in the tray and proceeded to wet it with a large brush which he had dipped in a pail of water

"I thought you always used plates for this kind of work," said Dr Norbury

"We do, by preference; but a six-foot plate would be impossible, so I had a special paperin the appearance of a developing photograph; in the gradual, ence of the picture froraph, or X-ray photograph, has a fascination all its own Unlike an ordinary photograph, which yields a picture of things already seen, it gives a presentment of objects hitherto invisible; and hence, when Polton poured the developer on the already wet paper, we all craned over the tray with the keenest curiosity

The developer was evidently a very slow one For fully half a radually, al the outline of the e, once started, proceeded apace Darker and darker grew the rey it had turned to black; and still the shape of the ated patch of bald white But not for long Presently the white shape began to be tinged with grey, and, as the colour deepened, there grew out of it a paler forrey like an apparition, spectral, aweso into view