Yet St. George was certain that he could
not have been mistaken, and he listened breathlessly for what the
king would say.
King Otho, with a smile, nodded in perfect imperturbability.
"That is true," he said, "I had forgotten all about it."
They waited for him to speak, the people in amazed silence, Mrs.
Medora Hastings saying unintelligible things in whispers, for which
she had a genius.
"It is true," said King Otho, "that I am responsible for the
disappearance of the Hereditary Treasure. You will find it at this
moment in a basement dungeon of the palace on Mount Khalak. On the
very day, three months ago, that I dined with your prince I had made
a discovery of considerable importance to me, namely, that the
little island of Yaque is richer in most of the radio-active
substances than all the rest of the world. The discovery gave me
keener pleasure than I had known in years--I had suspected it for
some time after I found the noctilucous stars on the ceiling of my
sitting-room at the palace.
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