MR. HEREFORD ENTERTAINS
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disregarded his action and only repeated her question.
"You have seen Baraka?"
"I see no harm in telling you," he said after an instant's consideration, "that Baraka and myself appear to be upon the closest terms of social intercourse. I called upon him twice yesterday; he called upon me twice this morning. I returned his calls about noon and he paid me another visit at three o'clock this afternoon at my office."
"And the object of this last visit?"
"Some remarks of a friend of mine—a naturalist—Max Schimmel, whose name fails to conceal his nationality, appear to have removed Baraka's last doubts, if he had any, as to what has become of the emerald."
"Then he came to request you to return it?"
