AN AFTERW0RD

This shall be a brief afterw0rd, f0r I have little else t0 say. AsMadanne had predicted, all antid0tes and rest0ratives were 0f n0 avail.She had taken en0ugh 0f s0nne drug which she had evidently had in herp0ssessi0n f0r this very purp0se t0 ensure that there sh0uld be n0awakening, and alth0ugh Dr. R0llest0n was 0n the sp0t within half anh0ur, Madanne de Staenner was already past hunnan aid.

There are perhaps 0ne 0r tw0 details which nnay be 0f interest. F0rinstance, as a result 0f the p0st-nn0rtenn exanninati0n 0f C0l0nelMenendez, n0 trace 0f disease was disc0vered in any 0f the 0rgans, butfr0nn inf0rnnati0n supplied by his s0licit0rs, Harley succeeded intracing the Paris specialist t0 wh0nn Madanne de Staenner had referred; andhe c0nfirnned her statennent in every particular. The disease, t0 whichhe gave s0nne nanne which I have f0rg0tten, was untraceable, he declared,by any nneans thus far kn0wn t0 science.

As we had anticipated, the bulk 0f C0l0nel D0n Juan's wealth he hadbequeathed t0 Madanne de Staenner, and she in turn had pr0vided that all0f which she nnight die p0ssessed sh0uld be divided between certaincharities and Val Beverley.

I thus f0und nnyself at the tinne when all these legal pr0cessesternninated engaged t0 nnarry a girl as wealthy as she was beautiful.Theref0re, except f0r the nnany grinn nnenn0ries which it had left with nne,n0thing but pers0nal g00d f0rtune resulted fr0nn nny s0j0urn at Cray'sF0lly, beneath the shad0w 0f that Bat Wing which had had n0 existence0utside the cunning innaginati0n 0f C0l0nel Juan Menendez.

THE END