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CONTENTS CHAPTER I--A TRAGIC INTERLUDE CHAPTER II--"MR. SHEI" CHAPTER III--HELEN EQUIVOCATES CHAPTER IV--AZURECREST CHAPTER V--PERPLEXITIES CHAPTER VI--THE PHANTOM ORCHID CHAPTER VII--MR. SHEI SHOWS HIS HAND CHAPTER VIII--THE VOICE ON THE WIRE CHAPTER IX--THE HOUSE OF LAUGHTER CHAPTER X--A SHOT CHAPTER XI--AN EAVESDROPPER CHAPTER XII--MR. SHEI STRIKES CHAPTER XIII--A MESSAGE FROM MR. SHEI CHAPTER XIV--THE ELUSIVE MR. SHEI CHAPTER XV--DR. TAGALA CHAPTER XVI--CHECKMATED CHAPTER XVII--DOCTOR TAGALA'S DISCOVERY CHAPTER XVIII--THE FIGURE ON THE STAIRS CHAPTER XIX--A FUTILE SEARCH CHAPTER XX--TRAPPED CHAPTER XXI--MR. SHEI'S STRATAGEM CHAPTER XXII--THE PHANTOM'S RUSE CHAPTER XXIII--THE END OF THE GRAY PHANTOM
Hours afterward, when the tragic spell had broken and scraps and odds of the affair began to throng the memories of those present at the opening performance of "His Soul's Master," several persons remembered that a curious hush had preceded the fateful moment.
No one could tell why, but of a sudden all sounds had ceased. Subdued whispers, the creaking of seats, and the froufrou of garments had stopped as abruptly as if a silencing signal had gone through the little auditorium. The spectators had sat motionless, momentarily holding their breath, and even the voices of the actors had faltered for an appreciable second or two. The stillness had been charged with an uneasy tension, and it seemed as though a telepathic whisper of warning had been communicated to the gathering.
Vivian Tennant, as frivolous as she was delicately molded, declared the following day that the silence during those few moments had been so intense that she was positive she had heard a pin drop from the coiffure of the woman on her left. Alex Hammond, forty and cynical, would have ascribed the spell to a touch of necromancy had he been a believer in such childish things. Mrs. Hungerford Cather, a frail little widow with a melancholy disposition, said she felt just as though she were at a séance and a ghost was expected to appear any moment. The others described their impressions with varying degrees of vividness, but all of them agreed in having felt the creeping approach of a silent and invisible horror.