The Spectator., 1915-05-28

deck. You say that the yacht was called the Lola-painted gray with a black funnel"
 No, dead white, with yellow fun mel"
 An! Of course" he remarked, as though to himself. "They would re- paint and alter her appearance. But the dining saloon. Was there a long carved oak buffet with a big, heavy cornice with three gilt dolphins in the center-and were there not dolphins in gilt on the backs of the chairs an armorial device?"
 Yes" l cried. You are right. 1 remember them! You've surely been on board her!"
 The captain, who gave his name to you as Macintosh, is an undersized American of a rather low-down type?"
 T took him for a Scotsman"
 Because he put on a Scotch ae- cent" he laughed. Hes a man who can speak a dozen languages brokenly, and pass for an Italian, German, Frenchman, as he wishes"
 And the-the man who gave his name as Philip Hornby?"
 Durnfords mouth closed with a snap. He drew long breath, his eyes grew fierce, and he bit his lip.
 An! I see he is not exactly your friend" l said meaningly.
 You are right Gordon-he is not my friend" was his slow, meaning re- sponse.
 "Then why not be outspoken and tell me all you know concerning him? Frank Hutcheson is anxious to clear up the mystery"
 Well, to tell you the truth, I'm mys- tified myself. I cant yet discern their motive"
 But at any rate you know the men," argued. You can at least tell us who they really are"
 He shook his head, still disinclined, for some hidden reason. to reveal the truth to me.
 You saw no woman on board?" he asked suddenly, looking straight into my eyes,
 No Hornby told me that he and Chatter were alone"
 And yet an hour after you left man and a woman came ashore and disappeared! An! If we only had description of that woman it would re- veal much to us"
 She was young and dark-haired, so the detective says. She had curious fixed look in her eyes, which attracted him, but she wore a thick motor veil, so that he could not clearly discern her features"
 And her companion?"
 "Middle-aged prematurely gray, with a small, dark mustache."
 Jack Durford sighed and stroked his chin.
 "Ah! Just as I thought" he ex- claimed, And they were actually here. in this port. week ago! What a bitter irony of fate!"
 T don't understand you" l said. You are so mysterious, and yet you will tell me nothingi"
 The police, fools that they are have allowed them to escape, and they will never be caught now. An, you don't know them as I do! They are the cleverest pair in all Europe. And they have the audacity to call their craft the Lola-the Lola, of all names! Gordon. let me be frank and open with you. my dear old fellow. l would tell you everything-everything-n l dared. But Cannot-you under stand!" And his final words seemed to choke him.
 stood before him, open-mouthed in astonishment.
 You really mean-weu. that you are in fear of them--eh?" l whis- pered.
 He nodded slowly in the affirmative, adding: ITO tell you the truth would be to bring upon myself swift, re- lentless vengeance that would over whelm and crush me. An! my dear fellow, you do not know-you cannot dream-what brought those desperate men into this port can guess-l can guess only too well-but l can only tell you that if you ever do discover the terrible truth-which l fear is un likely-you will solve one of the strangest and most remarkable mys- teries of modern times"
 What does the mystery concern?' asked in breathless eagerness.