Evening star., 1925-10-04

corner of it," was their ciccrones grim
comment. Come up to my sitting
room"
They followed him upstairs and out
on to quaint stone balcony looking
westward
The three stood side by side in the
FAR corner of the balcony, and Sir
Francis pointed to small white villa.
standing out on spit of land about
a mile away toward Tariffa.
There they are, both of them" he
declared, with a glitter in his eyes
which few things in life had brought
there. I'VE have them trapped. Why
they came here heaven only knows,
but l have seen them with my own
eyes. Trapped, Londe is
there, like a rat in his hole. An ex-
tradition warrant is on its way out
now and may arrive at any moment
| If he crosses TO Glib he will be ar
rested on the quay. My cousin has
loaned me a dozen marines-fine fej-
lows-and two of them are always
within so yards of his door. There
isn't a car in the shed, and both
garages have been warned not to let
one out on any conditions. Further
| more there isn't petrol boat to be
had for love or money"
How did he get here?" Ann asked.
"He landed in Portugal" Sir Francis
explained. probably in the yacht he
had at Monte Carlo. I've collected
quite lot of information. He had
the yacht painted. altered her name,
and sold to a dealer in Lisbon at half
price, no questions to be asked
Has there been any trouble since
their arrival?" Daniel inquired.
| Sir Francis hesitated.
Not exactly trouble he replied,
| but something curious has happened.
,r-Il1 L. 80 81 l~t r&1. L.,
Well go and see about your rooms
| now. Afterward I'll take you for a
walk
THEY lunched upon a tagged ter
race leading from the dining
| room, sheltered by a grove Of palms,
heavy with the perfume of verbena
and lemon trees. Yet not one of the
| little party but was conscious of
certain sense of strain. The subject
they so carefully avoided obsessed
them. After coffee and cigarettes. Sir
Francis led them through the gardens,
along a strip of dusty road. to a bare.
rolling stretch of stony land, on which
grew little save an occasional cactus
plant and stunted patch Of scrub.
Halfway down to the sea was a
cemetery, incloSed by a white plaster
ed wall, with an occasional minaret
of blue stone. A funeral was even
then in progress and a ghOup of black
| clad peasants We're gathering around
an open grave. A little apart stood
the widow, sobbing bitterly, stout
dark woman, pallid. with a deep
growth upon her upper lip, and
fire in her eyes which even her tears
could not dim.
II brought you here because Of a
curious idea I had" Sir Francis con-
fided. Il think | told you that among
my few accomplishments is knowl-
edge of Spanish. I've been very in
terested during the last week in hear
| ing the gossip of some of these peas
anAs. They say that the devil has
been walking in the cemetery. There
| have been curious footprints and dis
| turbances around the graves. The
people here are very superstitious and
1 was really surprised to see funeral
| taking place at all"
Ann shivered a little. 1t was
Daniel who asked the question.
You think that Londe-''
! II suspect something of the sort"
Sir Francis admitted. "One can't pre-
| tend to follow the workings of such
| a brain as his, but one can easily
nlagine that his craving to use the
knife is Unsuitable. A cemetery close
at hand would always be d tempta-
| ton"
"Horrible. Ann exclaimed.
I'VE draw near to the end" Sir
Francis said Solemnly. Tomorrow /
expect the warrant"
But tomorrow brought nothing eX-
cept a storm from the sea, a gray