ed me as we swept
along the white avenue, and came in sight of the other car just drawing up
before an arcaded loggia.

XXXV

THE MOON IN THE WILDERNESS

Two ladies and their maid were getting out. An American young man was
helping them down. The grey car was not a Lecomte. The owner, his
chauffeur, and the three women were of types entirely different from those
we sought.

The discovery, coming after such exaltation of hope, was like a blow over
the heart.

"Hard luck," exclaimed Dick. "But Carmona's car must be somewhere."

"If it ever started," I said. "I begin to think now that Carmona rallied
his brigands, and sent me out to meet them, knowing I'd surely follow if I
believed he had gone that way."

"Oh come, there's hope still," Dick consoled me. And turning to the owner
of the car, he asked if he had seen another grey automobile. He had not;
and, on further questioning, he went on to tell us that he had started
from Seville meaning to stop at Cadiz and come on here to-morrow; but the
hotel had been full, so he had "rushed it" to Algeciras. These details
proved that his was the motor we had been chasing from the first; and the
excellent Spanish which the Californian spoke to the porters accounted for
one misleading bit of information.

While the party of care-free tourists went indoors, Dick and I stood in
our coats of dust to discuss the situation. We soon agreed that there was
but one thing to do. Wire Colonel O'Donnel for news of Carmona's
movements, and wait where we were for an answer.

To none save those who count every moment precious could such a delay have
been irksome. The place was a paradise, the garden a corner of Eden, and
the Reina Cristina more like the country house of some Spanish millionaire
than a hotel.

Leaving the Gloria, we went in to write a telegram; and in a court,
charming as the _patio_ of a Moorish palace, we sat to plan out a message.
The people of the hotel confirmed our fears that no answer could come from
Seville till morning; so Dick busied himself in choosing rooms, while, to
save time, I took the car by the sea road to the telegraph-office in town.

How many miles up and down those flower-bordered paths Dick and I walked
next morning waiting for news, neither could have told. Eleven o'clock had
struck when Colonel O'Donnel's answer was brought to me in the garden.

"On receipt of wire, interviewed verger," I read. "Mad