cannot be sure;
but one thing is absolutely certain--he won't trust you, and you'll
find that, in some way or other, he'll have his knife into Douglas
Shafto."

"Same as the late Richard Roscoe?"

"Let us hope he won't feel obliged to take such strong measures; but I
wouldn't put it past him to do you a devilish nasty turn."

"This is pleasant but indefinite."

"Well, let me advise you to take cover; do not go about alone after
dark, or on foot."

"I never do, except over to the Salters."

"Don't stir, even over to the Salters, or when you do go, take Roscoe;
he and Salter are birds of a feather--a couple of philosophers, clever,
deeply-read cranks. I shall notify to my men to keep a sharp eye on
you."

"So then I'm to be under police protection, am I?"

"I am afraid it will be a distressing necessity; but the fact will
naturally be known only to you and me."

"So you honestly believe that Krauss is not on the square?"

FitzGerald nodded and then replied:

"He does not associate with the best German people here--I think they
smell a rat; and the English give him a fairly wide berth. His manners
are impossible; even in Rangoon money is not everything, and his record
is peculiar. He came away from China stony-broke, picked up a few
thousands in Singapore and then settled in Rangoon about twelve years
ago--and Rangoon has suited him down to the ground. When they first
arrived Mrs. Krauss was an extraordinarily handsome woman, popular and
lively; could keep a whole dinner-table going and was always splendidly
dressed. On the whole, a valuable, but unconscious tool! Latterly her
health has failed and she has subsided. Besides his German hangers on,
the oddest sort of guests collect at 'Heidelberg,' though you and I may
not meet them--men from Calcutta, the Straits and even China. Not long
ago I came across Krauss's brown motor in a block in Phayre Street. I
happened to glance inside; there was Krauss himself and two fat
natives, one a notorious _budmash_, and I noticed that, after I had
passed, a hand _pulled down the blind_. Why? In a place like this,
and indeed everywhere, a man is judged by his friends. Krauss tries to
keep in with Rangoon society and poses as a brusque, eccentric sort of
a fellow, with a rude manner and a good heart. The days of his grand
dinner-parties came to an end some time ago. Now the fat grey spider
at 'Heidelberg' has to rely more or less on his wife's pretty niece;
s