m fits come on you suddenly; but surely
you can tell--"

"Martin, you are an ass."

The moody face of the secretary brightened up.

"Really, sir? Well, I am quite content to be on these terms--I mean as
long as you don't get bored. It wouldn't do, sir."

For coolness, Ricardo had thrown open his shirt and rolled up his
sleeves. He moved stealthily across the room, bare-footed, towards the
candle, the shadow of his head and shoulders growing bigger behind him
on the opposite wall, to which the face of plain Mr. Jones was turned.
With a feline movement, Ricardo glanced over his shoulder at the thin
back of the spectre reposing on the bed, and then blew out the candle.

"In fact, I am rather amused, Martin," Mr. Jones said in the dark.

He heard the sound of a slapped thigh and the jubilant exclamation of
his henchman:

"Good! That's the way to talk, sir!"

PART FOUR

CHAPTER ONE

Ricardo advanced prudently by short darts from one tree-trunk to
another, more in the manner of a squirrel than a cat. The sun had
risen some time before. Already the sparkle of open sea was encroaching
rapidly on the dark, cool, early-morning blue of Diamond Bay; but the
deep dusk lingered yet under the mighty pillars of the forest, between
which the secretary dodged.

He was watching Number One's bungalow with an animal-like patience, if
with a very human complexity of purpose. This was the second morning
of such watching. The first one had not been rewarded by success. Well,
strictly speaking, there was no hurry.

The sun, swinging above the ridge all at once, inundated with light the
space of burnt grass in front of Ricardo and the face of the bungalow,
on which his eyes were fixed, leaving only the one dark spot of the
doorway. To his right, to his left, and behind him, splashes of gold
appeared in the deep shade of the forest, thinning the gloom under the
ragged roof of leaves.

This was not a very favourable circumstance for Ricardo's purpose. He
did not wish to be detected in his patient occupation. For what he was
watching for was a sight of the girl--that girl! just a glimpse across
the burnt patch to see what she was like. He had excellent eyes, and
the distance was not so great. He would be able to distinguish her face
quite easily if she only came out on the veranda; and she was bound
to do that sooner or later. He was confident that he could form some
opinion about her--which, he felt, was very necessary