. If she could, they'd have her over in the
United States right now, saving the crops, with or without water. That
was chance. Hobbs told me this morning it looked like rain. By the way,
I must apologise to him. I said he was a crazy kill-joy. The thing that
puzzles me is what became of the owner of that eye. I'll stake my life
on it, I saw an eye. 'Gad, it looked right into mine. Queerest feeling
it gave me."

"Ah, that's it, my young friend. What became of the eye? Poof! And it is
gone. We searched immediately. No sign. It is most extraordinary."

"I'll admit it's rather gruesome, but--I say, do you know I've a mind to
look into that matter if you don't object, Baron. It's a game of some
sort. She's a wily old dame, but I think if we go about it right we can
catch her napping and expose the whole game. I'm going back there in a
day or two and try to get at the bottom of it. That confounded eye
worries me. She's laughing up her sleeve at us, too, you know."

"I should advise you to keep away from her, my friend. Granted she has
tricked us: why not? It is her trade. She does no harm--except that
she's most offensively impudent. And I rather imagine she'll resent your
investigation, if you attempt it. I can't say that I'd blame her." The
Baron laughed.

"Baron, it struck me a bit shivery at the time, but I want to say to you
now that the eye that I saw at the crack was not that of an idle peeper,
nor was it a mere fakir's substitute. It was as malevolent as the devil
and it glared--do you understand? Glared! It didn't _peep!_"

Truxton King, for reasons best known to himself, soon relapsed into a
thoughtful, contemplative silence. Between us, he was sorely vexed and
disappointed. When the gallant start was made from the glen of "dead
men's bones," he found that he was to be cast utterly aside, quite
completely ignored by the fair Loraine. She rode off with young Count
Vos Engo without so much as a friendly wave of the hand to him. He said
it over to himself several times: "not even a friendly wave of her
hand." It was as if she had forgotten his existence, or--merciful
Powers! What was worse--as if she took this way of showing him his
place. Of course, that being her attitude, he glumly found his
place--which turned out rather ironically to be under the eye of a
police officer--and made up his mind that he would stay there.

Vos Engo, being an officer in the Royal Guard, rode ahead by order of
Colonel Quinnox. Trux