at Barton-on-the-Sound
was absurd.

"But there can be no trouble; everything is peaceful, of course, save
for a little foolish talk----"

The Gaul asserted itself in a shrug, a form of expression rare in him. I
was pondering the recrudescence of race hatreds due to the upheaval in
Europe when he startled me by a statement uttered close to my ear:

"There have been inquiries for the widow; these have caused me much
anxiety."

"Widow! Whose widow?"

"Madame, the widow of the dear master. It seems that there are persons
anxious to see her. There have been inquiries, one--two--three times."

"Probably some of her American friends anxious to pay their respects,
or some of the neighbors making calls of courtesy," I suggested.

"A foreign gentleman who acts very queerly," Antoine persisted.

My uncle's widow was a vague, unknown being whom I had never expected to
cross my horizons. If she meditated a descent upon Barton-on-the-Sound,
the trust company would certainly have had some hint of her approach,
but Torrence clearly had had no tidings of her beyond her last
communication from Bangkok. Still, it was wholly possible that a
globe-trotting widow would have friends in many parts of the world, and
I could see nothing disturbing in the fact that inquiries had been made
for her. I said as much. Antoine's answer was another shrug and a jerk
of his head toward Flynn, as though even the employment of an alien
tongue might not conceal our conversation from the big Irishman. Antoine
was manifestly impatient at my refusal to be aroused by his hints of
discord among his associates and my lack of interest in the inquiries
for Mrs. Bashford. When we had reached the farm and were running
through the grounds Antoine spoke again:

"We thought we would put you up at the house, Mr. Singleton, and not in
the garage," he said inquiringly.

"Not at all, Antoine," I answered quickly. "We must stick close to the
law in such matters."

"Very good, sir. Stop at the garage, Flynn."

To the casual observer the garage was a charming two-story house
following the general lines of the plaster and timber residence, from
which it was separated by a strip of woodland and a formal garden. The
garage and quarters for the chauffeur were at one end and at the other
were a down-stairs living-room, with a broad fireplace, and three
chambers above so planned as to afford a charming view of the Sound,
whose shore curved in deeply at this point. On t