ly decorating the
floor, but nothing else.

"Only on the assumption that Pendean had found you out can I explain
why this didn't start under your nose. I imagine that if he had
believed his master alone at one o'clock that night, he would have
knocked him on the head and proceeded as I suggest. But he does no
such thing. He arrives in great excitement to describe another
meeting with Robert and to report that the wanderer has changed his
mind and will only see his brother in his own secret hiding-place
after dark.

"On hearing this, Bendigo bids you come out of your cupboard, and
Doria, so to call him, pretends great indignation and surprise.

"Now we get another lifelike report of runaway Robert; and finally
Bendigo consents to visit him in his hiding-place. The lamp is going
to burn and show the particular cave on that honeycombed coast where
Bendigo's brother is supposed to be concealed. Another night comes
and Ben goes to his death. Probably he was murdered instantly on
landing and disposed of at sea. Again there is going to be no dead
man. Pendean returns to you and his wife at 'Crow's Nest.' He
reports that the brothers are conferring and reveals the situation
of the hiding-place. He is soon off again and, on his second visit,
plays his tiger tricks, runs a bloody trail up the tunnel to the
plateau, and sets his trap for the police next morning.

"One needn't go over the futile hunt that followed. Everything
worked exactly as Pendean had planned, and you can very easily
picture the entertainment furnished for that vampire pair by the
course of the subsequent man hunt.

"Two Redmaynes have gone to their account and there remains but one.
Meantime the course of true love runs smoothly and Doria marries his
wife again. So, at least, they are pleased to declare, for the
satisfaction of Albert Redmayne and yourself. Needless to say they
went south together as man and wife, reported a ceremony that did
not take place, and after a reasonable delay turned their attention
to my hapless friend.

"Would you not have thought some ray of human truth might have
touched their hearts in the company of that childlike and kindly
spirit? Would you not have judged that close acquaintance with one
so amiable and large-hearted must have wakened a spark of compassion
in their souls? No; they came to kill him and the unsuspecting
victim welcomes his murderers with friendship. It is interesting to
observe that he prefers Giuseppe