od
sense. But this I beg of you to believe--that if you decide to consent
to his request, my willing services are at your disposal. He wants to
bid you farewell, and he has commissioned me to arrange a meeting for
to-night, before he sails."

In an ecstasy of eagerness Violet dropped some of her stately dignity
and clasped her hands. "Meet him?" she cried. "Of course I will, but it
will not be to say good-bye. If I have any influence over him, and I
know that I have, it will be used to induce him to abandon this
disgraceful flight and to face the accusation out. You have, indeed,
been a good friend, Mr. Nugent, in coming to me. When and where can I
see Mr. Chermside?"

"Not till quite late to-night," was the reply. "It will not be safe for
the steamer to approach the coast and send a boat ashore till it is
thoroughly dark. Should you have any difficulty in leaving the house
here, say, at eleven o'clock?"

"Not in the least; I am my own mistress. I often go for a stroll in the
park before going to bed when it is fine."

"Then if you will prolong your stroll to-night as far as the Ottermouth
road, I will be waiting with my car about a hundred yards from the
lodge," came Nugent's glib instructions. "I can easily run you to the
place where the ship's boat is to come to pick up Chermside inside ten
minutes. You may rely on me absolutely. I shall not fail you at the hour
mentioned. And now, as there is much to arrange, I will leave you."

"I shall not keep you waiting," said Violet, shaking his extended hand
warmly. "Punctually at eleven on the Ottermouth road."

But if she could have seen her kind helper's face as he turned his back
on her to quit the rose-garden, she would have felt misgivings as to the
honesty of his aid. Every line of it betokened an end gained by
questionable means.

"Directly we're outside the lodge gates, drive to The Hut at top speed,"
he bade the chauffeur as soon as he reached the motor car. Glancing at
his watch, he saw that it was nearly seven o'clock.

"In a little over four hours I shall have earned Bhagwan Singh's
reward," he murmured to himself, as they slid down the avenue.

CHAPTER XIX

THE SLEEPING SNAKE

Captain Brant, of the turbine steam yacht _Cobra_, walked the spotless
deck of his vessel; and he walked slowly, for he was reading a letter
which the postman had just brought on board. While he read his hideous
features were twisted into the ape-like contortion that