laring down at the bound and manacled figure
on the floor, to the smoke-stained rafters of this peasant cottage and
the dancing shadows on the roof, to that terrible hour of waiting when
he sat bound to a post with a candle flickering and spluttering lower
and lower to the little heap of gunpowder that would start the trail
toward the clumsy infernal machine under his chair. He remembered the
day well because it was Candlemas day, and this was the anniversary. He
remembered other things more pleasant. The beat of hoofs on the rocky
roadway, the crash of the door falling in when the Turkish Gendarmes
had battered a way to his rescue. He remembered with a savage joy the
spectacle of his would-be assassins twitching and struggling on the
gallows at Pezara and--he heard the faint tinkle of the front door bell.

Had T. X. returned! He slipped from the bed and went to the door, opened
it slightly and listened. T. X. with a search warrant might be a source
of panic especially if--he shrugged his shoulders. He had satisfied T.
X. and allayed his suspicions. He would get Fisher out of the way that
night and make sure.

The voice from the hall below was loud and gruff. Who could it be! Then
he heard Fisher's foot on the stairs and the valet entered.

"Will you see Mr. Gathercole now!"

"Mr. Gathercole!"

Kara breathed a sigh of relief and his face was wreathed in smiles.

"Why, of course. Tell him to come up. Ask him if he minds seeing me in
my room."

"I told him you were in bed, sir, and he used shocking language," said
Fisher.

Kara laughed.

"Send him up," he said, and then as Fisher was going out of the room he
called him back.

"By the way, Fisher, after Mr. Gathercole has gone, you may go out for
the night. You've got somewhere to go, I suppose, and you needn't come
back until the morning."

"Yes, sir," said the servant.

Such an instruction was remarkably pleasing to him. There was much that
he had to do and that night's freedom would assist him materially.

"Perhaps" Kara hesitated, "perhaps you had better wait until eleven
o'clock. Bring me up some sandwiches and a large glass of milk. Or
better still, place them on a plate in the hall."

"Very good, sir," said the man and withdrew.

Down below, that grotesque figure with his shiny hat and his ragged
beard was walking up and down the tesselated hallway muttering to
himself and staring at the various objects in the hall with a certain
amused antagonis