had brought the girl to lunch
at Djenan el Djouad.

Only in the affair of Cassim ben Halim did Stephen and Nevill decide to
act openly, Nevill using such influence as he had at the Governor's
palace. They both hoped to learn something which in compassion or
prudence had been kept from the girl; but they failed, as Victoria had
failed. If a scandal had driven the Arab captain of Spahis from the
army and from Algiers, the authorities were not ready to unearth it now
in order to satisfy the curiosity, legitimate or illegitimate, of two
Englishmen.

Captain Cassim ben Halim el Cheik el Arab, had resigned from the army on
account of ill-health, rather more than nine years ago, and having sold
his house in Algiers had soon after left Algeria to travel abroad. He
had never returned, and there was evidence that he had been burned to
death in a great fire at Constantinople a year or two later. The few
living relatives he had in Algeria believed him to be dead; and a house
which Ben Halim had owned not far from Bou Saada, had passed into the
hands of his uncle, Caid of a desert-village in the district. As to Ben
Halim's marriage with an American girl, nobody knew anything. The
present Governor and his staff had come to Algiers after his supposed
death; and if Nevill suspected a deliberate reticence behind certain
answers to his questions, perhaps he was mistaken. Cassim ben Halim and
his affairs could now be of little importance to French officials.

It did not take Roslin an hour to produce the squinting cabman; but the
old Arab was able to prove that he had been otherwise engaged than in
driving Miss Ray on the evening when she left the Hotel de la Kasbah.
His son had been ill, and the father had given up work in order to play
nurse. A doctor corroborated this story, and nothing was to be gained in
that direction.

Then it was that Nevill almost timidly renewed his suggestion of a visit
to Tlemcen. They could find out by telegraphing Josette, he admitted,
whether or no Victoria Ray had arrived, but if she were not already in
Tlemcen, she might come later, to see Mouni. And even if not, they might
find out how to reach Saidee, by catechizing the Kabyle girl. Once they
knew the way to Victoria's sister, it was next best to knowing the way
to find Victoria herself. This last argument was not to be despised. It
impressed Stephen, and he consented at once to "try their luck" at
Tlemcen.

Early in the morning of the second day