king badly."

"Been working hard has he, sweating over the music?"

"Yes."

"Young 'uns must sweat if they're to get there. That's all right. Aren't
it, Alston?"

"Rather!"

"Can't you get him back?" continued Crayford.

The softness, the almost luxurious abandon of look and manner was
dropping away from him. The man who has "interests," and who seldom
forgets them for more than a very few minutes, began to reappear.

"Well, I might. But--why?"

"Don't he want to see his chum Alston?"

"Certainly; he always likes to see Mr. Lake."

"Well then?"

"The only thing is he needs complete rest."

"And so do I, but d'you think I'm going to take it? Not I! It's the
resters get left. You might telegraph that to your husband, and say it
comes straight from me."

He got up from his chair, and threw away the stump of the fourth cigar
he had enjoyed that night.

"We've no room for resters in New York City."

"I'm sure you haven't. But my husband doesn't happen to belong to New
York City."

As they were leaving Djenan-el-Maqui, after Mr. Crayford had had a long
drink, and while he was speaking to his chauffeur, who had the bonnet of
the car up, Alston Lake whispered to Charmian:

"Don't wire to old Claude. Keep it up. You are masterly, quite masterly.
Hulloa! anything wrong with the car?"

When they buzzed away Charmian stood for a moment in the drive till
silence fell. She was tired, but how happily tired!

And to think that Claude knew nothing, nothing of it all! Some day she
would have to tell him how hard she had worked for him! She opened her
lips and drew into her lungs the warm air of the night. She was not a
"rester." She would not surely "get left."

Pierre yawned rather loudly behind her.

"Oh, Pierre!" she said, turning quickly, startled. "It is terribly late.
Stay in bed to-morrow. Don't get up early. _Bonne nuit._"

"_Bonne nuit, madame._"

On the following day she received a note from Alston.

"DEAR MRS. CHARMIAN,--You are a wonder. No one on earth
could have managed him better. You might have known him from the
cradle--yours, of course, not his! I'm taking him around to-day. He
wants to go to Djenan-el-Maqui, I can see that. But I'm keeping him
off it. Lie low and mum's the word as to Claude.--Your fellow
conspirator,
"ALSTON."

It was difficult to "lie low." But she obeyed and spent the long day
alon