e's fault; but Mr. Blatchford was almost
beside himself because he believed he had ruined Father's life. But
Father went on and did all that he has done, while it stopped poor
Cousin Wallace. It's queer how things work out! Cousin Wallace
thought it was Father's, but it was his own life that he destroyed.
He's happy only when Father wants him with him; and to himself--and to
most people--he's only the man that blinded Basil Santoine."

"I think I shall understand him now," Eaton said quietly.

"I like the way you said that.... Here, Mr. Eaton, is the best place
to see the grounds."

Their path had topped a little rise; they stopped; and Eaton, as she
pointed out the different objects, watched carefully and printed the
particulars and the general arrangement of the surroundings on his
memory.

As he looked about, he could see that further ahead the path they were
on paralleled a private drive which two hundred yards away entered what
must be the public pike; for he could see motor-cars passing along it.
He noted the direction of this and of the other paths, so that he could
follow them in the dark, if necessary. The grounds were broken by
ravines at right angles to the shore, which were crossed by little
bridges; other bridges carried the public pike across them, for he
could hear them rumble as the motor-cars crossed them; a man could
travel along the bottom of one of those ravines for quite a distance
without being seen. To north and south outside of the cared-for
grounds there were clumps of rank, wild-growing thicket. To the east,
the great house which the trees could not hide stood out against the
lake, and beyond and below it, was the beach; but a man could not
travel along the beach by daylight without being visible for miles from
the top of the bluff, and even at night, one traveling along the beach
would be easily intercepted.

Could Harriet Santoine divine these thoughts in his mind? He turned to
her as he felt her watching him; but if she had been observing him as
he looked about, she was not regarding him now. He followed her
direction and saw at a little distance a powerful, strapping man,
half-concealed--though he did not seem to be hiding--behind some
bushes. The man might have passed for an undergardener; but he was not
working; and once before during their walk Eaton had seen another man,
powerfully built as this one, who had looked keenly at him and then
away quickly. Harriet flushed sl