him at once,
bombastically boasting that everything would yield before him. He had
but to express his wishes, and there would be an end of the hunt. But
my lord came back in a furious rage, and, regardless of l'Echelle's--a
comparative stranger's--presence, burst forth into passionate
complaint against the Minister. He would teach Sir Arthur to show
proper respect to a peer of the realm; he would cable at once to the
Foreign Office and insist on this second-rate diplomatist's recall.
The upshot of it all was that his lordship's demand for help had been
refused pointblank, and no doubt, after what the Colonel had heard, in
rather abrupt, outspoken terms.

All this and more l'Echelle brought back to us at the Atlas Hotel. He
told us at length of the outrageous language Lord Blackadder had used,
of his horrible threats, how he would leave no stone unturned to
recover his son and heir; how he would bribe the bashaw, buy the
Moorish officials, a notoriously venal crew; how he would dog our
footsteps everywhere, set traps for us, fall upon us unawares; and in
the last extreme he would attack the hotel and forcibly carry off his
property. As the fitting end of his violent declamation, Ralph
Blackadder had left the hotel hurriedly, calling upon his creatures to
follow him, bent, as it seemed, to perpetrate some mad act.

I confess I shuddered at the thought of this reckless, unprincipled
man loose about Tangier, vowing vengeance, and resolved to go to any
lengths to secure it. My dear Basil strove hard to console me with
brave words inspired by his sturdy, self-reliant spirit.

But even he quailed at the sudden shock that fell upon us at the very
same moment. Where was Henriette?

After the first excitement, we desired to pass on the news brought by
l'Echelle to her, and renew our entreaties for extreme caution in her
comings and goings; and with much misgiving we learnt that she was not
in the hotel. She had gone out with Victorine and Ralph as usual, but
unattended by any of us. One Moor, Achmet El Mansur, was with her, we
were told, but we did not trust him entirely. It had been l'Echelle's
turn to accompany her, but he had been diverted from his duty by the
pressing necessity of following Lord Blackadder. Basil and I had
ridden out quite early on a long expedition, from which we only
returned when l'Echelle did.

We dismissed our fears, hoping they were groundless, and looking to be
quite reassured presently when she