arged with
revealing the truth," was the man's diplomatic reply. "But I fear that
they are far too wary."

"Armida has lost her life. Surely that is sufficient incentive for you
to bring them all to justice?"

"Of course. But if the law falls upon them, it will also fall upon me."

I explained the terrible affliction to which my love had been subjected
by those heartless brutes, whereupon he cried enthusiastically:

"Then she is not dead! She can tell us everything!"

"But cannot you tell us?"

"No; not all. The secret she knows has never been revealed. They feared
she might be incautious, and for that reason Oberg made the villainous
suggestion of the yachting trip. She was to be drowned--accidentally, of
course."

"She is in St. Petersburg now. I left her a week ago."

"In Russia! Ah, signore, for her sake, don't allow the young lady to
remain there. The Baron is all-powerful. He does what he wishes in
Russia, and the more merciless he is to the people he governs, the
greater rewards he receives from the Czar. I have never been in Russia,
but surely it must be a strange country, signore!"

"Well," I said, sitting upon the edge of the bed and looking at him.
"Are you prepared to denounce them if I bring the Signorina Heath here,
to England?"

"But what is the use, if we have no clear proof?" was his evasive reply.
I could see plainly that he feared being himself implicated in some
extraordinary plot, the exact nature of which he so steadfastly refused
to reveal to me.

We talked on for fully half an hour, and from his conversation I
gathered that he was well acquainted with Elma.

"Ah, signore, she was such a pleasant and kind-hearted young lady. I
always felt very sorry for her. She was in deadly fear of them."

"Because they were thieves?" I hazarded.

"Ah, worse!"

"But why did they induce you to entice me to that house in Lambeth? Why
did they so evidently desire that I should be killed?"

"By accident," he interrupted, correcting me. "Always by accident," and
he smiled grimly.

"Surely you know their secret motive?" I remarked.

"At the time I did not," he declared. "I acted on their instructions,
being compelled to, for they hold my future in their hands. Therefore I
could not disobey. You knew too much, therefore you were marked down for
death--just as you are now."

"And who is it who is now seeking my life?" I inquired gravely. "I only
returned from Russia yesterday."

"Your movement