h never explained anything?"

"No, I never asked him to."

"What happened then?" Hartley's voice was hardly above a whisper, and he
leaned close to Atkins to listen.

"I slept for hours, fairly hogged it until it must have been two or
three in the morning, judging by the light, and then I awoke suddenly,
the way one wakes when there is some noise that is different to usual
noises, and after a moment or two I heard the sound of voices, and I got
out of bed and went very quietly into the veranda. Heath's lamp was
burning, his room is at the far end from mine, and I stood there,
shivering like a leaf out of sheer jumps. I had a regular 'night attack'
feeling over me. I heard a chair pushed back, and I heard Heath say in a
low voice 'If you come here again, or if you dog me again, I'll hand you
over to the police,' and the man laughed. I can't describe his laugh;
it was the most damnable thing I ever listened to, and I thought of
running in, but something stopped me, God knows why. 'Take your pay,'
said Heath; I heard him say it, and then I heard the door open again,
and the same sound of feet." He shivered. "They stopped outside my room,
and I caught the outline of a head, a huge head and enormous, heavy
shoulders, and then he was gone."

"Why the devil didn't you raise the alarm?" Hartley's voice was angry.
"You've got a policeman on the road. Why didn't you shout?"

"Because I was thinking of Heath," said Atkins a little stiffly. "He is
the man we have both got to think about. Some devil of a native is
blackmailing him, and Heath is one of the best and straightest men I
know. Not one item of all this mystery goes against him in my mind, but
what I want you to do, is to have the bungalow watched."

"I shall certainly do that," said Hartley with decision. "And as for
your opinion of Heath--well, it strikes me as curious that a man of good
character should be a mark for blackmail."

"I explain facts by people, not people by facts," said Atkins hotly.
"And I have told you--"

"I think it is only fair to say that you have told me something that
lays Heath under suspicion," said Hartley, slowly. "He behaved very
oddly, lately, when I asked him a simple question, and he chose to
refuse to see me when I went to his house. All that was a small matter,
but what you tell me now is serious."

"Serious for Heath, and for that very reason I particularly want him
protected. But as for suspicion, I know the man thoroughly, and