th almost
superstitious amazement. He knew that Zaidos could not by any
possibility have reached the corner without making the least sound, and
the street was absolutely silent. Zaidos, scarcely daring to breathe,
smiled in the dark.

Then, fatherless and friendless as he was, and thrust by a strange fate
of birth into a war in which he had no part, Zaidos, exhausted by his
night's experiences, dropped asleep. About him men tired by a long
night spent on pallets as hard as the stone flooring tossed and groaned
or sighed wakefully. Zaidos slept on.

He was sleeping so heavily an hour later that he did not hear two
soldiers enter with a slender young fellow in civilian dress. He never
stirred as they went from pallet to pallet, scanning the faces as they
passed. When they reached his side the young man looked down at him
with an expression which might have been taken for startled amazement
if anyone had been watching. He nodded to the officers, and spoke a
word of thanks. "This is my cousin," he said in a low voice. "With
your permission I will sit here by him until he awakes. It would be
cruel to rouse him only to tell him of his father's death."

"Yes, you may stay," said the older soldier. "There can be no
objection to that."

They turned and soon the distant door closed behind them. Then the
newcomer did a strange thing. He cast a swift glance over the sleeping
faces, to assure himself that he was not watched, and with the
light-fingered stealth of the born thief, he slipped his thin hand into
Zaidos' breast pocket. Withdrawing it, he smiled wickedly at the sight
of what he held. He rose to his feet, hastily pocketed his find, and
for a moment stood looking down at Zaidos. With a noiseless laugh he
nodded sneeringly at the sleeping boy, picked his way carefully among
the men and left the room.

When Velo Kupenol had sifted sand in the engine of the automobile, he
had made his first move in a dastardly campaign. Most of his life had
been spent surrounded by the ease and luxury of the Zaidos castle. He
had had horses and automobiles to use; he had had great stretches of
park and woodland to roam through and hunt over. And best of all, he
had had the best teachers in all Greece. But these he had neglected
and defied at every possible turn. Velo Kupenol was lazy, cowardly and
deceitful. That he was not yet a criminal was due to the watchful care
and great forgiveness of the uncle who had befrie