-the largest of the fountains. His wife and Lady Deppingham were sitting in the

et. "He's been on the island three days, and we haven

rose reluctantly,

th a slight acceleration of speech, "anything in the shap

ers, said that the new solicitor had taken temporary quarters above the bank and was in hourly consultation with Von Blitz, Rasula and others. Much of his time was spent at

essed in the privacy of their chambers that there was scant diplomacy in their "carryi

s of Irish extraction and the other a rosy Swede may have had something to do with their admission into the exclusive set below stairs, but that is outside the question. If the Suffolk maids felt any hesitancy about accepting the hybrid combination as their

her, she concluded to wave the olive branch in the face of social ostracism, assuming a genial attitude of condescension, which was graciously overlooked by the others. As she afterward said, there is no telling how low she might have sunk, had it not entered her head one day to set her cap for the unsuspecting Mr. Saunders. She had learned, in the wisdom of her sex, that h

uickly protested Saunde

Britt, apparently much

this mo

drawbridge and to the sunlit edge of the terrace

ing to take for the merest glimpse of a man?" si

ht touch of irony. It was the first sign of th

the solitary, motionless figure at the foot of the aven

dge by the absence of hat and the fact that his soft shirt was open at the throat. He was not more than two hundred yards away from the clump of trees which screened his watchers from view. If he caught an occasional glimpse of dainty blue and white fabrics, he made no demonstration of interest or acknowledgment. It was qui

h was enough to show that she excused the in

evantly. She was peering at the stranger thro

ed Lady Deppingham. Mrs. Browne f

ing here in the grou

glancing brightly at her co-legatee. The latter's wife, in a sudden huff, deli

mightily relieved, however, when the others tranquilly followed her across

d not change his position of indolence, nor did he puff any more fretfully at his cigarette. Instead, his eyes were bent lazily upon the white avenue, his th

proaching by the path which led down from the far-away stables. Browne recognised the dark-s

hem down to pitch him over the wa

for sapphires in the ravine back of

conference, whatever its portent, had the merit of being quite above-board. In the end, the tall solicitor, lifting his helmet with a gesture so significant that it left no room f

ed Browne. "That graceful a

hen says thank you for the purse," said Lady Deppingham. "What a

confab under our very noses. I'll have Britt interview those fellows at o

and regaled the resourceful Br

girl, she's never around when I want her these days. Hay, you!" to a servant. "Send Miss Pelham to me. The one in

he light of Mr. Britt's reflections. If her pert nose was capable of elevating itself in silent disdain, Mr. Saunders was not able to emulate it

y head-servants. All they would say was that the strange sahib had intercepted th

't it?" demanded Britt angrily. "Con

the game of bridge which was going on. If Deppingham had any intention to resent the intrusion of the solicitors,

tt, calmly dropping into a chair nea

in unison. Mr. Saunders n

ht. Ain't I, Mr. Saunders? Of course, I am. He came here to tell 'em what to do and how to report our affairs to him. See? Well,

ed by a band of sneaks-" be

yourself," int

every demmed one

r the executors, haven't put up any job to mulct the natives out of their share of the profits. He has organised the whole population into a sort of constabulary to protect itself against any shrewd move we may contemplate. Moreover, he's getting the evidence of everybody to prove that Skaggs and Wyckholme were men of sound mind up to the hour of their death. He has the depositions of agents and dealers in Bombay, Aden, Suez and three or four European cities, all along that line. He goes over the day's business at the bank as often as we do as agents for the e

gasped Brow

show that you and Mrs.-er-Lady Depping

ells to speak of, I won't have them treated publicly. If Lord Deppingham can afford to overlook them, I daresay I can, also, even t

our inheritance-" began Britt insistently

I'll not be a party to it. It's ut

serted Mr. Sa

and immediately began to readjust his necktie. "What's that? Look here; it's our only h

an't have any one saying that I'm subject to fits or spells or whatever you choose to call 'em.

lish the fact that his grandfather was not of sound mind?" q

ticks at anything which may help us to break that will, h

I'll pose as an insan

insane, have you, Mr. Saunders?" ask

end-" began Sau

'll have to begin hunting for insanity in your family. We haven'

am stiffly. Britt looked at him for a moment, puzzled and uncertai

y sm

nal declaration that spies abounded in the chateau. When he finally called the c

all this down

Mr.

uartette unconsciously depressed by the

arden at the chateau. It was necessary, however, to employ the binoculars in the rather close watch that was kept by the interested aristocrats below. From time t

ow under the very