"Some spy must have found me out. I had a letter from this Loudon bidding me come to Auchenlochan. There I found no steward to receive me, but another letter saying that that night a carriage would be in waiting to bring me here. It was midnight when we arrived, and we were brought in by strange ways to this house, with no light but a single candle. Here we were welcomed indeed, but by an enemy." "Which?" asked Heritage. "Dobson or Lean or Spittal?" "Dobson I do not know. Leon was there. He is no Russian, but a Belgian who was a valet in my father's service till he joined the Bolsheviki. Next day the Lett Spidel came, and I knew that I was in very truth entrapped. For of all our enemies he is, save one, the most subtle and unwearied." Her voice had trailed off into flat weariness. Again Dickson was reminded of a child, for her arms hung limp by her side; and her slim figure in its odd clothes was curiously like that of a boy in a school blazer. Another resemblance perplexed him. She had a hint of Janet--about the mouth--Janet, that solemn little girl those twenty years in her grave. Heritage was wrinkling his brows. "I don't think I quite understand. The jewels? You have them with you?" She nodded. "These men wanted to rob you. Why didn't they do it between here and Auchenlochan? You had no chance to hide them on the journey. Why did they let you come here where you were in a better position to baffle them?" She shook her head. "I cannot explain--except perhaps, that Spidel had not arrived that night, and Leon may have been waiting instructions." The other still looked dissatisfied. "They are either clumsier villains than I take them to be, or there is something deeper in the business than we understand. These jewels--are they here?" His tone was so sharp that she looked startled--almost suspicious. Then she saw that in his face which reassured her. "I have them hidden here. I have grown very skilful in hiding things." "Have they searched for them?" "The first day they demanded them of me. I denied all knowledge. Then they ransacked this house--I think they ransack it daily, but I am too clever for them. I am not allowed to go beyond the verandah, and when at first I disobeyed there was always one of them in wait to force me back with a pistol behind my head. Every morning Leon brings us food for the day--good food, but not enough, so that Cousin Eugenie is always hungry, and each day he and Spidel question and threaten me. This afternoon Spidel has told me that their patience is at an end. He has given me till to-morrow at noon to produce the jewels. If not, he says I will die." "Mercy on us!" Dickson exclaimed. "There will be no mercy for us," she said solemnly. "He and his kind think as little of shedding blood as of spilling water. But I do not think he will kill me. I think I will kill him first, but after that I shall surely die. As for Cousin Eugenie, I do not know."