"Hullo, what's this?" said I, searching for my eyeglass, which was, as usual, somewhere in the small of my back. Denny gave me the glass, and I read what was written on the back. It was written in Greek, and it ran thus: "By way of Rhodes--small yacht there--arrive seventh." I turned the piece of paper over in my hand. I drew a conclusion or two. One was that my tall neighbor was named Stefanopoulos; another, that he had made good use of his ears--better than I had made of mine; for a third, I guessed that he would go to Neopalia; for a fourth, I fancied that Neopalia was the place to which the lady had declared she would accompany him. Then I fell to wondering why all these things should be so--why he wished to remember the route of my journey, the date of my arrival, and the fact that I meant to hire a yacht. Finally, those two chance encounters, taken with the rest, assumed a more interesting complexion. "When you've done with that bit of paper," observed Denny, in a tone expressive of exaggerated patience, "we might as well go on, old fellow." "All right. I've done with it--for the present," said I. And I took the liberty of slipping Mr. Constantine Stefanopoulos's memorandum into my pocket. The general result of the evening was to increase most distinctly my interest in Neopalia. I went to bed, still thinking of my purchase, and I recollect that the last thing which came into my head before I went to sleep was, "What did she mean by pointing to the ring?" Well, I found an answer to that later on. CHAPTER II. A CONSERVATIVE COUNTRY.