e gone, and he felt suddenly a thrill of repugnance at the
gentle pressure of Eileen Brokaw's hand upon his arm.

VIII

Philip did not see the hundred staring eyes that followed in wonderment
the tall, beautiful girl who walked at his side. He knew that Miss
Brokaw was talking and laughing, and that he was nodding his head and
answering her, while his brain raged for an idea that would give him an
excuse for leaving her to follow Jeanne and Pierre. The facts that
Gregson had left him so strangely, that Eileen had come with her
father, and that, instead of clearing up the mystery in which they were
so deeply involved, the arrival of the London ship had even more
hopelessly entangled them, were forgotten for the moment in the desire
to intercept Jeanne and Pierre before they could leave Churchill. Miss
Brokaw herself unconsciously gave him the opportunity for which he was
seeking.

"You don't look very happy, Philip," she exclaimed, in a chiding voice,
meant only for his ears. "I thought--perhaps--my coming would make you
glad."

Philip caught eagerly at the half question in her voice.

"I feared you would notice it," he said, quickly. "I was afraid you
would think me indifferent because I did not go out to meet you in the
boat, and because I stood hidden at the end of the pier when you
landed. But I was looking for a man. I have been hunting for him for a
long time. And I saw his face just as we came through the crowd. That
is why I am--am rattled," he laughed. "Will you excuse me if I go back?
Can you find some excuse for the others? I will return in a few
minutes, and then you will not say that I am unhappy."

Miss Brokaw drew her hand from his arm.

"Surely I will excuse you," she cried. "Hurry, or you may lose him. I
would like to go with you if it is going to be exciting."

Philip turned to Brokaw and the factor, who were close behind them.

"I am compelled to leave you here," he explained. "I have excused
myself to Miss Brokaw, and will rejoin you almost immediately."

He lost no time in hurrying back to the shore of the Bay. As he had
expected, Jeanne and her companion were no longer in sight. There was
only one direction in which they could have disappeared so quickly, and
this was toward the cliff. Once hidden by the fringe of forest, he
hastened his steps until he was almost running. He had reached the base
of the huge mass of rock that rose up from the sea, when down the
narrow trail that l