perfectly firm on any
such point, and permit no scheme to be set afoot, however tempting,
unless it was thoroughly practical from the naval point of view.

From the rim of my hollow there on the hillside I could see several of
the farms below me, as well as the manse, and I noted one little sign
of British efficiency--no glimmer of light shown from any of their
windows. At sea a light or two twinkled intermittently, and a
searchlight was playing, though fortunately not in my direction.
Otherwise land and water were alike plunged in darkness. And then at
last one single window of the manse glowed red for an instant. A few
seconds passed, and it shone red again. Finally it showed a brighter
yellow light twice in swift succession.

I rose and very carefully led my cycle over the heather down to the
road, and then, still pushing it, walked quickly down the steep hill to
where the side road turned off. There was not a sound save my footfall
as I approached the house. A dark mass loomed in front of me, which I
saw in a moment to be a garden wall with a few of the low wind-bent
island trees showing above it. This side road led right up to an iron
gate in the wall, and just as I got close enough to distinguish the
bars, I heard a gentle creak and saw them begin to swing open. Beyond,
the trees overarched the drive, and the darkness was profound. I had
passed between the gate-posts before I saw or heard anything more. And
then a quiet voice spoke.

"It is a dark night," it said in perfect English.

"Dark as pitch," I answered.

"It was darker last night," said the voice.

"It is dark enough," I answered.

Not perhaps a very remarkable conversation, you may think; but I can
assure you my fingers were on my revolver, just in case one single word
had been different. Now I breathed freely at last.

"Herr Tiel?" I inquired.

"Mr Tiel," corrected the invisible man beside me.

I saw him then for the first time as he stepped out from the shelter of
the trees and closed the gate behind me--a tall dim figure in black.

"I'll lead your cycle," he said in a low voice, as he came back to me;
"I know the way best."

He took it from me, and as we walked side by side towards the house he
said--

"Permit me, Mr Belke, to give you one little word of caution. While
you are here, forget that you can talk German! _Think_ in English, if
you can. We are walking on a tight-rope, not on the pavement. _No_
precaution is ex