rocks and
sending a torrent of spray into the air with every wave.

"We can't get out this way, then?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"No, we should want a rope ladder," he said, "and a boat. Have you seen
enough?"

"More than enough," Jeanne answered. "Let us get back."

* * * * *

Jeanne sank into a garden seat a few minutes later with a little
exclamation of relief.

"Never," she declared, "have I appreciated fresh air so much. I think,
Mr. De la Borne, that smuggling, though it was a very romantic
profession, must have had its unpleasant side."

Cecil nodded.

"There were more air-holes in those days," he said, "but our ancestors
were a tougher race than we. Coarse brutes, most of them, I imagine,"
he added, lighting a cigarette. "Drank beer for breakfast, and smoked
clay pipes before meals. Fancy if one had their constitutions and our
tastes!"

"The two would scarcely go together," Jeanne remarked. "But after all I
should think that absinthe and cigarettes are more destructive. I am
dying for some tea. Let us go in and find the others."

Tea was set out in the hall, but only Engleton was there. Forrest and
the Princess were walking slowly up and down the avenue.

"I imagine," the latter was saying drily, "that we are fairly free from
eavesdroppers here. Now tell me what it is that you have to say, Nigel."

"I am bothered about Engleton," Forrest said. "I didn't like his
insisting upon cutting last night. What do you think he meant by it?"

The Princess shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing at all," she answered. "He may have thought that we were lucky
together, and of course he knows that you are the best player. There is
no reason why he should be willing to play with Cecil de la Borne, when
by cutting with you he would be more likely to win."

"You think that that is all?" Forrest asked.

"I think so," the Princess answered. "What had you in your mind?"

"I wondered," Forrest said thoughtfully, "whether he had heard any of
the gossip at the club."

The Princess frowned impatiently.

"For Heaven's sake, don't be imaginative, Nigel!" she declared. "If you
give way like this you will lose your nerve in no time."

"Very well," Forrest said. "Let us take it for granted, then, that he
did it only because he preferred to play with me to playing against me.
What is to become of our little scheme if we cut as we did last night
all the time?"

The Princess smiled.

"You ought to be able to manag