ccording to his instructions I duly arrived at the remote house at
the hour arranged, and delivered the bag to the old man, who welcomed
me and gave me a whisky-and-soda, which I found very acceptable after
my long tramp from Maldon station. Tarrant was not alone, for I
distinctly heard a man's voice calling him just before he opened the
door to me.

Recollecting that the old fellow had been in gaol, I was full of
curiosity as to what was intended. I certainly never believed it to be
so highly ingenious and dastardly as it eventually proved to be.

About a month passed uneventfully, save that I spent many delightful
hours in Lola's company. Her father had purchased another two-seater
car--a "sports model" Vauxhall--and on several occasions I took him
for runs in it about Yorkshire. Naturally he knew little about cars
himself, but relied upon my knowledge and judgment. In addition to the
Rolls and the Vauxhall I also had an "Indian" motor-cycle for my own
personal use, and found it very useful in going on certain rapid
missions to York and elsewhere. But the abandonment of the
"A.C."--which had, by the way, been regarded as a mystery by the
Press--hurt me considerably.

Duperre had been absent from Overstow ever since the day we had left
for Edinburgh, but as the bright autumn days passed I found myself
more and more in love with the dainty girl whose father was a
master-criminal.

Nevertheless, I felt that Duperre's wife kept eager watch upon both of
us. Perhaps she feared that I might tell Lola some of my adventures.
As for Rayne, he was often out shooting over neighboring estates, for
he was a good shot and highly popular in the neighborhood, while at
Overstow itself there was some excellent sport to which now and then
he would invite his local friends.

Rayne possessed a marvelous personality. When at home he was the
typical country gentleman, a good judge of a horse and in his "pink" a
straight rider to hounds. None who met him would have ever dreamed
that he was the shrewd, crafty cosmopolitan whose evil machinations
and devilish ingenuity made themselves felt in all the capitals of
Europe, and whose word was law to certain dangerous characters who
would not hesitate to take human life if it were really necessary to
evade arrest.

His outstanding cleverness, however, was that he never revealed his
own identity to those who actually carried out his devilish schemes.
The circle of cosmopolitan malefactors who