ped to the
conviction that he was in the plot against her. The others wanted to go
somewhere or do something without her, and this little brown-faced,
sharp-eyed man had been told off as a kind of decoy duck. But she would
circumvent them yet. She _would_ know what was going on.

"They have probably gone to buy some bit of carving or other souvenirs of
convict make," said the doctor. "Certainly we'll turn back if you like."

They did turn back, and wandered about in all the (according to Dr.
Grayle) most likely places to find the lost ones, but in vain. Kate could
have burst into tears of rage. She was hot, tired, dusty, and--worst of
all--thwarted. It was hateful to feel herself helpless in the plotters'
hands, being made to dance when they pulled the strings, and to know that
this "horrid little brown man" was secretly laughing at her behind his
polite air of concern. Yet she _was_ helpless, and had to acknowledge it.
If she left the doctor and went off on an expedition of independent
exploration she would not know which way to go, and might get into
trouble. But at last she could no longer bear her wrongs in silence; and,
after all, she had nothing to gain by being nice to Dr. Grayle.

"I suppose you think," she burst out angrily, "that you are making a fool
of me, and that I don't know it. But I'm not as simple as you seem to
believe. I'm perfectly well aware that there's a mystery going on, and
that all these elaborate precautions are to keep me out of it."

Dr. Grayle raised his eyebrows. "Then you are much more enlightened than
I am," he returned mildly. "I'm really quite at loss to know what you
mean, Lady Gardiner."

"In plain words, I mean that you are walking me off my feet to cover the
others' escape. You know perfectly well where they are, but they've
ordered you to keep out of the way, and you are doing as you're told,
like a nice, obedient little man. I never was so abominably treated in my
life."

"I can't see, even if Miss Beverly and her two relations choose to go off
for a little private sight-seeing on their own account, that either you
or I have anything to complain of," said the doctor. "We are outsiders,
and are both very well paid for our services. My opinion is that few
persons in our position receive as much consideration from their
employers as we do."

Kate was so furious at this snub (which found a vital spot) that she was
literally speechless for a moment. She would have liked to str