eyes, "tell me the truth, Miss Pennington. I did not lose
you the other morning--on the contrary, you lost me--didn't you?"

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she gave vent to a nervous little
laugh.

"Well," she answered, after a moment's hesitation, "to tell the truth,
I did. I had reasons--important ones."

"I was _de trop_--eh?"

She shrugged her well-formed shoulders, and smiled reproachfully.

"But why?" I asked. "When I found you, it was under very curious
circumstances. A man--a thief--had just cashed a cheque of mine for a
thousand pounds, and made off with the proceeds--and----"

"Ah! please do not refer to it, Mr. Biddulph!" she exclaimed quickly,
laying her slim fingers upon my arm. "Let us speak of something
else--anything but that."

"I have no wish to reproach you, Miss Pennington," I hastened to
assure her. "The past is to me of the past. That man has a thousand
pounds of mine, and he's welcome to it, so long as----" and I
hesitated.

"So long as what?" she asked in a voice of trepidation.

"So long as you are alive and well," I replied in slow, meaning tones,
my gaze fixed immovably on hers. "In Gardone you expressed fear for
your own safety, but so long as you are still safe I have no care as
to what has happened to myself."

"But----"

"I know," I went on, "the ingenious attempt upon my life of which you
warned me has been made by those two scoundrels, and I have narrowly
escaped. To you, Miss Pennington, I owe my life."

She started, and lowered her eyes. Apparently she could not face me.
The hand I held trembled within my grasp, and I saw that her white
lips quivered.

For a few seconds a silence fell between us. Then slowly she raised
her eyes to mine again, and said--

"Mr. Biddulph, this is an exceedingly painful subject to me. May we
not drop it? Will you not forget it--if you really are my friend?"

"To secure your further friendship, I will do anything you wish!" I
declared. "You have already proved yourself my friend by rescuing me
from death," I added.

"How do you know that?" she asked quickly.

"Because you were alone with me in that house of death in Bayswater.
It was you who killed the hideous reptile and who severed the bonds
which held me. They intended that I should die. My grave had already
been prepared. Cannot you tell me the motive of that dastardly
attack?" I begged of her.

"Alas! I cannot," she said. "I warned you when at Gardone that I knew
what was int