convinced. Will you come?"

"Yes. And mind this, Adrian. If you fail to prove this lie--I mean
this charge of yours--by the evidence of my own eyes, you shall never
receive a word from me again--from any of us, indeed. Never."

"Oh, I am not uneasy about that. And now I must go. So long.
To-morrow, mind."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The road in which stood Jim Dixon's abode was well-nigh as deserted at
midday as in the dusk of the evening when Adrian had first come into
contact with Kenneth Kershaw. Now as he walked slowly along, with
Aletta beside him, he could hardly answer her save at random. What if
the plan failed? A miscalculation of time on the part of one or both
confederates and such might easily be the case. His first idea, which
indeed would have been a safer one, was to take up a position in, or
concealed by, one of the deserted houses opposite, of which there was a
whole row, and watch; but even if he could have got Aletta to consent to
this plan, one very important move in the game--the most checkmating
move of all, as we shall see--must of necessity be omitted.

The girl was looking pale and worn, for she had had but little sleep.
Her determination and spirit, the very vitality of the matter at stake,
had kept her up. There were times, too, when she said to herself that
this thing could not be, that she was about to discover what a mistake
Adrian had made; and in the gladness of the thought she was going to be
forgiving to Adrian in that event, not, however, until she had most
severely lectured him.

He for his part had affected a demeanour that was gravely compassionate.
If he seemed now and then ill at ease, why that struck Aletta as
natural--having regard to the delicate nature of the errand on which
they were bound. And he had some reason for his uneasiness, for they
would soon be right opposite Dixon's house, and he did not desire to be
seen by, at any rate, one of its inmates. What was that cursed fool
about, he said to himself, not to show? It was past the time, and they
could not patrol up and down for ever.

"Look now, Aletta!" he said, suddenly. "Look! Was I mistaken?"

The front door of a house about a hundred yards further down on the
other side of the road had opened, and two figures came out on to the
_stoep_. Aletta recognised them instantly. One was that of May
Wenlock, but the other--

No. There was no mistaking i