t Miss Marcia sit
by her while she drove. And as she did this with remarkable ease, she was
able to converse pleasantly with her guests most of the time. She took
them for a very long drive, and they were all astonished at her
familiarity with the roads in that part of the country. She assured them
that she had grown to know them well, during the long days lately when
she had little else to do than to explore them with the car.

It was dusk when they returned at last to the beach, and, having
deposited Phyllis first at her bungalow, Eileen drove the others to
theirs. They bade her good night at the foot of the wooden path that led
up the slope to their cottage, and she sat and watched them, without
starting the car, till they had disappeared indoors. But it so happened
that Leslie turned around, opened the door, and came out again almost at
once to get an armful of wood for the fire from the bin on the back
veranda. And in so doing, it happened also that she witnessed a curious
little incident.

Eileen seemed to have had a slight difficulty in starting the car, but it
was in motion now, going slowly, and had advanced only about as far as
the path leading up to Curlew's Nest. Leslie stood in the darkness of her
porch, idly watching its progress, when something that happened caused
her heart to leap into her throat. Out from some thick bushes at the edge
of the road, there appeared a dark form, which signaled to the car.
Eileen whirled the wheel around, applied the brake, and the car almost
came to a stop. Almost--but not quite, for the figure leaped into it
while it was still going. Then Eileen stepped on the accelerator, the car
shot forward, and was almost instantly out of sight.

[Illustration: Eileen whirled the wheel around, applied the brake,
and the car almost came to a stop]

Leslie got her wood and went indoors in a daze. What could it all mean?
What duplicity had Eileen been guilty of now? The thing certainly looked
very, very sinister, consider it how you would! And she could breathe no
word of it to her aunt, who, as Leslie entered, straightway began on a
long eulogy of Eileen, her delightful manners, her thoughtfulness, and
her kindness in giving them an afternoon of such enjoyment. It seemed to
Leslie, considering what had just happened, that she must certainly
scream with nervousness if Miss Marcia did not stop, and she tried vainly
several times to steer her to another theme. But Miss Marcia had found