g by my house. In twenty minutes the cottage loomed, a blurred
mass, before me. I fell on my knees and peered at it.

There was a light in one of the windows; I crawled nearer. Now I was on
the plateau; a moment later I was under the wooden veranda and beneath
the window where the light glowed. My hand was on my revolver. If
Constantine or Vlacho caught me here, neither side would be able to
stand on trifles; even my desire for legality would fail under the
strain. But for the minute everything was quiet, and I began to fear
that I should have to return empty-handed; for it would be growing light
in another hour or so, and I must be gone before the day began to
appear. Ah! There was a sound--a sound that appealed to me after my
climb--the sound of wine poured into a glass; and then came a voice I
knew.

"Probably they have caught her," said Vlacho the innkeeper. "What of
that? They will not hurt her. And she'll be kept safe."

"You mean she can't come spying about here?"

"Exactly. And that, my lord, is an advantage. If she came here--"

"Oh the deuce!" laughed Constantine. "But won't the men want me to free
her by letting that infernal crew go?"

"Not if they think Wheatley will go to Rhodes and get soldiers and
return. They love the island more than her. It will all go well, my
lord. And this other here?"

I strained my ears to listen. No answer came; yet Vlacho went on as
though he had received an answer.

"These cursed fellows make that difficult, too," he said. "It would be
an epidemic." Then he laughed, seeming to see wit in his own remark.

"Curse them, yes. We must move cautiously," said Constantine. "What a
nuisance women are, Vlacho."

"Ay, too many of them," laughed Vlacho.

"I had to swear my life out that no one was here--and then, 'If no one's
there, why mayn't I come?' You know the sort of thing."

"Indeed, no, my lord. You wrong me," protested Vlacho, humorously; and
Constantine joined in his laugh.

"You've made up your mind which, I gather?" asked Vlacho.

"Oh, this one, beyond doubt," answered his master.

Now, I thought that I understood most of this conversation, and I was
very sorry that Euphrosyne was not by my side to listen to it. But I had
heard about enough for my purpose, and I had turned to crawl away
stealthily--it is not well to try fortune too far--when I heard the
sound of a door opening in the house. Constantine's voice followed
directly on the sound.

"Ah, my darlin