He had nothing to do with it?" questioned the sheriff.

As he waited for her answer, Agatha suddenly came to herself. Her
trembling ceased; she looked about upon them all with her truthful
eyes; looked upon Hand standing unconcernedly in the doorway, upon
Chatelard in the corner gleaming like an oily devil.

"No--he had nothing to do with it," she said.

Chatelard's laugh beat back her words like a bludgeon.

"Liars, all liars!" he cried. "I might have known!"

But Chamberlain was impatient of all this. "And now, Monsieur
Kidnapper, you can walk off with this gentleman here. And you can't go
one minute too soon. The penitentiary's the place for you."

Chatelard turned on him with another laugh. "You need not feel obliged
to hold on to me, Mister Land-Agent. I know when I'm beaten--which you
Englishmen never do. Got another of those pears you offered me this
morning?"

Before Chamberlain could make reply, or before the sheriff and his
prisoner could get to the door, there was the chug of an automobile. A
second later urgent and loud voices penetrated the room, first from the
steps, then from the hall. One was the hearty voice of a man, the
other was Lizzie's.

"Can't see her! Tell me I can't see her after I've run a hundred miles
a day into the jungle on purpose to see her! The idea! Where is she?
In here?" And in stalked Mr. Straker, with cap, linen duster, and high
gaitered boots. He was pulling off his goggles. "Well, what's this?
A family party? Where's Miss Redmond?"

"Mr. Straker--" cried Agatha.

"That's me! Oh, there you are! Why don't you open up and get some
light? I can't see a thing."

"Wait a minute, Mr. Straker--" Agatha was saying, when suddenly the
attention of everybody in the room was drawn outside.

When Chamberlain had told Chatelard that his horse was loose in the
yard, it happened to be the truth; now, excited by fear of the strange
machine that had just arrived, the horse, with flying bridle-rein, was
snorting and prancing on his way to the vegetable garden. It was
almost beyond masculine power to resist the impulse of pursuit. Aleck
and Chamberlain sprang through the window, the sheriff went as far as
the lawn after them, and in that instant Chatelard slipped like an eel
through the open door and out to the gate to Straker's machine, still
chugging. The sheriff saw him as he jumped in.

"Hey, there!" he shouted, and made a lively run for the gate. But
before