ome all these
hundreds of miles from his native haunts? It was not likely. It was
barely possible. And yet she had always been convinced that in some way
he had known her husband beforehand. Had he come then of set intention
to seek her out, perhaps to attempt to extract money from her?

She could not answer the question, and her whole being shrank from the
thought of going out into the darkness to investigate. She could not
bring herself to it. Actually she dared not.

Minutes passed. She sat still gazing and gazing at the blank darkness of
the window. Nothing moved there. The wild beating of her heart died
gradually down. Surely it had been a mistake after all! Surely she had
fallen into a doze in the midst of her reverie and dreamed this hateful
apparition with the gleaming eyes and famished face!

She exerted her self-command and turned at last to look at Tommy. He was
sleeping peacefully with his head on his arm. He would sleep all night
if undisturbed. She laid aside her book and softly rose.

Her first intention was to go to the door and see if Peter were in the
passage. But the very fact of moving seemed to give her courage. The
man's rest would be short enough; it seemed unkind to disturb him.

Resolutely she turned to the window, stifling all qualms. She would not
be a wretched coward. She would see for herself.

The night was steaming hot, and there was a smell of mildew in the air.
A swarm of mosquitoes buzzed in the glare thrown by the lamp with a
shrill, attenuated sound like the skirl of far-away bagpipes. A creature
with bat-like wings flapped with a monstrous ungainliness between the
outer posts of the verandah. From across the compound an owl called on a
weird note of defiance. And in the dim waste of distance beyond she
heard the piercing cry of a jackal. But close at hand, so far as the
rays of the lamp penetrated, she could discern nothing.

Stay! What was that? A bar of light from another lamp lay across the
verandah, stretching out into the darkness. It came from the room next
to the one in which she stood. Her heart gave a sudden hard throb. It
came from Monck's room.

That meant--that meant--what did it mean? That Monck had returned at
that unusual hour? Or that there really was a native intruder who had
found the window unfastened and entered?

Again the impulse to retreat and call Peter to deal with the situation
came upon her, but almost angrily she shook it off. She would see for
h