ing" is often a two-edged tool. When Runkle returned to his
post he, in turn, was followed by the same dandy who had done the cane
signaling late in the afternoon.

"That fellow Dalny is almost too bad medicine for me to swallow," Dan
muttered with a wry smile.

"Of course he is a liar and a villain," Dave returned seriously. "But
when a man is wanted to do the foulest kind of work, I suppose it must
be rather hard to find a gentleman to volunteer. Probably Dalny's
employers feel that they are fortunate enough in being able to obtain
the services of a fellow who _looks_ like a gentleman."

"He led us into that trap to have us assassinated," Dan declared
hotly.

"Or else to have us so badly cut up that we would feel, in the future,
more like minding our own business," suggested Ensign Dave with a
smile.

"We got out of it all right that time," Dan went on bluntly, "but I
don't want any more such experiences. The next time we might not have
luck quite so much on our side."

"What puzzles me," Dave continued, wrinkling his brows, "is why Dalny
or any of his crowd should want us stabbed."

"They wanted us killed," Dan insisted. "Nothing short of killing us
would have satisfied those bravos if they had succeeded in getting us
at their mercy. Yet why should our death be desired?"

"For only one reason," Dave answered, the truth coming to him in a
flash. "Dalny is here in Naples, for which reason his white-haired
fellow-plotter is probably here, too. We were sent ashore to find out
if they are here. When Dalny shook hands with us this afternoon he
perceived that I recognized him as one whose remarks I undoubtedly had
overheard at Monte Carlo. He then concluded that I had been sent
ashore to find out if he were here. He knew, or suspected, that I
would report my information to the Admiral. Hence the determination to
kill me, and, since you are with me, to kill you also. Our bodies
would have been hidden, and the Admiral would have been able only to
guess why we did not return to the ship. Dan, what hurts me most is
the practical certainty that the Count of Surigny is now with that
band of international cut-throats. I had hope for a nobler future for
the Count, and also I am disappointed to find him working for my
enemies. He must hate me fearfully because I thwarted his one-time
purpose to commit suicide!"

"I wouldn't have believed the Count could be so bad," Dan mused. "Yet
the proof appears to be against him."