was laid"? Was I the new
danger that had arisen? How had Baxter come to be at the _Green Sailor_,
in non-clerical costume? Why had he been so disturbed at my entry? Why
had Nikola invented such a lame excuse to account for his presence
there? Why had he warned me not to sail in the _Saratoga_? and, above
all, why had he resorted to hypnotism to secure his ends?

I asked myself these questions, but one by one I failed to answer them
to my satisfaction. Whatever other conclusion I might have come to,
however, one thing at least was certain: that was, that my original
supposition was a correct one. There was a tremendous mystery somewhere.
Whether or not I was to lose my interest in it after Friday remained to
be seen.

It was nearly twelve o'clock by the time I entered my hotel; but late as
it was I found time to examine the letter rack. It contained two
envelopes bearing my name, and taking them out I carried them with me to
my room. One, to my delight, bore the postmark of Port Said, and was
addressed in my sweetheart's handwriting. You may guess how eagerly I
tore it open, and with what avidity I devoured its contents. From it I
gathered that they had arrived at the entrance of the Suez Canal safely;
that her father had recovered his spirits more and more with every mile
that separated him from Europe. He was now almost himself again, she
said, but still refused with characteristic determination to entertain
the smallest notion of myself as a son-in-law. But Phyllis herself did
not despair of being able to talk him round. Then came a paragraph which
struck me as being so peculiar as to warrant my reproducing it here:

"The passengers, what we have seen of them, appear to be, with one
exception, a nice enough set of people. That exception, however, is
intolerable; his name is Prendergast, and his personal appearance is as
objectionable as his behaviour is extraordinary; his hair is snow-white,
and his face is deeply pitted with smallpox. This is, of course, not his
fault, but it seems somehow to aggravate the distaste I have for him.
Unfortunately we were thrown into his company in Naples, and since then
the creature has so far presumed upon that introduction, that he
scarcely leaves me alone for a moment. Papa does not seem to mind him so
much, but I thank goodness that, as he leaves the boat in Port Said, the
rest of the voyage will be performed without him."

The remainder of the letter had no concern for any one