this erection and, with a three-inch support under his feet, Brendon
found his eyes and ears at the needful level.

"The point is to know how I get clear afterward," considered
Brendon, returning to the sequel. "As soon as your brother has left
the house, it is certain that Mrs. Pendean, probably Doria also,
will hasten to know what has happened and what you have determined."

"Afterward nothing matters," repeated Bendigo. "I'll go down to the
door with Robert and you can follow me and slip out as soon as he
has got clear. Or else you can appear when he has gone and reveal
yourself and tell Jenny that it was your own wish to stop without
letting anybody know it but myself. That'll be the best way; and as
soon as she finds you are here, she'll see that you have comfortable
quarters for the rest of the night."

Brendon approved of this plan and when the launch returned, her
uncle informed Jenny that the detective had left, to make certain
inquiries, but would return early on the following morning. She
expressed surprise that he had gone but declared that it would in
any case have been necessary for him to do so before the fugitive
arrived.

"We left the letter, the lamp, and the food and drink exactly where
he indicated," she said, "on a forlorn spot, above that ancient,
raised beach, where the great boulders are."

Thus the matter was settled. Mark had already taken up his position
in the chamber aloft and Bendigo looked to it that he should not be
interfered with. It was Mr. Redmayne's custom to keep the tower room
locked when not himself in it, and he did so now until the night
should come. He supped with Jenny and the Italian, having already
provided Brendon with food in his hiding-place. It was understood
that the sailor would ascend to his den about eleven o'clock, by
which time Mark undertook to be safely hidden in the cupboard.

At the agreed time Doria and his master came up together, the former
carrying a light. Jenny also joined them for a short while, but she
stayed only ten minutes and then departed to bed. The weather had
turned stormy and wet. A shouting wind from the west shook the
lantern of the tower room and flung rain heavily against the glass,
while Bendigo moved restlessly about and bent his brows to look out
into the blackness of the night.

"The poor devil will be drowned, or break his neck climbing up from
the sea in this darkness," he declared.

Giuseppe had brought up a jug of water,