ony of circumstances they were pitted
against each other.

'Will you give me your parole?' asked Rallywood with his back to the
door.

Counsellor drew out a big watch.

'For fifteen minutes,' he said. 'It is now half-past nine; at forty-five
minutes past I shall hold myself once more free to do what I can. You
understand? In the meantime we will talk.'

Rallywood motioned Counsellor back to the camp bed while he himself sat
down on the table.

'I fancy, John, we are both rather in the dark about all this,' began
Counsellor. 'Tell me your story, and I'll tell you mine.'

'My orders were clear enough,' Rallywood said. 'I was to take charge of
a prisoner, to be brought to me by the incoming mail at the spot where I
met you. You arrived queerly, I admit, rolling along the down line, but
you are undoubtedly the person of whom I was instructed to take charge.'

'Ah--I begin to see. There may be many men in Maasau who would rob me,
but there is only one man who could do it so clumsily.'

'Count Sagan?'

'Naturally. But to return, I left you at the Castle looking for
Colendorp; whether you found him or not does not come into this affair.
Perhaps he was in Sagan's way and he removed him----'

'With a knife.'

'That is quite in the Count's manner. Well, I got safely to England,
where my business took a day and a half longer than I expected. I
received my despatches, and five hundred miles from here I took the
precaution of removing them from my despatch-box. After we left the
Frontier station I noticed that our train had lost half its length, and
that I was in the last carriage. I didn't like it. It is never healthy
for a despatch-box to travel in an end compartment. That is tempting of
Fate.'

Counsellor stopped as if to collect his thoughts again.

'After a little the pace slackened and I felt a sharp jolt. They were
switching me on to the down line, an improvement upon the original plan
so like the Count's manner that it almost proves he must have been on
the spot superintending operations. Next it was a face at the window. I
used my revolver, but they stunned me and robbed me and left it to the
night mail to close my mouth for good. Now you know where you are, John
Rallywood; you are abetting a crime, and a crime against your own
country, against England!'

Rallywood laughed, but a laugh against oneself has a bad sound with it.

'It seems the day has come when I find my enemies dressed in red!' he
said.