she said, "but I have to go out."

"Then I'll stay here till you return," he said, "I've never been in
such a delightful room."

"What do you think of Shiel Davenport?" Gladys remarked to her aunt a
few minutes later. "I don't think I've ever met such an extraordinary
young man. He does nothing but stare at me, and when I ask him to do
one thing he suggests doing another. He's the most difficult person to
manage. In fact, I can't manage him at all."

"Never mind about managing him, my dear," Miss Templeton replied, "so
long as you don't let him manage you. Young men who do nothing but
stare are not merely difficult--they are dangerous."

CHAPTER XII

THE GREAT CHALLENGE

When John Martin came into tea that afternoon, he gave Gladys a shock.
Despite the fact that he had been in the sun all day and was much
tanned in consequence he had never looked--so Gladys thought--so old
and haggard.

"You dear old Daddie!" she said, hastening to pour him out some tea,
"you shouldn't work so hard--this silly digging has quite knocked you
up! Haven't you finished?"

"Yes, I've finished!" John Martin said, catching his breath. "I've
found water!"

"Nonsense!"

"It's true all the same. We struck it at exactly the distance he
said--twenty feet."

"Then of course he knew."

"How? How the deuce could he have known?"

"I can't say," Gladys replied. "All I know is, that he's not straight,
and that there's some underhand trickery going on. But do have your
tea now, and dismiss it from your mind. Anyhow, he can do you no
harm."

"Here's a letter for you, John," Mrs. Templeton exclaimed, entering
the room at that moment.

John Martin took it from her, and tore open the envelope curiously. It
was a handwriting he did not know, and did not like--its
characteristics were sinister.

"I knew it!" he cried; "I knew the fellow was a scoundrel. What the
deuce do you think he has the impertinence to do now?"

"He!" Gladys said, looking anxiously at her father. "Whoever do you
mean?"

"Why, that confounded young bounder who came here last night--Leon
Hamar he signs himself. In this letter he declares that he can perform
any of our tricks, and will accept the wager I offered for their
solution some little time ago. He also says that unless I consent to
see him, and to listen courteously to what he has to say, he will
publicly announce his intention of taking up the wager, at our Hall,
in Kingsway, to-night."

"Do you th