simply horrible, but after
all it is a mere detail, and I must go through with it," he murmured
presently. "The fact remains that, within limits, I am now free to stay
here and thwart the new scheme which I am convinced that Nugent is
hatching. If I could have but one glimpse at the cards he holds."

For an hour Leslie lay in the shadow of the boat, vainly striving to
penetrate the veil which he felt sure Nugent had thrown over his
designs. It was futile to formulate plans for combating them till he had
discovered what the designs were. That the _Cobra_, the big turbine
yacht that had been chartered, would still be retained as the principal
feature in the programme was probable, since Nugent would naturally be
reluctant to waste the expense already incurred, and, except on a vessel
controlled by the Maharajah's emissaries, the abduction of Violet
Maynard to India would be practically impossible. But how, without the
co-operation which he had withdrawn, Nugent could hope to convey an
unwilling passenger on board the steamer Leslie could not surmise. He
could only wait and watch, in the full knowledge that his former
colleague and present antagonist was a man of infinite resource, and
endowed with an inborn cunning which it would be folly to despise.

One thing was certain, he told himself, as he rose and strolled back to
his lodgings on the main street--day and night he must keep vigil for
the appearance of the _Cobra_ off the coast, and he must also cultivate
close relations with Violet, so as to learn of anything that might
indicate the ruse by which it was intended to inveigle her on board.

To sustain the pretence that he had recently inherited a fortune, and
had means which would justify the possession of a large steam yacht, he
had established himself, by the advice and introduction of Travers
Nugent, at the best and most expensive rooms in the place. Here he shut
himself up for the remainder of that day, refraining from going to the
club or to the tennis field, and brooding over the resolves and
apprehensions which unfitted him, as he knew, for the society of his
fellow-men.

By the last post he received an informal note from Violet, inviting him
to a picnic tea on the following day. The party was to assemble at the
Manor at four o'clock, afterwards making its way on foot to the spot
selected, which was within easy reach of the house. Leslie shuddered as
he read the concluding words, but having braced himself