good shot. You are sufficiently remarkable. But you seem a pretty
acute customer too. The circumstances are extraordinary. By Jove
they are!"

He mused. After a time the Planter of Malata dropped a negligent -

"And you know them."

"And I know them," assented the all-knowing Editor, soberly, as
though the occasion were too special for a display of professional
vanity; a vanity so well known to Renouard that its absence
augmented his wonder and almost made him uneasy as if portending
bad news of some sort.

"You have met those people?" he asked.

"No. I was to have met them last night, but I had to send an
apology to Willie in the morning. It was then that he had the
bright idea to invite you to fill the place, from a muddled notion
that you could be of use. Willie is stupid sometimes. For it is
clear that you are the last man able to help."

"How on earth do I come to be mixed up in this--whatever it is?"
Renouard's voice was slightly altered by nervous irritation. "I
only arrived here yesterday morning."



CHAPTER II