yet been snapped, the mystery of his disappearance seemed only to
strengthen it. He wondered dully when he would ever feel free again, and
then laughed inwardly at himself for making a farce of the whole thing,
for building a mountain out of a stupid little molehill. And 'Toinette
was helping him. They were both unutterably foolish. Anyhow, Cleek was
coming soon to clear matters up. He wished with all his heart that he
might tell 'Toinette, and thus relieve the tension of her mind, but he
had given his word to Cleek, and with a man of his type his word was
sacred.

So he kissed her good-bye and laughed, and went back to Merriton Towers
to prepare for their coming. But the cloud had dropped across his horizon
again, and the sun was once more obscured. There was no smile upon his
lips as he clanged the great front door to behind him.




CHAPTER XI

THE SECRET OF THE FLAMES


Fetchworth, as everybody knows, lies in that part of the Fen district
of Lincolnshire that borders on the coast, and in the curve of its
motherlike arm Saltfleet Bay, a tiny shipping centre with miniature
harbour, drowses its days in pleasant idleness.

And so it was that upon the morning of Cleek's and Mr. Narkom's arrival
at Merriton Towers. They came disguised as two idlers interested in the