artless art which made me writhe; for once I had been the willing
victim of all these wiles.

"But--" began Slattin.

"I will ring you up in less than half an hour," said Karamaneh and
without further ceremony, she opened the door.

I still had my eyes glued to the aperture in the blind, when Smith
began tugging at my arm.

"Down! you fool!" he hissed harshly--"if she sees us, all is lost!"

Realizing this, and none too soon, I turned, and rather clumsily
followed my friend. I dislodged a piece of granite in my descent; but,
fortunately, Slattin had gone out into the hall and could not well
have heard it.

We were crouching around an angle of the house, when a flood of light
poured down the steps, and Karamaneh rapidly descended. I had a
glimpse of a dark-faced man who evidently had opened the door for her,
then all my thoughts were centered upon that graceful figure receding
from me in the direction of the avenue. She wore a loose cloak, and I
saw this fluttering for a moment against the white gate posts; then
she was gone.

Yet Smith did not move. Detaining me with his hand he crouched there
against a quick-set hedge; until, from a spot lower down the hill, we
heard the start of the cab which had been waiting. Twenty seconds
elapsed, and from some other distant spot a second cab started.