the moment that I had left him in the porch.

Now, hastening my steps, I began to wonder if his design was to
intercept me or merely to watch which way I should turn on gaining the
main road. That it was the latter I presently learned; for although my
unpleasant imagination pictured the gaunt hawk-like figure lurking
amid the shadows which hemmed me in, I played the part of innocence
and never once looked back.

Coming out into the highroad, I turned sharply left, retracing the
route by which I had come to the Eurasian doctor's abode. If he had
suspected that I had intended to call at Friar's Park despite his
assurance that such a visit would prove futile, then he was
disappointed. A new and strange theory to account for "the _Oritoga_
mystery" had presented itself to me--a horrible theory, yet, so far as
my present data went, a feasible one. Above all, I realized that I had
committed a strategical error in openly seeking an interview with Lady
Coverly. But I had not, when I had formed that plan, known of the
existence of Dr. Damar Greefe.

I uttered a sigh of relief upon emerging upon the highroad. The
certainty that the white-haired Eurasian was dogging me through the
trees was an unpleasant one. And now I perceived that several courses
presented themselves; but first I must obtain more information. I
perceived a mystery within a mystery; for I was not likely to forget
that in Dr. Damar Greefe's collection I had noted a number of
_Bubastite cats_.