case, he seated himself again upon the rampart. As he walked
away the stranger glanced back over his shoulder, but Gordon
was apparently absorbed in watching the waves below him, and
had lost all interest in his chance acquaintance. But he
watched both the woman and the Frenchman as they advanced
slowly from opposite directions and drew nearer together, and
he was not altogether surprised, when the in man was within
twenty feet of her, to see her start and stand still, and
then, with the indecision of a hunted animal, move
uncertainly, and then turn and run in the direction of the
hotel. Something the man apparently called after her caused
her to stop, and Gordon observed them now with undisguised
interest as they stood conversing together, oblivious of the
conspicuous mark they made on the broad white beach under the
brilliant sun.

"I wonder what he's up to now?" Gordon mused. "He was trying
to pump me, that's evident, and he certainly recognized the
lady, and she apparently did not want to recognize him. I
wonder if he is a rejected lover, or another conspirator.
This is a most amusing place, nothing but plots and
counterplots and--Hello!" he exclaimed aloud. The man had
moved quickly past Madame Zara, and had started toward the
hotel, and Zara had held out her hand to him, as though to
entreat him to remain. But he did not stop, and she had taken
a few uncertain steps after him, and had then, much to the
American's dismay, fallen limply on her back on the soft sand.
She was not a hundred yards distant from where he sat, and in
an instant he had slipped from the wall, and dropped on his
hands and knees on the beach below. When Gordon reached her