by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace

“ The capture will, I know, be attended with difficulty and danger, and I want you, Phenays, to hold yourself in readiness to come to me, at a moment's notice, anywhere, if I wire to you. I am fully aware, Sir James," he added, "that this seems like taking a great liberty with you; but you will agree that in your own and the War Office's interests no pains must be spared to arrest this woman."
"I quite agree with you," replied the baronet with eagerness. "Do exactly as you think best, Pinheiro. If you succeed, you will deserve great recognition from the country. ”

“ Science—our friend in the construction of weapons, in tactics, in balloons, in wireless telegraphy—is equally our enemy when we approach the field of Secret Service. Our spies now have a competent knowledge of our preparations and movements, by methods altogether unknown in the days of the Peninsular and Crimean wars. A thousand eyes are watching us, and a thousand ears listen for our faintest footfalls. If these eyes and ears are invisible, that makes the danger all the greater. ”

“ Evelyn Noel had recovered her spirits. As I looked at her bright face and slim, upright figure, and listened once again to her merry laugh, I could scarcely believe she was the same girl who had stood in Sir James's study and told her terrible story. How very nearly her whole young life had been wrecked! but, also, how quickly she had recovered! I wondered if all girls were made alike; if a girl's nature was such that she could be reduced to the last gasp of despair one moment, and the next could sing about the house and be radiant and happy, its sunbeam and source of rejoicing once more. ”

“ When we got into the street he turned to me.
"Fortune is favouring us," he said. "The fact of Mademoiselle wanting money is certainly on our side. Had she had the money about her last night, our quest would have been in vain. But it has been a near thing. What a surprise is in store for the pretty little girl in the shop! It is really quite a romance. Sixteen thousand pounds will set her up for life. If I can secure the crucifix, I shall take good care that La Petite gets her reward."
"Then you really mean to let Mademoiselle take the crucifix?" ”

“ As Macbeth said, 'Even the ground prates of our whereabouts.' There is danger everywhere. You know it."
"Alas!" I cried, "I know it far too well; and the woman whom I so greatly fear is beyond doubt in the pay of the enemy. She is a fiend in human shape. So far as we are concerned, she is the great centre; she is the spider that sits in the web to which all lines lead. There is only one man in Europe who can lay her by the heels. You have seen something of his methods in the case of your late secretary."
"I certainly have. Pinheiro is one in a thousand." ”

“ Away and away we went through endless streets; northwards, ever northwards did our cab take us. I had no idea what part of London we were going to. I only knew it was as strange a quest as I had ever been on. The heat increased, and a low growl of thunder showed us that the storm was approaching. ”

“ Pinheiro gave her back the crucifix.
"Take it, my dear," he said. "You are a good girl, and I won't tempt you."
"I am very poor, and alone in the world," said the girl slowly. "My father had this crucifix for some time, he got it in a strange way. Some men slept here six or seven years ago. They were Portuguese, and my mother was a Portuguese, so my father was good to them. In the morning one of these men gave father the crucifix to keep. ”

“ Sir James uttered lazy, disconnected sentences at intervals. The heat, and considerable fatigue owing to a long week of hard work, had rendered him sleepy. Presently he remarked—
"I wonder when Pinheiro will pay us another visit?"
"Senhor Pinheiro will not come until he brings us news," was my answer, and I could not help sighing as I spoke.
"What is the matter, Phenays?" said my employer, turning and gazing at me. "It is impossible that you can feel apprehension now. You have lived, it is true, on the brink of a catastrophe; but even that dreadful woman. ”

“ We shall have no peace of mind while she is at large. It is a pity that you will be absent to-night, on account of the dinner and the dance afterwards; but it cannot be helped."
I felt very sorry myself at having to miss the big dinner, to which I had been looking forward for some time. Round Sir James's table that night would meet some of the keenest intellects in Europe. But Pinheiro's letter admitted of no postponement. I bade Sir James a hasty good-bye, little guessing under what strange circumstances I was destined to return to Warleigh Court. ”

“ Who is stopping there to-night?"
"Half the War Office officials are dining there, and many of them stopping, and they are to have a dance after dinner," I shouted back. "Do you know your way?"
"Yes," he answered. "We shall be there before any wire could reach them. Sit tight."
Amidst the clatter of the horse's hoofs my memory came back to me. The bark of the mastiff last night, the disarranging of the bed of pinks, the death of the dog. ”

“ I am glad I secured the crucifix, though, for the sake of our little friend in the curiosity shop."
Inspector Scott now began to make a systematic search of the room, and Pinheiro seated himself by a deal table to examine the papers. A glance showed me that the house was a very small one, and the room in which we found ourselves was badly furnished.
"So this is what the woman has come to, who consorted with princes and was known to most of the crowned heads of Europe," I said to myself. "Pinheiro is right. One of her objects in coming to England is to make money." ”

“ Where it is hidden I do not yet know; but it is through this link that, I believe, our next great move will be played. By it I trust we shall run her down, and by doing so obtain information as to the gang, and possibly capture the papers relating to this great European conspiracy, and to her various plots in the Secret Service. ”