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“ Even the languid Carmen developed an unexpected capacity for restlessness, while Darrell, though outwardly unperturbed, lapsed now and then into spells of thoughtful silence. Though the uselessness of it was quite obvious, the temptation to speculate on what awaited them at Magdalena Bay was irresistible. Would they find the Japanese in complete occupation, swarming over the place, and making it impossible to land even without the certainty of walking into a trap from which it would be impossible ever to emerge? ”

“ There was one phase of the situation which gave Darrell a grim satisfaction. If, as he had every reason to believe, it was Sudo who had spied upon them the night before, the suspicions of the Japs would almost surely be diverted to Philip Carmen for a time, at least, giving Bellamy and himself a brief respite from espionage. All the secret-service agent wanted was a breathing spell. ”

“ It was the essence of all that is lonely. and deserted, yet Darrell knew that the rocky headlands between which their course was set might easily swarm with men and they be none the wiser.
As the Golden Horn neared the narrow gap between the two islands, the conversation ceased entirely. In the thrilling expectancy of the moment the secret-service agent dropped for a time his rôle of careless looker-on. Standing a little behind Carmen, so that the latter could not see his movements, he swept the precipitous headlands for a sign of life, but found nothing. ”