In Strange Company

experiences; and, as I have already said, at half-past he had arranged to effect his escape from Chili. Now, though he was aware that there

r hand he could hit out no way of disposing of her, and since she possessed a large portion of his secret, it would be the most criminal folly possible to leave her behin

ention by any undue hurry; and for the same reason, when he did arrive at the house he made no attempt to gain admi

sitor was she uttered a little cry of welcome, and led the wa

to him, "you really meant what you said last

ent at finding her unprepared getting the better of him. "Why are you not ready? Every

d I will be with you;

ut to lose everything because a woman had misunderstood a plain speech. Every moment found him more and more angry. At length, unable to control himself any longer, he was in the act of going to look for her, when a heavy footstep

iness her

ting for

ra Juanit

rha

it a long time, f

ise. In a second all sorts of trea

at the devil do you m

narrow shoulders a slight shrug. "I allow it's her

s beside him, and had clap

his house for my own sake, but if you don't tell me what you know, I swear

t, then a nervous little laugh

think I am well

s Jua

so perfect. But his admiration for her acting did not preve

nize you in than get-up. Now we must fairly

s, the mob had grown proportionately bolder. From simple exuberance of spirits and foolish mischief, their behaviour had become that of fiends. Houses had been and were still being looted in every street; incendiary fires pierced t

nately necessary that they should cross, in order to reach a thoroughfare leading to the wharves. No sooner had they entered it than Veneda saw what a fatal mistake he had made. One glance told him that it was filled with the lowest scum of the Chilian mob, frenzied with debauchery and incendiarism. On the far side a row of houses blazed into the sky, w

lmost beside himself with despair, he dragged her into a dark alley, and bade her sit down and rest until she felt able to proceed. Then they resumed their w

prayer of thankfulness for their escape; but as it was they contented themselves with looking anxiously for something they expected to find awaiting them. Seeing nothing, Veneda gave a peculiar whistle, which, to his evident relief, was instant

before he brought the boat up to

he reply, "and I want a b

s deemed satisfactory, f

been waiting for you this hour past; the tide is serv

uanita down the steps, and signed her to enter the boat.

mly, "my instructions were to bring you of

s gentleman is a personal friend, and I ha

ions; will you be good enough to step in yourself? Th

da answered, at the same time stepping into the bo

. My instructions were most explicit-one g

gentleman-exactly-but noth

ned out later he was appe

fe! Wher

o bring her through the town on a night like this in her own dress, so to ensure her safety I was compelled

y sweet and womanly a

will believe wha

a dilemma, and he couldn't see his way

step in, ma'am? I'm sorry to have made you wait, but the fa

he steps. It was none other than the Albino, under the influence of extraordinary rage; his long white hair floated in the wind, his arms worked with frantic gesticulations, and his voice shook with the violence of his passi

retreating boat, "thief! traitor! coward!-come back

fty yards from the steps, and under the strong arms

her, he was soon in hot pursuit, rowing as though

da and Juanita came alongside, Captain Boulger was on deck. Hastening to th

Veneda," he said. "But I can't say I c

n that the difficulty was satisfactorily settled. The mate went forward to attend to the raising of the anchor, and by the ti

He stood up in his boat, foaming at the mouth, unable to speak, and shaking his fist wildly at the vessel till she had passed out of sight. B

ble to pull ashore. But when he d

ve broken faith with one of the strongest organizations in the world. If it costs that Society every cent it's worth,