Bat Wing

ested in the other appointments of the house. The room, in common with every other which I had visited in Cray's Folly, wa

ly demonstrated by the peculiar plan of the building, its construction wholly o

A lark hung carolling blithely far above, and the sky was almost cloudless. I could hear a steam reaper at work somewhere in the distance. This, with the more intimate rattle of a lawn-mower wielded by a gardener who was not visible from where I stood, alone d

nd these were laden with a vast collection of works in almost every European language, reflecting perhaps the cosmopolitan character of the colonel's household. There was strange Spanish furniture upho

to buy it. It was the portrait of a typical Spanish cavalier and beyond doubt a Menendez. In fact, the resemblance between the haughty Spanish grandee, who seemed about to ste

ves quite at home, I beg. All my poor establishmen

rinks; and the mere sight of these chairs mentally translated me to the Spanish Main, where I p

ndez disposed himself upon a leather-covere

or a certain number of hours every day," he

in order to discuss the unpleasant business which finds us in such pleasant surroundings. Al

ingly. "Here is Pedro with coffee and some cura?ao of a kind whic

nd some cigars which the Spaniard produced on this occasion and which were enclosed in little glass cylinders resembling test-tubes and elaborately sealed, I recognized to be priceless. They convinced me, if convicti

onel's story faded entirely, and when, the latter being unable to conceal his drowsiness, Harley stood up, I took the hin

r protests, "I will observe your wishes. My guests' wishes

ow, and bowing in that exaggerated fashion which in another might have been ridiculous but whi

y. But the impression which I derived of the Colonel's face as he

bled Velasquez' haughty cavalier; gone, too, was the debonnaire bearing, I tu

I should not have seen. And the result was to bring about that whi

n claimed me, a premonition

bitten by a poisonous reptile and who knew his hours to be numbered. It was uncanny, unnerving; and whereas at first the atmosphere of Co

random, "this promises to be the st

ngest case, Knox. It is a case of wheels within wheels,

ose

nclusion hav

but I think one is

ed slowly on amid the rose trees

is t

afraid of Bat Wing, whoever

afr

. He has possibly been afraid in

ned to

ned to

I cried. "You are right! I saw it i

d and turned

the Colonel's eye

d

ory," he said, softly; "fo

you mean

e of Madame

ha

d upon my arm and looked abo

knows

s it is humanly possible to be sure of anything that whatever Colonel

expect him

f the sign of

ink he knows

at it is the death

Harley in

ve his explanat

is keeping something back. He speaks all the time from behind a

"Within the last few moments I have become definitely convinced that his appeal to

ed?" mutte

ight in a woman's eyes I have seen it in hers, to-day, whenever her glance has rested u

words with beats of his clenched fist. "It is utterly, damn

nows that he is

nodded

d; "but there is something

, and his bronzed face w

any private conversation with

you found me chatting with her when you r

ooks of a very charming girl. My only reason for visiting the tower was to afford you just this opportunity! Don't frown. Beyond reminding you of the f

I suppose my expres

hat type cannot possibly have lived with these people without learning some

said, slowly. "No, I supp

ave that side of the enquiry in

d began to st

he, "we have an unobstru

gray structure, with its geometrical rows of w

ch is monotonous, and an unimaginative scheme of decoration which makes them all seem alike, are airy and well lighted, eminently sane and substa

yonder up the slope I can see the corner of what

eplied. "Yes, from this point a little more of

ence, passing a gardener who touched his cap respectfully and to whom I thought at first my companion was about to address some remark. Harley passed on, however, still occupied,

rview the swans," h