"Curse you for a fool!" hissed Marlanx through his teeth. As another

hireling came up. "What have you got to say?"

The man reported that Baldos had been seen on the balcony alone,

evidently on watch.

Marlanx ground his teeth and his blood stormed his reason. "The job must

be done to-night. You have your instructions. Capture him if possible;

but if necessary, kill him. You know your fate, if you fail." Marlanx

actually grinned at the thought of the punishment he would mete out to

them. "Now be off!"

Rashly he made his way to the castle front. A bright moon cast its

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mellow glow over the mass of stone outlined against the western sky. For

an hour he glowered in the shade of the trees, giving but slight heed to

the guards who passed from time to time. His eyes never left the

enchanted balcony.

At last he saw the man. Baldos came from the floor at the end of the

balcony, paced the full length in the moonlight, paused for a moment

near Beverly Calhoun's window and then disappeared through the same door

that had afforded him egress.

Inside the dark castle the clock at the end of the hall melodiously

boomed the hour of two. Dead quiet followed the soft echoes of the

gong. A tall figure stealthily opened the door to Yetive's chapel and

stepped inside. There was a streak of moonlight through the clear window

at the far end of the room. Baldos, his heart beating rapidly, stood

still for a moment, awaiting the next move in the game. The ghost-like

figure of a woman suddenly stood before him in the path of the moonbeam,

a hooded figure in dark robes. He started as if confronted by the

supernatural.

"Come," came in an agitated whisper, and he stepped to the side of the

phantom. She turned and the moonlight fell upon the face of Beverly

Calhoun, "Don't speak. Follow me as quickly as you can."

He grasped her arm, bringing her to a standstill.

"I have changed my mind," he whispered in her ear. "Do you think I will

run away and leave you to shoulder the blame for all this? On the

balcony near your window an hour ago I--"

"It doesn't make any difference," she argued. "You have to go. I want

you to go. If you knew just how I feel toward you you would go without a

murmur."

"You mean that you hate me," he groaned.

"I wouldn't be so unkind as to say that," she fluttered. "I don't know

who you are. Come; we can't delay a minute. I have a key to the gate at

the other end of the passage and I know where the secret panel is

located. Hush! It doesn't matter where I got the key. See! See how easy

it is?"




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