"There's witchcraft in it," Maxine said, as she and her lover passed
within a few yards of me, where I hid behind a little arbour.
Du Laurier's answer was lost to me, but his voice sounded despondent.
Evidently they had mislaid something of importance and had small hope of
finding it again. I could not help being curious, as well as sorry for
Maxine that a further misfortune should have befallen her at such a
time. But the one and only way in which I could help her at the moment
was to get away as soon as possible.
They had left the gate unlocked, and I drew in a long breath of relief
when I was on the other side. I hurried out of the street, lest du
Laurier should, by any chance, follow on quickly: and my first thought
was to go immediately back to my hotel, where Girard might by now have
arrived with news. I was just ready to hail a cab crawling by at a
distance, when I remembered the bit of paper I'd found and put back into
my pocket. It occurred to me to have a look at it, by the light of a
street lamp near by; and the instant I had straightened out the small,
crumpled wad I guessed that here was a link in the mystery.
The paper was a leaf torn from a note-book and closely covered on both
sides with small, uneven writing done with a sharp black pencil.
Pages:
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
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