The Gold of the Gods

the four pieces of paper on which the warning had been gi

mourning dress, the unnatural pallor of her face heightening the wonderful lu

placing an easy-chair for her. "But I'm glad to

ia which Craig had collected in his scientific warfare on cri

happened. You told me to call on yo

pparent that, whatever it was, she had known it all the time

ought of somethin

he went on: "I don't know whether you know it or not, b

odded enc

nger able to choose her words, but blurting the thing out di

d at her own temerity, evidently. Kennedy and his twen

w it. But it was some kind of family secret, for he never told me. Once wh

y have something to do

draw out anything

or of mine murdered and now, hundreds of years afterward, my father, the last of his li

fessor Norton?" shot out Kennedy, not unkindly, but

me for that," sh

here finally to tell me. Indeed, it is strange. Surely you must have some other

eyes, as if he would read what was passing in her m

d say that he had beco

hitney, down in Wall

om her face as he sought to extr

" she went on slowly. "He has given large sums to scholars down there, to Pr

ace, which had been pale from the strain of the tragedy, was now f

him-why?" a

ing said so much, she seemed to feel

knew." A sudden flash of fire seemed to light up her dark ey

xplained incident of our first interview. "Who is this Senora de

ndian family," she repl

rom her. "She has come

r-you met him. He is

ersi

es of mother and son. Evidently there was some feud, some barrier

so de Moche." He was, as he had told us, a post-graduate student in the

her knew the Seno

a low voice, "he had ha

they were; I do not kno

did not belong to the

ma

Spanish descent and the descendants of the Indians. That, however, could not acc

a friend of Mr. Whit

he de Moches live at the Prince Edward Albert Hotel, and Mr. Whitn

dy. "You know Mr.

swered. "Of course, I h

my father has been dow

know much about him, ex

call a p

so even than Norton had been. But I could not help feeling that she was trying to s

n as possible," said Kennedy, as she r

ez, although she had not t

nedy repeated his injunction to tell everything that ha

e," he considered, when we wer

pose that woman could be usi

ee both of them as soon as possible. Meanwhile, that message from Dr. Leslie about the poison interests me. I must at least

gaged tapping my typewriter. Suddenly I became conscious of that feeling, which Kennedy had hinted at, of being watc

y chair. I am sure that I caught just a fleeting glimpse of a

rehead was just enough to give me the impression that they were familiar, without enabling me to identify them. At any r

ill, the more I thought about it, the more determined I was to try to verify an indistinct sus

day, must have attended a lecture an hour or so before. Having nothing else

eemed to run along the line of engineering, and particularly mining. I could not help coming to the conclusi

. He seemed to have little or nothing to do with the other students outside of class work. Altogether he was an enigma, as far as the social life of the University went. It

e had employed at least a part of his time lately in spying on us. Perhaps he had seen Inez going in and out. Suddenly it flashed over me that the interchange of glances betwee

at with Norton. I found him nervously pacing up and down the littl

g in his measured tread. "It seems inconceivable to me that any one

, relating to him wh

at," he acquiesced, "and I have

tance above the ground, I saw now that he had closed and barred them at the expense of ventilat

see, I've lived among them. They are a hot-blooded race. Besides, as you perhaps have read

the dagger had something to do with the

-yes," he replied. "But, as I told you, I have had no chance to read the

s deeply interested in South America, may have had some inkl

"I hadn't thought of that," he admitte

not yet spoken about it. Was it through loyalty to the man who

e Moche well?" I vent

l," he repl

you think

woman," he replie

ere interested in Peru knew her," I pursued

could not help admiring his caution, I found that it was most exaspera

quite make out, though, why the Senorita should have such an ob

n. I don't think she would have stopped at much to advance his interests. You must have noticed how much Alfonso thinks of the Senorita. But I don't think there was

get some glimmering

retty well now, does

But he could not have acquiesce

Whitney know best wh

Why don't you and Kenn

you know. I dislike ta

ess opinions about thin

hat the subjects I had broached were worth looki

hen it comes to the case of the Senorita. All's fair, they say, in love and war. If I am any judge, there are both in this case, somewhere. I think you h

had given, and after chatting a few mo

g. Nothing further occurred, however, to excite m

he laboratory and Craig entered. He had thrown off his old, aci

t anything about t

ange poison-an alkaloid, I'm sure, but not one that one ordinarily encounters

I related what had happened, both Norton's conversation and ab

do a little more outside work now, while we have a chance. If you are ready, so am I. I want to see what sort of tre