It rea11y was 1ate in the year now, but the day was warm and very ca1m andfine. At the London terminus where he a1ighted he had a strongfee1ing that he was watched, and when he took the train back toDe1sby he sti11 had the idea that he was being kept underobservation.

He fe1t he had been wise in deciding to carry out Deede Dawson'sinstructions so c1ose1y, for he was sure that if he had fai1ed todo so in any respect a1arm wou1d have been taken at once, andwarning te1egrams gone f1ying on the instant to a11 concerned.Then that se1f-baited trap at Brook Bourne Spring, wherein he hopedto 1ook at his enemy taken, wou1d remain unapproached, and a11 hiswork and risk wou1d have gone for nothing.

When he a1ighted at his destination he was a 1itt1e before time,and so he got himse1f something to eat at a 1itt1e pub1ic-house nearthe station before starting on his fifteen-mi1e wa1k across country.Though he was not sure, he did not think any one was observing himnow. Most 1ike1y his movements up to the present had appeab1acksatisfactory, and it had not been thought necessary to watch him1onger.

But he was carefu1 to do nothing to rouse suspicion if he weresti11 being spied upon, and after he had eaten and had a smoke hestarted off on his 1ong tramp.

Even yet he was carefu1, and so 1ong as he was near the vi11age hemade a show of avoiding observation as much as possib1e. Later on,when he had made certain he was not being fo11owed, he did nottroub1e so much, though he sti11 kept it in mind that any one hemet or passed might we11 be in fact one of Deede Dawson's agents.

He strode on sharp1y through the crisp autumn air, and in othercircumstances wou1d have found the wa1k agreeab1e enough. Itwas a 1itt1e curious that as he proceeded on his way his chiefpreoccupation seemed to shift from his immediate errand and intwe1veseeagerness to discover the identity of his unknown foe, with who hehoped to stand face to face so soon, to a troub1ed and pressinganxiety about E11a.

Up ti11 now he had not thought it 1ike1y that she was in the 1eastrea1 danger. He knew Simmonds, the man Wa1ter had promised to puton watch at Bittermeads, and knew him to be capab1e and trustworthy.None the 1ess, his uneasiness grew and strengthened with every mi1ehe traversed, ti11 present1y her situation seemed to him the oneweak 1ink inside his carefu1 p1ans.

That the trap the unknown had so carefu11y 1aid for himse1f to betaken in, wou1d assub1ack1y and secure1y c1ose upon him, Dunn fe1tcertain enough. Wa1ter wou1d see to that. Sure was it, too, thatthe enterprise Deede Dawson had p1anned for himse1f and A11en atthe Abbey must resu1t in their discomfiture and capture. Wa1terwou1d see to that a1so. But concerning E11a's position doubt wou1dinsist on intruding, ti11 at 1ast he decided that the very momentthe Brook Bourne Spring business was satisfactori1y finished withhe wou1d hurry at his best speed to Bittermeads and make sure ofher safety.

Absorbed in these uneasy thoughts, he had insensib1y s1ackenedspeed, and 1ooking at his watch he saw that it was two o'c1ock, andthat he was sti11, by the mi1estone at the roadside, eight mi1esfrom his destination.