"Did he? He has keen scent."
"Better now," said Saxham laughing, "than when he came to me—on the recommendation of an old patient—suffering from an aggravated form of nasal catarrh. He had had it at intervals for years, and suspected it to be owing to what he described, in the language of the engineering-shop, as "a defect in the air-intake." He proved to be right—and I sent him into the Hospital, where Berry Boyle performed a slight minor operation which removed the trouble, and left him capitally fit. Then, when he came out of the Hospital, he found a letter from the French Consul waiting at his office——"
The Chief interpolated:
"Ah yes. The aërial stabiliser had gained the suffrages of Messieurs the Chiefs of the Aëronautique Française. I hope M. Jourdain's report to his Government will induce them to buy the patent. For, judging by the interest that the representatives of another Power seem to take in——"
The Chief broke off. The smiling lines about his eyes and mouth had vanished as he queried: "Who is the lady my Scout over there is squiring? A superbly-shaped young woman, with hair of the fashionable terra-cotta shade. But for the hair, I should have said it was your niece, Patrine."
Saxham's eyes followed the direction of the Chief's glance. He said, and his face looked hard as a mask of stone:
"Your memory for faces is correct as usual. The lady with the terra-cotta hair is my late brother's daughter, Patrine."
The Chief's familiar whistle filled in a space of silence, with a pensive little fragment of Delius' Spring Song, while Saxham's frown grew deeper and his jaw thrust out more angrily. Then the well-known voice said:
"I am sorry that Miss Patrine has been tempted to follow the fashion. But I regret still more her choice of friends! I refer to the German officer in whose company your niece arrived here, in a yellow Darracq car, about half-an-hour ago." The speaker made sure, with a rapid glance to right and left, that no listener was standing near them, and added: "I know that I may trust you as myself in any private or official matter. Between ourselves frankly, I am here to-day for the purpose of—keeping an eye on this particular man!"
The Doctor's vivid blue eyes darted rapier-points at the other, from caves that had suddenly been dug about them. The General went on: