Adventure Magazine Cover — page 150: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

906 ter. The assurance and the—the impu- dence with which Jovan had carried through his little stratagem was, to her Western ideas, a revelation of the ease and imagina- tion employed by a master of intrigue. Agnew was coming across the square with long, determined strides. ‘‘ Now—if you are ready?” he said simply. He spoke to Uiko in Turkish, motidning him to land. With an air of acquiescent surprise the fisherman scrambled ashore. : Katrine rose, looking questioningly at Jovan. And he wheeled to meet her gaze with eyes which had been fastened on Gessi’s still unopened door. He shook his head slightly. His glance plead eloquently for delay. She looked back at him, at a loss. Where was she to find a cause of delay? Agnew she saw waiting for her—waiting with evi- dences of growing surprise. Jovan sud- denly blew his nose with a resounding blast. Over the top of a vast square of silk he looked significantly at Katrine’s pocket. Comprehension—or inspiration—came. She began to fumble for her own handkerchief. “Thavelostit,” she announced. “Ifyou will wait one minute——” She madeastep in the direction of the hut. And then Lucia Gessi strolled slowly out into the piazza. Katrine smiled and suddenly produced a ridiculous square of linen and lace. “How stupid of me—it was there all the time!” She walked quickly toward the wharf-edge and held out her hand. Agnew, after an inappreciable moment of delay, seized the proffered fingers and handed her to her seat. He sat down, put the oars in the rowlocks, and pulled slowly and strongly toward the open water. () wharf-edge. She reviewed the scene without comment. Katrine’s back was toward her. An obstruction—a mud- bank or mass of weeds—appeared to im- pede the boat’s progress and the rower stood up to use the pole. His height, the massive power expressed in the swell of his thews and muscles, the ease with which he thrust the boat over or through the ob- stacle, these things all spoke eloquently to the three watchers. A little murmur of admiration escaped the lips of Uiko and the Albanian. The latter spoke, deferentially. “They are full of power—the American cavaliers. LUCIA GESSI appeared at the Adventure Nothing stops them—nothing holds them, signorina.”’ Lucia turned and looked at him. ‘‘ Where is his business taking him?” she demanded. “To the Albanian shore?”’ Jovan smiled significantly. ‘“‘This is not his hour for business, signorina. It is his way of seeking—relaxation. The signor Proprietor’s daughter, as you see, is with him.” He continued to smile, the compla- cent smile of the man who desires to hint more than his words convey. She nodded. ‘‘I have eyes,” she an- swered. “A servant always does well to pleasure a master’s daughter. His own re- laxation?’’ She smiled, in her turn, with a sort of indolent confidence. ‘That is an- other matter,”’ she concluded. Jovan shrugged his shoulders. ‘“‘ Possi- bly you are right, signorina,” he allowed. “But if it is business he conducts it with very convincing effect.” | Agnew, indeed, had leaned forward and was arranging his coat about Katrine’s knees. The fisherman chuckled. “A love- affair conducted in my Jondra!’’ he com- mented. “I have confronted a strange matter or two within the last few weeks, but this comes nearest to surprising me— who am never surprised.” Lucia darted a look at the fisherman, sud- denly, suspiciously. ‘‘What does he say?” she demanded. Jovan smiled again. “He is simple enough to see in this business a love-episode, signorina,”’ he answered. ‘He is not a man of education—this. He jumps at conclu- sions.”’ She stared at him, her brows meeting in the fierceness of her frown. With childlike directness the Albanian stared back. Then the passion in her face relaxed into mere contempt. She turned her shoulder toward the lake and strolled indolently, carelessly back across the piazza. She reentered her father’s house without a backward look. Jovan’s smile followed her with ample self-complacence. CHAPTER XX AMONG THE RUSHES 1* JOVAN and Uiko could have overheard as well as seen, their interpretation of a simple incident would have been less satis- fying to their self-confidence. Agnew had C© MICLMOOKS (©