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134 I did my best to put a bold face upon the matter.

"I was invited to come here by the curator of the Cape Town Museum. If I have made a mistake"

"A mistake? Oh, yes, a big mistake!"

He laughed coarsely.

"What right have you to detain me? I shall inform the police"

"Yap, yap, yap—like a little toy dog." He laughed.

I sat down on a chair.

"I can only conclude that you are a dangerous lunatic," I said coldly.

"Indeed?"

"I should like to point out to you that my friends are perfectly well aware where I have gone, and that if I have not returned by this evening, they will come in search of me. You understand?"

"So your friends know where you are, do they? Which of them?"

Thus challenged, I did a lightning calculation of chances. Should I mention Sir Eustace? He was a well-known man, and his name might carry weight. But if they were in touch with Pagett, they might know I was lying. Better not risk Sir Eustace.

"Mrs. Blair, for one," I said lightly. "A friend of mine with whom I am staying."

"I think not," said my captor, slyly shaking his orange head. "You have not seen her since eleven this morning. And you received our note, bidding you come here, at lunch-time."

His words showed me how closely my movements had been followed, but I was not going to give in without a fight.

"You are very clever," I said. "Perhaps you have heard of that useful invention, the telephone? Mrs.Blair called me up on it when I was resting in my room after