Page:Raymond Spears--Diamond Tolls.djvu/211

 she recognized even out of the corner of her eyes. It was Macrado's boat, and Gost was at the wheel. Urleigh was sitting back in the cockpit watching her from under the brim of his gray felt hat.

She knew their purpose instantly. They were on the trail of the diamonds. They would not rest until they knew the truth about them. What else they had in mind she did not know or care. It was enough for her to know that her instinct had truly spoken when she trembled for the safety of the man whom she had sent, all unawares, with such a treasure in his possession as a prince might carry.

Immediately she threw down her paper, and beckoned to the two, who could not have been more surprised. Gost hesitated, but Urleigh, more interested in the story he was following down, suggested the turn of the wheel that brought the boat alongside her own.

She threw a rope, and in half a minute the two craft were moored side by side in a most amicable way.

"Won't you boys tell me frankly what your game is?" she asked, with an expression of grave anxiety. "There's something I want to know—and there's something you want to know. Won't you talk right out?"

Gost flinched under that demand. He could have slid from under almost any other attack, but his mind did not work in direct lines. Urleigh took the voice:

"This is it; I am a reporter"