24 
LAND & WATER 
March i, 191 7 
{Continued from f^a^e 2 :) 
" I think that there was a struggle, lliiit 'ia-HMn \\.i> 
wounded and that Simeon. . . ." 
" That Simeon escajx-d ? 
' Or else was killed. However, we shall know ail-about it 
in a few minutes." 
He set the ladder against the railing at the top of the 
wall. Patrice climbed o\rr with Don Luis' assistance. Then, 
stepping over the railing in his turn, Don Luis drew up the 
ladder, threw it into the garden, and made a careful e.vamina- 
tion. Finally, they turned their stejis, through the tall 
grasses and bushy shrubs, towards the lodge. 
The davlight was increasing rapidly and the outlines of 
e\ervthing were becoming clearer, the two men walked 
nnmd the lodge, Don Luis leading the way. When he came 
in sight of the yard, on the street side, he turned and said : 
I was right." 
And he ran forward. 
Outside the hall-door lay the bodies of the two adversaries, 
clutching each other in a confused heai). Ya-Bon had a 
horrible wound in the head, from which blood was flowing. 
With his right hand he held Simeon by the throat. 
Don Luis at once perceived that Ya-Bon was dead and 
Sim-Jon Diodokis alive. 
CHAPTER XVII 
Simeon Gives Battle 
IT took them some time to loosen Ya-Bon's grip. Even 
in death, the Senegalese did not let go his prey : and 
his fingers, hard as iron and armed with nails piercing 
a a tiger's claws, dug into the neck of the enemy, who 
lav gurgling, deprived of consciousness and strength. 
Don Luis caught sight of Simeon's revolver on the cobbles 
of the yard : 
" It was lucky for you, you old ruffian," he said, in a low 
voice. " that Ya-Bon did not have time,to squeeze the breath 
out of you before you tired that shot. But I wouldn't chortle 
overmuch, if I were you. He might perhaps have spared 
you. whereas, now that Ya-Bon's dead, you can write to 
vour family and book your seat below. De profundi^. 
r,iodokis ! " And, giving way to his grief, he added, " Poor 
V"a-Bon! He saved me from a honible death one day in 
.\frica ... and to-day he dies by my orders, so to 
speak. iMy poor Ya-Bon \ ' 
" We'll inform the police this evening, captain, when the 
drama is finished. For the moment, it's amatter of avenging 
him and the others." 
He thereupon applied himself to making a minute inspection 
of the scene of the struggle, after which he went back to Ya- 
Bon and then to Simeon, whose clothes he examined closely. 
Patrice was face to face with his terrible enemy, whom he 
had propped against the wall of the lodge and was con- 
templating in silence, with a fixed stare of hatred. Simeon 1 
Simeon I.)iodokis, the execrable demon who, two days before, 
had hatched the terrible plot and, l:)ending over the skylight 
had laughed as he watciied their awful agony ! SiiiKon 
Diodokis, who, like a wild beast, had hidden Coralie in some 
hole, so that he might go back and torture her at his ease I 
He seeme J to be in pain and to breathe with great difficulty. 
His wind-pipe had no doubt been injured by Ya-Bon's clutch. 
His yellow spectacles had fallen off during the fight. A pair 
of thick, grizzled eyebrows lowered about his heavy hds. 
" Search him, captain," said Don Luis. 
But, as Patrice seemed to shrink from the task, he himself 
felt in Simeon's jacket and produced a pocket-book, which 
he handed to the officer. 
It contained first of all a registration card, in the name of 
Simeon Diodokis, (ireek subject, with iiis photograph gummed 
to it. The photograph was a recent one, taken with the 
spectacles, the comforter and the long hair, and bore a police 
stamp dated December 1014. There was a collection of 
business documents, invoices and rriemoranda, addressed to 
Simeon as Essares Bey's secretary, and, among these papers, 
a letter from Amcdce \"acherot, running as follows : 
" De.\r M. Simeon, 
'' I have succeeded. A young friend of mine has taken a 
snapshot of Mme. Essares and Patrice at the hospital, at a 
moment when they were talking together. I am so glad to 
be able to gratify you. But when will you tell your dear son 
the truth ? . How delighted he will be when he hears it '. " 
At the foot of the letter were a few won' ■ in Simeon's 
hand, a sort of personal note ; 
" Once more, I solemnly pledge myself not to reveal any- 
thing to my dearly-beloved son until Corahe, my bride, is 
avenged and until Patrice and Coralie Essares are free to 
love each other and to marry." 
[To be continued.) 
