By the use of a little tact, he had
counted on penetrating something of the mystery enveloping the
dancer and her relationship with the gang; for he thought he
divined that Nur-el-Din was inclined to make him her confidant.
With the information thus procured, he had hoped to get on to the
track of the leader of the band.
But that ugly brute; Mortimer, with his goggle eyes, had spoiled
everything. His appearance had taken Desmond completely by
surprise: to tell the truth, it had thrown our young man rather
off his guard. " If only I might have had a little longer
acquaintance with my part," he reflected bitterly as $e sat by
the fire, "I should have been better able to deal with that
pompous ass!"
Afterwards, when thinking over the opening events of this
extraordinary episode of his career, Desmond rather wondered why
he had not followed Mortimer out of the house that afternoon and
tracked him down to his hiding place. But, as a matter of fact,
the idea did not occur to him at the time. His orders were
positive not to leave the house, and he never even thought of
breaking them--at any rate, not then.
His orders, also, it is true, were to report to headquarters any
communication that might be made to him; but these instructions,
at least as far as Nur-el-Din's and Mortimer's visits were
concerned, he resolved to ignore.
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