He sat there dreaming, with a burned-out cigar between his teeth, and his eyes idly wandering over the blue Mediterranean. Suddenly the stillness was broken by the sound of a soft gliding footstep close at hand. He had heard no one approach, yet when he looked up quickly he found he was no longer alone. A man in the garb of a native peasant was standing by his side.
Naturally the Englishman was a little surprised. He half rose from his seat, and then resumed it as he recognized the dark, swarthy face and black eyes of the waiter who had told him Adrienne Cartuccio's name.
"Hullo! What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I was in search of the Signor!" was the hasty response. "For an hour I have sought him everywhere, and now it is by chance that I am successful."
The Englishman looked at him with suspicion. This change of dress was doubtless for the purpose of disguise. What was the meaning of it?
"Well, and now you've found me, what do you want?" he asked, watching him closely.
"I will tell the Signor. Is it not that he has an admiration for Mademoiselle Cartuccio, the singer? Well, she is in danger! It is for the Signor to rescue her."
The Englishman sprang up with sparkling eyes, and pitched his dead cigar into the sea.
"In danger!" he repeated breathlessly. "Quick! Tell me where!"
"Do you see that belt of white road there, leading up into the hills?"
"Have you noticed anything pass along it?"
"There was a heavy cart or carriage and some mules, I think, went by half an hour ago."
"It was an hour, Signor, but no matter! Step back with me into the shadow of those olive trees. That is better. Now we cannot be seen, and I will explain."
The Englishman beat the ground with his foot.
"Explanations be damned!" he exclaimed. "Where is Mademoiselle Cartuccio? Quick!"
The man held up his hands, and spoke more rapidly.
"This evening I heard by accident of a plot to carry off Signorina Cartuccio by a rejected suitor. I hasten to inform the police, but on the way I pause. I say to myself, what shall I get for my pains, and for the risk I run? Nothing! Then I think of the Signor. I watched his face when the Signorina pass by, and I say to myself he has the passion of her. If I show him the way to save her he will be generous. He will win the lady, and he will reward poor Andrea."