EIGHT YEARS LATER

       I.—­Bull Sternford
      II.—­Father Adam
     III.—­Bull learns conditions
      IV.—­Drawing the net
       V.—­The progress of Nancy
      VI.—­The lonely figure
     VII.—­The Skandinavia moves
    VIII.—­An affair of outposts
      IX.—­On the open sea
       X.—­In Quebec
      XI.—­Drawn Swords
     XII.—­At the chateau
    XIII.—­Deepening waters
     XIV.—­The planning of campaign
      XV.—­The sailing of the Empress
     XVI.—­On board the Empress
    XVII.—­The lonely figure again
   XVIII.—­Bull Sternford’s vision of success
     XIX.—­The hold-up
      XX.—­On the home trail
     XXI.—­The man in the twilight
    XXII.—­Dawn
   XXIII.—­Nancy
    XXIV.—­The coming of spring
     XXV.—­Nancy’s decision
    XXVI.—­The message
   XXVII.—­Lost in the twilight

THE MAN IN THE TWILIGHT

PART I

CHAPTER I

THE CRISIS

They sat squarely gazing into each other’s eyes.  Bat Marker had only one mood to express.  It was a mood that suggested determination to fight to a finish, to fight with the last ounce of strength, the last gasp of breath.  He was sitting at the desk, opposite his friend and employer, Leslie Standing, and his small grey eyes were shining coldly under his shaggy, black brows.  His broad shoulders were squared aggressively.

There was far less display in the eyes of Leslie Standing.  They were wide with a deep pre-occupation.  But then Standing was of very different type.  His pale face, his longish black hair, brushed straight back from an abnormally high forehead, suggested the face of a student, even a priest.  Harker was something of the roused bull-dog, strong, rugged, furious; a product of earth’s rough places.

“Give us that last bit again.”

Bat’s tone matched his attitude.  It was abrupt, forceful, and he thrust out a hand pointing at the letter from which the other had been reading.

Standing’s eyes lit with a shadow of a smile as he turned again to the letter.

“There’s just one thing more.  It’s less pleasant, so I’ve kept it till the last.  Hellbeam is in Quebec.  So is his agent—­the man Idepski.  My informant tells me he saw the latter leaving the steam-packet office.  It suggests things are on the move your way again.  However, my man is keeping tab.  I’ll get warning through at the first sign of danger.”

Standing looked up.  His half smile had gone.  There was doubt in his eyes, and the hand grasping the letter was not quite steady.  But when he spoke his tone was a flat denial of the physical sign that Bat had been quick to observe.

“Charlie Nisson’s as keen as a needle,” Standing said.  “His whisper’s a sight more than another fellow’s shout.”