up the subject of the cryptic and quite incredible message in the _Alexiad_. "Ah, it is a mystification," said Appolonius genially. "It is also, I think, an intended swindle. But Mr. Mannard has spoken to the police. They will inquire into those persons. It would be unprofessional for me to interfere!" Coghlan said shortly: "Not if it's a scheme for a swindle." "That," acknowledged Appolonius, "disturbs me. As you know, I have recently received a large sum from a source that would surprise you, to bribe my people to freedom. I do not like to be associated with downright scoundrels! Therefore I stand aside--lest it be considered that I am a scoundrel too!" Coghlan turned away, considering. This was not a cheerful day for him. He doggedly would not go back to Laurie. It had cost him a great deal to make the decision he'd made. He wouldn't change it. There was no use talking to her. Thinking about her made him miserable. He tried, for a time, to put his mind on the matter of 80 Hosain; to imagine some contrivance, possible to the ancients, which would amount to apparatus to produce cold. In Babylonia the ancients had known that a shallow tray, laid upon blankets, would radiate heat away at night and produce a thin layer of ice by morning on a completely windless and cloudless night. The heat went on out to empty space, and the blanket kept more heat from rising out of the earth. But Istanbul was hardly a place of cloudlessness. That wouldn't work here. The ancients hadn't understood it, anyhow. He gave it up. The yacht drew nearer to the shore as the Sea of Marmora expanded from the Bosphorus. It tied up to a rickety wharf, with seemingly innumerable sailors clumsily achieving the landing. Mannard went ashore to inspect the proposed campsite. Sailors carted ashore vast numbers of baskets, folding tables, and the other apparatus for an al fresco luncheon. Coghlan smoked dourly on the yacht's deck. Laurie went ashore, and he sat still, feeling as ridiculous as a sulking child. Presently he wandered across the wharf and moved about at random while the lunch was spread out. When the exploring party came back, Coghlan allowed himself to be seated--next to Laurie. She casually ignored their recent discussion and chatted brightly. He sank into abysmal gloom. The matter of the proposed children's camp was discussed at length in at
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