Captain Plum laughed aloud and beat the bowl of his pipe on the tree beside him.

And the _girl_ lived there--or came from there to the woodland cabin so frequently that her feet had beaten a well-worn path.

Had the councilor lied to him?
Was the girl he had seen through the King's window one of the seven wives of Strang--or was she the wife of Obadiah Price?
The thought was one that thrilled him.

If the girl was the councilor's wife what was the motive of Obadiah's falsehood?
And if she was Strang's wife why had her feet--and hers alone with the exception of the old man's--worn this path from the lilac smothered house to the cabin in the woods?
The captain of the _Typhoon_ regretted now that he had given such explicit orders to Casey.

Otherwise he would have followed the figure that was already disappearing into the forest on the opposite side of the clearing.