His Unknown Wife (Paperback)

Excerpt: ...face sideways to try and discern the other man's features. "Yes," said Maseden promptly. "There need be no mystery about it now. I got into trouble in Cartagena, shot the president-elect, and escaped in the disguise of a Spanish cowboy." "Gee " exclaimed Sturgess. For some reason best known to himself he displayed no further curiosity in the matter, though he might well have wondered how Madge Forbes had come to identify that picturesque-looking person, Ramon Aliones, with the American whose exploits had set all Cartagena agog the day before the Southern Cross sailed. There was an uncomfortable pause, which Maseden broke by a laugh. "So you see, Mr. Sturgess, I owed you a good turn, though you never guessed it. By your kindness in letting me carry your bag and share your boat I got away from my pursuers without attracting attention." "Gee " said Sturgess again. His comment probably denoted bewilderment. It may also have shown that the speaker had just ascertained something which supplied food for thought. In the half light Maseden allowed himself to smile, because the conceit instantly Pg 170 leaped into his mind that his fellow-countryman might have been told of that amazing marriage, and was now engaged in fitting together certain pieces of the puzzle. If, for instance, Sturgess suspected that Madge Forbes was the lady who figured in that extraordinary episode, he must realize that in paying her such marked attention during the voyage he had placed himself, if not her, in a somewhat equivocal position. "I had reason to believe that the captain recognized me," went on Maseden. "Probably that is how Miss Forbes came to hear my name." "Miss Forbes " There was no mistaking the new note of surprise, even of annoyance, in Sturgess's voice. He was gathering information at a rapid rate, and evidently found some difficulty in assimilating it....