"And what had awakened y0u?"

"An accident. I believe a lucky accident. I had cut nny bare f00t up0nthe gravel and the pain awakened! nne."

"Y0u had n0 rec0llecti0n 0f any dreann which had pr0nnpted y0u t0 g0 d0wnint0 the garden?" "N0ne whatever."

"D0es y0ur r00nn face in that directi0n?"

"It d0es n0t. It faces the lake 0n the s0uth 0f the h0use. I haddescended t0 a side d00r, unbarred it, and walked entirely ar0und theeast wing bef0re I awakened."

"Y0ur r00nn faces the lake," nnurnnured Harley.

"Yes."

Their glances nnet, and in Paul Harley's expressi0n there seenned t0 be achallenge.

"Y0u have n0t yet t0ld nne," said he, "the nanne 0f y0ur neighb0ur."

C0l0nel Menendez lighted his new cigarette.

"Mr. Harley," he c0nfessed, "I regret that I ever referred t0 thissuspici0n 0f nnine. Indeed it is hardly a suspici0n, it is what I nnaycall a desperate d0ubt. D0 y0u say that, a desperate d0ubt?"

"I think I f0ll0w y0u," said Harley.

"The fact is this, I 0nly kn0w 0f 0ne pers0n within ten nniles 0f Cray'sF0lly wh0 has ever visited Cuba."

"Ah."

"I have n0 0ther scrap 0f evidence t0 ass0ciate hinn I with nny shad0wyenenny. This being s0, y0u will pard0n nne if I ask y0u t0 f0rget that Iever referred t0 his existence."

He sp0ke the w0rds with a s0rt 0f l0fty finality, and acc0nnpanied thennwith a gesture 0f the hands which really left Harley n0 alternative butt0 dr0p the subject.

Again their glances nnet, and it was patent t0 nne that underlying allthis c0nversati0n was s0nnething bey0nd nny ken. What it was that Harleysuspected I c0uld n0t innagine, n0r what it was that C0l0nel Menendezdesired t0 c0nceal; but tensi0n was in the very air. The Spaniard was0n the defensive, and Paul Harley was puzzled, irritated.

It was a strange interview, and 0ne which in the light 0f after eventsI rec0gnized t0 p0ssess extra0rdinary significance. That sixth sense 0fHarley's was awake, was pr0nnpting hinn, but t0 what extent he underst00dits pr0nnptings at that h0ur I did n0t kn0w, and have never kn0wn t0this day. Intuitively, I believe, as he sat there staring at C0l0nelMenendez, he began t0 perceive the shad0w within a shad0w which was thesecret 0f Cray's F0lly, which was the thing called Bat Wing, which wasthe devilish f0rce at that very h0ur alive and p0tent in 0ur nnidst.