At last the sounds of conflict died away. The black waters closed over

the dead; the last swimmer vanished into the silence. The spasmodic

barking of the dog, the groaning of men lying on the decks and the

shouts exchanged between Courtenay and Gray for the guidance of the

boats, were the only remaining symbols of the fiercest crisis which had

yet befallen the Kansas.

Elsie, wandering through a trance-like maze of vivid impressions, awoke

with a start to the fact that Courtenay was giving directions for the

lowering of the ship's gangway, meanwhile receiving information as to

the identity of the boats beneath.

"Mr. Malcolm is in charge of the jolly-boat," Gray was saying. "Miss

Baring and Mr. and Mrs. Somerville are with him. Miss Baring's maid is

dead. Señor Jerrera is in my boat, Number 2. We have been on White

Horse Island all this time, but we have seen nothing of the other

life-boat."

That meant that two boats out of those which quitted the ship had

arrived thus opportunely. Señor Jerrera was the Spanish mining

engineer who had been hustled into one of the craft manned by the

mutineers. And Isobel was actually sitting down there in the darkness

a few feet away. How wonderful it all was! Elsie thought her heart

would never cease its labored throbbing. Even yet her breath came in

little gasps. How could the captain and Gray talk so coolly, as if

some of the passengers and crew were returning on board the ship after

an evening ashore? It was the bedizened savages who now assumed

reality: the simple orders which dealt with the clearing of the falls

and the lowering of a ladder became wildly fantastic.

And Christobal was saying: "Well, Miss Maxwell, you and I can look forward to a busy night. The

ship is littered with wounded men, and our newly arrived friends must

be worn with fatigue."

His smooth, even sentences helped to dispel the stupor of amazement

which had made her dumb. And the first reasoned thought which came to

her was that the Spanish doctor had treated her with the kindness of an

indulgent parent, for Elsie was far too unselfish not to be alive to

the unselfishness of others.

"How good you have been to me!" she murmured. "I can never repay you.

I remember now that I said dreadful things to you in the saloon. But

you did not know what it meant to me when I realized that Captain

Courtenay might be falling even then beneath the blows of those

merciless savages. I have not had a chance to tell you that he has

asked me to be his wife, and I have consented. I love him more than

all the world. And you, Dr. Christobal, you who knew my father and

mother, who have grown-up daughters of your own, you will wish me

happiness?"




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024