The crest of a wave combed over the upper works and pounded the solid
beams and planks of the cabin until they creaked. The ship lifted
somewhat as the sea enveloped her.
"Oh, this is awful!" shrieked Isobel. "If I must die, let me die
quickly. I shall go mad."
"Calm yourself, dear. There must be an end of our sufferings soon.
Perhaps we may escape even yet."
"Yes, I know. If any one is saved it will be you. You left me down
there to take my chance among those fiends. You have been here hours,
with your precious captain, no doubt. Were he looking after his ship
this might not have happened. . . . Why did I ever come on this
wretched vessel? And with you, who ran away from Ventana! I should
have been warned by it. When he could work me no other evil he sent
you. . . . Oh, you have taken a fine vengeance, Pedro Ventana! May
you be denied mercy as I am denied it now! . . . Go away! If you
touch me I shall strike you. I hate you! I tell you I am losing my
senses. Do you wish me to tear your face with my nails?"
Elsie, who would have soothed her distraught friend with a loving hand,
drew back in real fear that she was confronted by a maniac. The utter
outrageousness of this new infliction brought tears to her eyes. Yet
she choked back her grief for the sake of the others.
"Isobel, darling, please try to control yourself," she pleaded. "Don't
say such cruel things to me. You cannot mean them. I would do
anything to serve you. I am more sorry for you than for myself. I
have little to bind me to this life, whereas you have everything.
Indeed, indeed, I have not been away from you many minutes."
Another heavy sea pitched on board. The Kansas trembled and listed
suddenly. Isobel screamed shrilly, and burst into a storm of dry-eyed
sobs. Her mood changed instantly into one of abject submission. She
sprang towards Elsie with hands outstretched.
"Oh, save me, save me!" she wailed. "God knows I am not fit to die!"
There are some noble natures which find strength in the need to comfort
the weakness of others. Elsie drew the distracted girl close to her,
and placed an arm round her neck.
"It is not for us to say when we shall die," she murmured. "Let us try
to be resigned. We must bear our misfortunes with Christian faith and
hope. Somehow, I feel that I have endured so much to-night that death
looks less terrible now. Perhaps that is because it is so near. To
me, the specter seems to be receding."
"Did the captain tell you we had any chance of escape, señorita?" asked
the Spanish maid.