"Perhaps he is engaged to some such young lady already?"

"Haven't heard so. You may be sure there's one waitin' for him

somewhere. I know. There's no dodgin' luck, good or bad. I thought

it was goin' to be that friend of yours, but she's off the register,

poor lass. There! I didn't mean that. I 'm an idiot, for sure. You

see, I don't talk much as a rule, Miss Maxwell, or I should know better

than to chin-wag like a blazin'--huh, like a babblin' fool."

Elsie turned her face aside when he mentioned Isobel. It seemed to her

sensitive soul an almost unfair thing that she should be gossiping

about trivialities when the girl who had commenced this unlucky voyage

in such high spirits was lying beneath that grim sea behind the smiling

headland. Yet she knew that Boyle meant no harm by his chatter. He

was weak from his wound, and perhaps a trifle light-headed as the

result of being brought from the stuffy saloon to the airy and sunlit

chart-room. So she crushed a sorrow that was unavailing, and strove to

put the sailor at his ease again.

"I do not find any harm in your remark," she said resolutely. "Were it

possible, I should have been very pleased to see Miss Baring married to

a man of strong character like Captain Courtenay. By the way, who is

keeping watch on deck?"

"The doctor was here with me until a few minutes ago. Then the skipper

telephoned him. I guess there is some one on the lookout, but you

might just cast an eye shorewards. I'm not supposed to move yet."

He wriggled uneasily in his chair, for the spirit was willing; but

Elsie made him lie quiet; she rearranged his pillow, and stepped on to

the bridge. By walking from port to starboard, and traversing the

short length of the spar deck, she could command a view of the bay and

of most parts of the ship. She heard the dog scuttling down the

companion; on reaching the after-rail, she saw the captain engaged in

earnest, low-toned conversation with Tollemache and Walker. They were

standing on the main deck near the engine-room door, and examining

something which resembled a lump of coal; she saw the engineer take

three similar lumps from a pocket.

Christobal appeared, carrying a bucket of water, into which the lumps

were placed by Walker, who handled them very gingerly. After a slight

delay, he began to crumble one in his fingers, still keeping it in the

water, until finally he drew forth what Elsie recognized at once as a

stick of dynamite. Though it was blackened by contact with the coal,

she was certain of its real nature. She had visited a great many

mines, and the officials always scared the ladies of the party by

telling them what would happen if the explosives' shed were to blow up.

She had even seen dynamite placed in the sun to dry, as it is very

susceptible to moisture, and she wondered, naturally enough, why such a

dangerous agent should be hidden in, or disguised as, a piece of coal.




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