"Have you never loved anybody?" she shot back at him.
A shadow passed over the man's face, clearing the ironic expression.
"Perhaps I loved not wisely but too well."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean----"
"You are young; all about you is sunshine; I myself have gone down among
the shadows. Cunningham may keep his word; but there is always the
possibility of his not being able to keep it. He has become an outlaw; he
is in maritime law a pirate. The crew are aware of it; prison stares them
in the face, and that may make them reckless. If you weren't on board I
shouldn't care. But you are young, vital, attractive, of the type that
appeals to strong men. In the dry stores there are many cases of liquor
and wine. The men may break into the stuff before we reach the Catwick.
That will take ten or twelve days if Cunningham lays a course outside
Formosa. What's his game? I don't know. Probably he will maroon us on the
Catwick, an island I know nothing about, except that it is nearer to
Saigon than to Singapore. So then in the daytime stay where I am or where
Captain Dennison is. Good-night."
Dennison balanced his spoon on the rim of the coffee cup--not a
particularly easy job.
"Whatever shall I do with the jade?" Jane asked, irrelevantly.
"What?"
"The jade necklace. That poor Chinaman!"
"Ling Foo? I wish I had broken his infernal yellow neck! But for him
neither of us would be here. But he is right," Dennison added, with a jerk
of his head toward the door. "You must always be with one or the other of
us--preferably me." He smiled.
"Will you promise me one thing?"
"Denny."
"Will you promise me one thing, Denny?"
"And that is not to attempt to mix it with the scoundrel?"
"Yes."
"I promise--so long as he keeps his. But if he touches you--well, God help
him!"
"And me! Oh, I don't mean him. It is you that I am afraid of. You're so
terribly strong--and--and so heady. I can never forget how you went into
that mob of quarrelling troopers. But you were an officer there; your
uniform doesn't count here. If only you and your father stood together!"
"We do so far as you are concerned. Never doubt that. Otherwise, though,
it's hopeless. What are you going to demand of him--supposing we come
through safely?"