initial commit of ebook 19539HEADmain

14 files changed, 33553 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/19539-8.txt b/19539-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..342fb75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9890 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Stowaway Girl
+
+Author: Louis Tracy
+
+Illustrator: Nesbit Benson
+
+Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19539]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STOWAWAY GIRL
+
+
+By
+
+LOUIS TRACY
+
+
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+THE WINGS OF THE MORNING, SON OF THE IMMORTALS, CYNTHIA'S CHAUFFEUR,
+THE MESSAGE, THE SILENT BARRIER, ETC.
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+
+NESBIT BENSON
+
+
+
+
+NEW YORK
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+PUBLISHERS
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1909, 1912,
+
+By EDWARD J. CLODE
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I.  THE "ANDROMEDA"
+   II.  WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE
+  III.  WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE
+   IV.  SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA"
+    V.  THE REFUGEES
+   VI.  BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC
+  VII.  CROSS PURPOSES
+ VIII.  THE RIGOR OF THE GAME
+   IX.  WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY
+    X.  ON THE HIGH SEAS
+   XI.  A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS
+  XII.  THE LURE OF GOLD
+ XIII.  THE NEW ERA
+  XIV.  CARMELA
+   XV.  SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT
+  XVI.  WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Hosier tightened a protective arm around her waist . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"Is that the Southern Cross?"
+
+"How did I come here?"
+
+"Well, gimme your 'and on it"
+
+A withering volley crashed through the window
+
+
+
+
+THE STOWAWAY
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE "ANDROMEDA"
+
+"Marry Mr. Bulmer!  That horrid old man!  Uncle, what _are_ you saying?"
+
+The girl sprang to her feet as if she were some timid creature of the
+wild aroused from sylvan broodings by knowledge of imminent danger.  In
+her terror, she upset the three wineglasses that formed part of the
+display beside each _couvert_ on the luncheon table.  One, rose-tinted
+and ornate, crashed to the floor, and the noise seemed to irritate the
+owner of Linden House more than his niece's shrill terror.
+
+"No need to bust up our best set of 'ock glasses just because I 'appen
+to mention owd Dickey Bulmer," he growled.
+
+The color startled so suddenly out of the girl's face began to return.
+Her eyes lost their dilation of fear.  Somehow, the comment on the
+broken glass seemed to deprive "owd Dickey Bulmer's" personality of its
+real menace.
+
+"I'm sorry," she said, and stooped to pick up the fragments scattered
+over the carpet.
+
+"Leave that alone," came the sharp order.  "So long as I've the brass
+to pay for 'em, there's plenty more where that kem from, an' in any
+case, it's the 'ousemaid's job.  Leave it alone, I tell you!  An' sit
+down.  It's 'igh time you an' me 'ad a straight talk, an' I can't do
+wi' folk bouncin' about like an injia-rubber ball when I've got things
+to say to 'em."
+
+He stretched a fat hand toward a mahogany cigar-box, affected to choose
+a cigar with deliberative crackling, hacked at the selection with a
+fruit knife, and dropped the severed end into an unused finger-bowl;
+then he struck a match, and puffed furiously until a rim of white ash
+tipped the brown.  This achieved, he helped himself to the port.
+Though he carefully avoided glancing at his companion, he knew quite
+well that she had drawn a chair to the opposite end of the table, and
+was looking at him intently; her chin was propped on her clenched
+hands; the skin on her white forehead was puckered into nervous lines;
+her lips, pressed close, had lost their Cupid's bow that seemed ever
+ready to bend into a smile.  Meanwhile, the man who had caused these
+signs of distress gulped down some of the wine, held the glass up to
+the light as a tribute to the excellence of its contents, darted his
+tongue several times in and out between his teeth, smacked his lips,
+replaced the cigar in his mouth, and leaned back in his chair until it
+creaked.
+
+Iris Yorke was accustomed to this ritual; she gave it the unobservant
+tolerance good breeding extends to the commonplace.  But to-day, for
+the first time during the two years that had sped so happily since she
+came back to Linden House from a Brussels _pension_, she found herself,
+even in her present trouble, wondering how it was possible that David
+Verity could be her mother's brother.  This coarse-mannered hog of a
+man, brother to the sweet-voiced, tender-hearted gentlewoman whose
+gracious wraith was left undimmed in the girl's memory by the lapse of
+years--it would be unbelievable if it were not true!  He was so gross,
+so tubby, so manifestly over-fed, whereas her mother had ever been
+elegant and _bien soignée_.  But he had shown kindness to her in his
+domineering way.  He was not quite so illiterate as his accent and his
+general air of uncouthness seemed to imply.  In his speech, the broad
+vowels of the Lancashire dialect were grafted on to the clipped
+staccato of a Cockney.  He would scoff at anyone who told him that
+knives and forks had precise uses, or that table-napkins were not meant
+to be tucked under the chin.  In England, especially in the provinces,
+some men of affairs cultivate these minor defects, deeming them tokens
+of bluff honesty, the hall-marks of the self-made; and David Verity
+thought, perhaps, that his pretty, well-spoken niece might be trusted
+to maintain the social level of his household without any special
+effort on his part.
+
+Shocked, almost, at the disloyalty of her thoughts, Iris tried to close
+the rift that had opened so unexpectedly.
+
+"It was stupid of me to take you seriously," she said.  "You cannot
+really mean that Mr. Bulmer wishes to marry me?"
+
+Verity screwed up his features into an amiable grin.  He pressed the
+tips of his fingers together until the joints bent backward.  When he
+spoke, the cigar waggled with each syllable.
+
+"I meant it right enough, my lass," he said.
+
+"But, uncle dear----"
+
+"Stop a bit.  Listen to me first, an' say your say when I've finished.
+Like everybody else, you think I'm a rich man.  David Verity, Esquire,
+ship-owner, of Linden House an' Exchange Buildings--it looks all right,
+don't it--like one of them furrin apples with rosy peel an' a maggot
+inside.  You're the first I've told about the maggot.  Fact is, I'm
+broke.  Ship-ownin' is rotten nowadays, unless you've lots of capital.
+I've lost mine.  Unless I get help, an' a thumpin' big slice of it, my
+name figures in the _Gazette_.  I want fifty thousand pounds, an' oo's
+goin' to give it to me?  Not the public.  They're fed up on shippin'.
+They're not so silly as they used to be.  I put it to owd Dickey
+yesterday, an' 'e said you couldn't raise money in Liverpool to-day to
+build a ferry-boat.  But 'e said summat else.  If you wed 'im, 'e makes
+you a partner in the firm of Verity, Bulmer an' Co.  See?  Wot's wrong
+with that?  I've done everything for you up to date; now it's your
+turn.  Simple, isn't it?  P'raps I ought to have explained things
+differently, but it didn't occur to me you'd hobject to bein' the wife
+of a millionaire, even if 'e is a doddrin' owd idiot to talk of
+marryin' agin."
+
+"Oh, uncle!"
+
+With a wail of despair, the girl sank back and covered her face with
+her hands.  Now that she believed the incredible, she could utter no
+protest.  The sacrifice demanded was too great.  In that bitter moment
+she would have welcomed poverty, prayed even for death, as the
+alternative to marriage with the man to whom she was being sold.
+
+Verity leaned over the table again and finished the glass of port.
+This time there was no lip-smacking, or other aping of the connoisseur.
+He was angry, almost alarmed.  Resistance, even of this passive sort,
+raised the savage in him.  Hitherto, Iris had been ready to obey his
+slightest whim.
+
+"There's no use cryin' 'Oh, uncle,' an' kicking up a fuss," he snapped
+viciously.  "Where would you 'ave bin, I'd like to know, if it wasn't
+for me?  In the gutter--that's where your precious fool of a father
+left your mother an' you.  You're the best dressed, an' best lookin',
+an' best eddicated girl i' Bootle to-day--thanks to me.  When your
+mother kem 'ere ten year ago, an' said her lit'rary gent of a 'usband
+was dead, neither of you 'ad 'ad a square meal for weeks--remember
+that, will you?  It isn't my fault you've got to marry Bulmer.  It's
+just a bit of infernal bad luck--the same for both of us, if it comes
+to that.  An' why shouldn't you 'ave some of the sours after I've given
+you all the sweets?  You'll 'ave money to burn; I'm not axin' you to
+give up some nice young feller for 'im.  If you play your cards well,
+you can 'ave all the fun you want----"
+
+The girl staggered to her feet.  She could endure the man's coarseness
+but not his innuendoes.
+
+"I will do what you ask," she murmured, though there was a pitiful
+quivering at the corners of her mouth that bespoke an agony beyond the
+relief of tears.  "But please don't say any more, and never again
+allude to my dear father in that way, or I may--I may forget what I owe
+you."
+
+She was unconscious of the contempt in her eyes, the scornful ring in
+her voice, and Verity had the good sense to restrain the wrath that
+bubbled up in him until the door closed, and he was alone.  He grabbed
+the decanter and refilled his glass.
+
+"Nice thing!" he growled.  "I offer 'er a fortune an' a bald-'eaded owd
+devil for a 'usband, 'oo ought to die in a year or two an' leave 'er
+everything; yet she ain't satisfied.  D--n 'er eyes, if I'd keep 'er as
+scullery-maid she'd 'ave different notions."
+
+With the taste of the wine, however, came the consoling reflection that
+Iris as a scullery-maid might not tickle the fancy of the dotard who
+had undertaken to provide fifty thousand pounds for the new
+partnership.  And she had promised--that was everything.  His lack of
+diplomacy was obvious even to himself, but he had won where a man of
+finer temperament might have failed.  Now, he must rush the wedding.
+Dickey Bulmer's Lancashire canniness might stipulate for cash on
+delivery as the essence of the marriage contract.  Not a penny would
+the old miser part with until he was sure of the girl.
+
+So David Verity, having much to occupy his mind, lingered over the
+second glass of port, for this was a Sunday dinner, served at mid-day.
+At last he closed his eyes for his customary nap; but sleep was not to
+be wooed just then; instead of dozing, he felt exceedingly wide awake.
+Indeed, certain disquieting calculations were running through his
+brain, and he yielded forthwith to their insistence.  Taking a small
+notebook from his pocket, he jotted down an array of figures.  He was
+so absorbed in their analysis that he did not see Iris walk listlessly
+across the lawn that spread its summer greenery in front of the
+dining-room windows.  And that was an ill thing for David.  The sight
+of the girl at that instant meant a great deal to him.
+
+He did happen to look out, a second too late.
+
+Even then, he might have caught a glimpse of Iris's pink muslin skirt
+disappearing behind a clump of rhododendrons, were not his shifty eyes
+screwed up in calculation--or perchance, the gods blinded him in behalf
+of one who was named after Juno's bright messenger.
+
+"Yes, that's it," he was thinking.  "I must wheedle Dickey into the
+bank to-morrow.  A word from 'im, an' they'll all grovel, d--n 'em!"
+
+The door opened.
+
+"Captain Coke to see you, sir," said a servant.
+
+"Send 'im in; bring 'im in 'ere."
+
+The memorandum book disappeared; Verity's hearty greeting was that of a
+man who had not a care in the world.  His visitor's description was
+writ large on him by the sea.  No one could possibly mistake Captain
+Coke for any other species of captain than that of master mariner.  He
+was built on the lines of a capstan, short and squat and powerful.
+Though the weather was hot, he wore a suit of thick navy-blue serge
+that would have served his needs within the Arctic Circle.  It clung
+tightly to his rounded contours; there was a purple line on his red
+brows that marked the exceeding tightness of the bowler hat he was
+carrying; and the shining protuberances on his black boots showed that
+they were tight, too.  It was manifestly out of the question that he
+should be able to walk any distance.  Though he had driven in a cab to
+the shipowner's house, he was already breathless with exertion, and he
+rolled so heavily in his gait that his shoulders hit both sides of the
+doorway while entering the room.  Yet he was nimble withal, a man
+capable of swift and sure movement within a limited area, therein
+resembling a bull, or a hippopotamus.
+
+The hospitable Verity pushed forward the mahogany box and the decanter.
+
+"Glad to see you, Jimmie, my boy.  Sit yourself down.  'Ave a cigar an'
+a glass o' port.  I didn't expect you quite so soon, but you're just as
+welcome now as later."
+
+Captain Coke placed his hat on top of a malacca cane, and balanced both
+against the back of a chair.
+
+"I'll take a smoke but no wine, thankee, Mr. Verity," said he.  "I kem
+along now' 'coss I want to be aboard afore it's dark.  We're moored in
+an awkward place."
+
+"Poor owd _Andromeeda_!  Just 'er usual luck, eh, Jimmie?"
+
+"Well, she ain't wot you might call one of fortune's fav'rits, but
+she's afloat, an' that's more'n you can say for a good many
+daisy-cutters I've known."
+
+Verity chuckled.
+
+"Some ships are worth less afloat than ashore, an' she's one of 'em,"
+he grinned.  "You want a match.  'Ere you are!"
+
+Whether Coke was wishful to deny or admit the _Andromeda's_
+shortcomings--even the ship herself might have protested against the
+horror of a long "e" in the penultimate syllable of her name--the other
+man's rapid proffer of a light stopped him.  He puffed away in silence;
+there was an awkward pause; for once in his career, Verity regretted
+his cultivated trick of covering up a significant phrase by quickly
+adding some comment on a totally different subject.  But the sailor
+smoked on, stolidly heedless of a sudden lapse in the conversation, and
+the shipowner was compelled to start afresh.  He was far too shrewd to
+go straight back to the topic burked by his own error.  His
+sledge-hammer methods might be crude to the verge of brutality where
+Iris was concerned, but they were capable of nice adjustment in the
+case of wary old sea-dogs of the Coke type.
+
+"It's stuffy in 'ere with the two of us smokin'--let's stroll into the
+garden," he said.
+
+Coke was agreeable.  He liked gardens; they were a change from the
+purple sea.
+
+"It's the on'y bit of green stuff you seem to be fond of, Mr. Verity,"
+he went on.  "You keep us crool short of vegetables."
+
+David's little eyes twinkled.  Here was another opening; it would not
+be his fault if it led again up a _cul-de-sac_.  He threw wide the
+window, and they crossed the lawn.
+
+"Vegetables!" he cried.  "Wish I could stock you from my place, an' I'd
+stuff you with 'em.  I can grow 'em 'ere for next to nothing, but they
+cost a heap o' money in furrin ports, an' _your_ crimson wave-catcher
+doesn't earn money--she eats it."
+
+"Even that's one better'n her skipper, 'oo doesn't do neether,"
+commented Coke gloomily.
+
+His employer seemed to find much humor in the remark.
+
+"Gad, we both look starved!" he guffawed.  "To 'ear us, you'd think we
+was booked for the workhus or till you ran a tape round the contoor,
+eh?"
+
+But Coke was not to be cheered.
+
+"I can see as far into a stone wall as 'ere a one an' there a one," he
+said, "an' there's no use blinkin' the fax.  The _Andromeda_ was a good
+ship in 'er day, but that day is gone.  You ought to 'ave sold 'er to
+the Dutchmen five years ago, Mr. Verity.  Times were better then, an'
+now you'd 'ave a fine steel ship instead of a box of scrap iron."
+
+They were passing the rhododendrons, and Verity's quick eyes noted that
+a summer-house beneath the shade of two venerable elms was unoccupied.
+The structure consisted of a rustic roof carried on half a dozen
+uprights; it had a wooden floor, and held a table and some basket
+chairs.  The roof and supports were laden with climbing roses, a
+Virginian creeper, and a passion flower.  The day being Sunday, there
+were no gardeners in the adjoining shrubbery or rose garden, and anyone
+seated in the summer-house could see on all sides.
+
+"Drop anchor in 'ere, Coke," said Verity.  "It's cool an' breezy, an'
+we can 'ave a quiet confab without bein' bothered.  Now, I reelly sent
+for you to-day to tell you I mean to better the supplies this
+trip--Yes, honest Injun!"--for the _Andromeda's_ skipper had clutched
+the cigar out of his mouth with the expression of a man who vows to
+heaven that he cannot believe his ears--"I'm goin' to bung in an extry
+'undred to-morrow in the way of stores.  Funny, isn't it?"
+
+"Funny!  It's a meracle!"
+
+Though not altogether gratified by this whole-hearted agreement with
+his own views, Verity was too anxious to keep his hearer on the present
+tack to resent any implied slur on his earlier efforts as a caterer.
+
+"It's nothing to wot I'd do if I could afford it," he added graciously.
+"But, as you said, let's look at the fax.  Wot chance 'as an iron ship,
+built twenty years ago, at a cost of sixteen pound a ton, ag'in a steel
+ship of to-day, at seven pound a ton, with twiced the cargo space, an'
+three feet less draught?  W'y no earthly.  We're dished every way.  We
+cost more to run; we can't jump 'arf the bars; we can't carry 'arf the
+stuff; we pay double insurance; an' we're axed to find interest on
+more'n double the capital.  As you say, Jimmie, wot bloomin' chanst
+'ave we?"
+
+Coke smoked silently; he had said none of these things, but when the
+shipowner's glance suddenly dwelt on him, he nodded.  Silent
+acquiescence on his part, however, was not what Verity wanted.  He,
+too, knew when to hold his tongue.  After a long interval, during which
+a robin piped a merry roundelay from the depths of a neighboring pink
+hawthorn, Coke dug out a question.
+
+"Premium gone up, then?" he inquired.
+
+"She's on a twelve-month rate.  It runs out in September.  If you're
+lucky, an' fill up with nitrate soon, you may be 'ome again.  If not,
+I'll 'ave to whack up a special quotation.  After that, there'll be no
+insurance.  The _Andromeeda_ goes for wot she'll fetch."
+
+Another pause; then Coke broached a new phase.
+
+"Meanin' that I lose the two thousand pounds I put in 'er to get my
+berth?" he said huskily.
+
+"An' wot about me?  _I_ lose eight times as much.  Just think of it!
+Sixteen thousand pounds would give me a fair balance to go on wi' i'
+these hard times, an' your two thou' would make the skipper's job in my
+new ship a certainty."
+
+Coke's brick-red face darkened.  He breathed hard.
+
+"Wot new ship?" he demanded.
+
+Verity smiled knowingly.
+
+"It's a secret, Jimmie, but I must stretch a point for a pal's sake.
+Dickey Bulmer's goin' to marry my niece, an' 'e 'as pledged himself to
+double the capital of the firm.  Now I've let the cat out of the bag.
+I'm sorry, ole man--pon me soul, I am--but w'en Dickey's name crops up
+on 'Change you know as well as me 'ow many captain's tickets will be
+backed wi' t' brass."
+
+This time, if so minded, the robin might have trilled his song _adagio
+con sostenuto_ without fear of interruption by those harsh voices.
+Neither man spoke during so long a time that the break seemed to impose
+a test of endurance; in such a crisis, he who has all at stake will
+yield rather than he who only stakes a part.
+
+"S'pose we talk plainly as man to man?" said Coke thickly, at last.
+
+"_I_ can't talk much plainer," said Verity.
+
+"Yes, you can.  Promise me the command of your next ship, an' the
+Andromeda goes on the rocks this side o' Monte Video."
+
+Verity jumped as though he had been stung by an infuriated wasp.
+
+"Coke, I'm surprised at you," he grunted, not without a sharp glance
+around to make sure no other was near.
+
+"No, you ain't, not a bit surprised, on'y you don't like to 'ear it in
+cold English.  That's wot you're drivin' at--the insurance."
+
+"Shut up, you ijjit.  Never 'eard such d--d rot in all me born days."
+
+"Listen to it now, then.  It's good to 'ave the truth tole you some
+times.  Wot are you afraid of?  I take all the risk an' precious little
+of the money.  Write me a letter----"
+
+"Write!  Me!  Coke, you're loony."
+
+"Not me.  Wait till I'm through.  Write a letter sayin' you're sorry
+the _Andromeda_ must be laid up this fall, but promisin' me the next
+vacancy.  'Ow does that 'urt _you_?"
+
+Verity's cigar had gone out.  He relighted it with due deliberation; it
+could not be denied that his nerve, at least, was superb.
+
+"I'm willin' to do anything in reason," he said slowly.  "I don't see
+where I can lay 'ands on a better man than you, Jimmie, even if you
+_do_ talk nonsense at times.  You know the South American trade, an'
+you know me.  By gad, I'll do that.  Anyhow, it's wot you deserve, but
+none the less, I'm actin' as a reel friend, now ain't I?  Many a man
+would just lay you up alongside the _Andromeeda_."
+
+"I'll call at your office in the mornin' for the letter," said Coke,
+whose red face shone like the setting sun seen through a haze.
+
+"Yes, yes.  I'll 'ave it ready."
+
+"An' you won't back out of them extry stores?  I must sweeten the crew
+on this run."
+
+"I'll supply the best of stuff--enough to last for the round trip.  But
+don't make any mistake.  You must be back afore September 30th.  That's
+the date of the policy.  Now let's trot inside, an' my gal--Mrs. Dickey
+Bulmer that is to be--will give you some tea."
+
+"Tea!" snorted Coke.
+
+"Well, there's whisky an' soda on tap if you prefer it.  It _is_ rather
+'ot for tea.  Whew! you're boilin'?  W'y don't you wear looser clo'es?
+Look at me--cool as a cucumber.  By the way, 'oo's the new man you've
+shipped as second?  Watts is the chief, I know, but 'oo is Mr. Philip
+Hozier?"
+
+"Youngster fillin' in sea-service to get a ticket an' qualify for the
+Cunard."
+
+"Thoroughly reliable sort of chap, eh?"
+
+"The best."
+
+It was odd how these men left unsaid the really vital things.  Again it
+was Coke who tried to fill in some part of the blank space.
+
+"Just the right kind of second for the _Andromeda's_ last cruise," he
+muttered.  "Smart as a new pin.  You could trust 'im on the bridge of a
+battleship.  Now, Watts is a good man, but a tot of rum makes 'im fair
+daft."
+
+"Ah!" purred Verity, "you must keep a tight 'and on Watts.  I like an
+appetizer meself w'en I'm off dooty, so to speak, but it's no joke to
+'ave a boozer in charge of a fine ship an' vallyble freight.  Of
+course, you're responsible as master, but you can't be on deck mornin',
+noon, an' night.  Choke Watts off the drink, an' you'll 'ave no
+trouble.  So that's settled.  My, but you're fair meltin'--wot is it
+they say--losin' adipose tisher.  Well, come along.  Let's lubricate."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+The _Andromeda_ sailed on the Tuesday afternoon's tide.  She would drop
+the pilot off Holyhead, and, with fair weather, such as cheered her
+departure from the Mersey, daybreak on Thursday would find her pounding
+through the cross seas where St. George's Channel merges into the wide
+Atlantic.  If she followed the beaten track on her long run to the
+River Plate--as sailors will persist in miscalling that wondrous Rio de
+la Plata--she might be signaled from Madeira or the Cape Verde Islands.
+But shipmasters often prefer to set a course clear of the land till
+they pick up the coast of South America.  If she were not spoken by
+some passing steamer, there was every possibility that the sturdy old
+vessel would not be heard of again before reaching her destination.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+But David Verity heard of her much sooner, and no thunderbolt that ever
+rent the heavens could have startled him more than the manner of that
+hearing.
+
+Resolving to clinch matters with regard to Iris and her elderly suitor,
+he invited "Owd Dickey" to supper on Sunday evening.  The girl endured
+the man's presence with a placid dignity that amazed her uncle.  On the
+plea of a headache, she retired at an early hour, leaving Bulmer to
+gloat over his prospective happiness, and primed to the point of
+dementia.
+
+He was quite willing to accompany Verity to the bank next morning; a
+pleasant-spoken manager sighed his relief when the visitors were gone,
+and he was free to look at the item "bills discounted" on Verity's page
+in the ledger.  More than that, a lawyer was instructed to draw up a
+partnership deed, and the representatives of various ship-building
+firms were asked to supply estimates for two new vessels.
+
+Altogether Dickey was complaisant, and David enjoyed a busy and
+successful day.  He dined in town, came home at a late hour, and merely
+grinned when a servant told him that Mr. Bulmer had called twice but
+Miss Iris happened to be out on both occasions.
+
+Nevertheless, at breakfast on Tuesday, he warned his niece not to keep
+her admirer dangling at arm's length.
+
+"E's a queer owd codger," explained the philosopher.  "Play up to 'im a
+bit, an' you'll be able to twist 'im round your little finger.  I
+b'lieve he's goin' dotty, an' you can trust me to see that the marriage
+settlement is O. K."
+
+"Will you be home to dinner?" was her response.
+
+"No.  Now that the firm is in smooth water again I must show myself a
+bit.  It's all thanks to you, lass, an' I'll not forget it.  Good-by!"
+
+Iris smiled, and Verity was vastly pleased.
+
+"I am sure you will not forget," she said.  "Good-by."
+
+"There's no understandin' wimmin," mused David, as his victoria swept
+through the gates of Linden House.  "Sunday afternoon Dickey might ha'
+bin a dose of rat poison; now she's ready to swaller 'im as if 'e was a
+chocolate drop."
+
+Again he returned some few minutes after midnight; again the servant
+announced Mr. Bulmer's visits, three of them; and again Miss Iris had
+been absent--in fact, she had not yet come home.
+
+"Not 'ome!" cried David furiously.  "W'y it's gone twelve.  W'ere
+the--w'ere is she?"
+
+No one knew.  She had quitted the house soon after Verity himself, and
+had not been seen since.  Storm and rage as he might, and did, David
+could not discover his niece's whereabouts.  He spent a wearying and
+tortured night, a harassed and miserable day, devoted to frantic
+inquiries in every possible direction with interludes of specious lying
+to the infatuated Bulmer.  But enlightment came on Thursday morning.  A
+letter arrived by the first post.  It was from Iris.
+
+
+"MY DEAR UNCLE," she wrote: "Neither you nor Mr. Bulmer should have any
+objection to my passing the few remaining weeks of my liberty in the
+manner best pleasing to myself.  On Sunday evening, in your presence,
+Mr. Bulmer urged me to fix an early date for our marriage.  Tell him
+that I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England from
+South America.  You will remember that you promised last year to take
+me to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres this summer; I have been learning
+Spanish so as to help our sight-seeing.  Unfortunately, business
+prevents you from keeping that promise, but there is no reason why I
+should not go.  I am on board the _Andromeda_, and will probably be
+able to explain matters satisfactorily to Captain Coke.  The vessel is
+due back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not
+have long to wait.  It is more than likely that Captain Coke will not
+know I am aboard until Thursday, and I have arranged with a friend that
+this letter shall reach you about the same time.  Please convey my
+apologies to Mr. Bulmer, and accept my regret for any anxiety you may
+have felt owing to my unaccountable absence.
+
+"Your affectionate niece,
+
+"IRIS YORKE."
+
+
+David narrowly escaped an apoplectic seizure.  When he recovered his
+senses he looked ten years older.  The instinct of self-preservation
+alone saved him in his frenzy from blurting forth the tidings of the
+girl's flight.  Incoherent with fear and passion, he contrived to give
+orders for his carriage, and was driven to his office.  Thence he
+dispatched telegrams to every signaling station in England, Ireland,
+and Spain, at which by the remotest possibility the _Andromeda_ might
+be intercepted.  He cabled to Madeira and Cape Verde, even to Fernando
+Noronha and Pernambuco; he sent urgent instructions to the pilotage
+authorities of the Bristol Channel, the southwest ports, and Lisbon;
+and the text of every message was: "_Andromeda_ must return to
+Liverpool instantly."
+
+But the wretched man realized that he was doomed.  Fate had struck at
+him mercilessly.  He could only wait in dumb despair, and mutter
+prayers too long forgotten, and concoct bogus letters from a cousin's
+address in the south of England for the benefit of Dickey Bulmer.
+
+Never was ship more eagerly sought than the _Andromeda_, yet never was
+ship more completely engulfed in the mysterious silence of the great
+sea.  The days passed, and the weeks, yet nothing was heard of her.
+She figured in the "overdue" list at Lloyd's; sharp-eyed underwriters
+did "specs" in her; woe-begone women began to haunt the Liverpool
+office for news of husbands and sons; the love-lorn Dickey wore Verity
+to a shadow of his former self by alternate pleadings and threats; but
+the _Andromeda_ remained mute, and the fanciful letters from Iris
+became fewer and more fragmentary as David's imagination failed, and
+his excuses grew thinner.
+
+And the odd thing was that if David had only known it, he could have
+saved himself all this heart-burning and misery by looking through the
+dining-room window on that Sunday afternoon when his prospects seemed
+to be so rosy.  He never thought of that.  He cursed every circumstance
+and person impartially and fluently, but he omitted from the Satanic
+litany the one girlish prank of tree-climbing that led Iris to spring
+out of sight amid the sheltering arms of an elm when her uncle and
+Captain Coke deemed the summer-house a suitable place for "a plain talk
+as man to man."
+
+So David learnt what it meant to wait, and listen, and start
+expectantly when postman's knock or telegraph messenger's imperative
+summons sounded on door of house or office.
+
+But he waited long in vain.  The _Andromeda_, like her namesake of old,
+might have been chained to a rock on some mythical island guarded by
+the father of all sea serpents.  As for a new Perseus, well--David knew
+him not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE
+
+The second officer of the _Andromeda_ was pacing the bridge with the
+slow alertness of responsibility.  He would walk from port to
+starboard, glance forrard and aft, peer at the wide crescent of the
+starlit sea, stroll back to port, and again scan ship and horizon.
+Sometimes he halted in front of the binnacle lamp to make certain that
+the man at the wheel was keeping the course, South 15 West, set by
+Captain Coke shortly before midnight.  His ears listened mechanically
+to the steady pulse-beats of the propeller; his eyes swept the vague
+plain of the ocean for the sparkling white diamond that would betoken a
+mast-head light; he was watchful and prepared for any unforeseen
+emergency that might beset the vessel intrusted to his care.  But his
+mind dwelt on something far removed from his duties, though, to be
+sure, every poet who ever scribbled four lines of verse has found rhyme
+and reason in comparing women with stars, and ships, and the sea.
+
+If Philip Hozier was no poet, he was a sailor, and sailors are
+notoriously susceptible to the charms of the softer sex.  But the only
+woman he loved was his mother, the only bride he could look for during
+many a year was a mermaid, though these sprites of the deep waters seem
+to be frequenting undiscovered haunts since mariners ceased to woo the
+wind.  For all that, if perforce he was heart-whole, there was no just
+cause or impediment why he should not admire a pretty girl when he saw
+one, and an exceedingly pretty girl had honored him with her company
+during a brief minute of the previous day.
+
+He was superintending the safe disposal of the last batch of cotton
+goods in the forward hold--and had just found it necessary to explain
+the correct principles of stowage with sailor-like fluency--when a
+young lady, accompanied by a dock laborer carrying a leather
+portmanteau, spoke to him from the quay.
+
+"Is Captain Coke on board?" said she.
+
+"No, madam," said he, lifting his cap with one hand, and restraining
+the clanking of a steam windlass with the other.
+
+"I am Mr. Verity's niece, and I wish to send this parcel to Monte
+Video--may I put it in some place where it will be safe?" said she.
+
+Hoping that the rattling winch had drowned his earlier remarks--which
+were couched in an _lingua franca_ of the high seas--he began to tell
+her that it would give him the utmost pleasure to take charge of it on
+her account, but she nodded, bade the porter follow, ran along a
+somewhat precarious gangway, and was on deck before he could offer any
+assistance.
+
+"You are Mr. Hozier, I suppose?" said Iris, gazing with frank brown
+eyes into his frank blue ones.  She, of course, was severely
+self-possessed; he, as is the way of mere man, grew more confused each
+instant.
+
+"Well, I will just pop the bag into Captain Coke's stateroom, and leave
+this note with it.  I have explained everything fully.  I wrote a line
+in case he might be absent."
+
+All of which was so strictly accurate that it served its purpose
+admirably, though the said purpose, it is regrettable to state, was the
+misleading and utter bamboozling of Philip Hozier.  Miss Iris Yorke
+knew quite well that Captain Coke was then closeted with David Verity
+in Exchange Buildings; she knew, because she had watched him pass
+through the big swing doors of her uncle's office.  She also knew,
+having made it her business to find out, that in fifteen minutes, or
+less, the crew would muster in the fo'c'sle for their mid-day meal.
+Not having heard a word of Hozier's free speech to the gentlemen of
+various nationalities at the bottom of the hold, she wondered why he
+was blushing.
+
+"Shall I show you the way?" asked Philip, finding his tongue.
+
+"No, thank you.  I have been on board the _Andromeda_ many times.  Ah,
+Peter, I see you.  What is it to-day, scouse or lobscouse?"
+
+"Scouse, miss," said the ship's cook, grinning widely at her
+recollection of the line drawn by both his patrons and himself between
+ship's biscuit stewed with fresh meat and the same article flavored
+with salt junk.
+
+Peter's recognition placed Iris's identity beyond doubt.  She said
+nothing more to Hozier, but tripped up the companionway.  Soon he saw
+her paying the man who had carried the portmanteau.  She herself seemed
+to be in no hurry.  She walked to the rails beneath the bridge, and
+found interest in watching the loading operations, which were resumed
+as soon as the second officer saw that his services were not wanted.
+Time was pressing, and a good deal yet remained to be done.
+
+Mr. Watts, the chief officer, who was called ashore by urgent business
+five minutes after the "old man" left the vessel, chose this awkward
+moment to appear from behind a bonded warehouse.  He was walking with
+unnatural steadiness, so Hozier made some excuse to meet him and
+whisper that the owner's niece was on board.
+
+"Sun's zhot," remarked Mr. Watts cheerfully.
+
+"Go and lie down for a spell," suggested Hozier, and Mr. Watts thought
+it was a "shpiffin' idee."  When Hozier was free to glance a second
+time at the cross rail, Iris had vanished.  He was annoyed.  Evidently
+she did not wish to encounter any more of the ship's officers that
+morning.
+
+The hatches were on, and everything was orderly before Coke's squat
+figure climbed the gangway.  Hozier reported the young lady's visit,
+and the skipper was obviously surprised.  As he hoisted himself up the
+steep ladder to the hurricane deck, the younger man heard him
+condemning someone under his breath as "a leery old beggar."  The
+phrase was hardly applicable to Iris, but Coke came out of his cabin
+with an open letter in his hand, and bade a steward stow the
+portmeanteau in some other more hallowed and less inconvenient place.
+
+And there the incident ended.  The _Andromeda_ hauled down the Blue
+Peter for her long run of over 6,000 miles to Monte Video, and Hozier
+had routine work in plenty to occupy his mind during the first
+twenty-four hours at sea without perplexing it with memories of a
+pretty face.  Soon after Holyhead was passed, it is true, a sailor
+reported to the second officer that he had seen a ghost between decks,
+in the region of the lazarette.  It was then near midnight, a quiet
+hour on board ship, and Hozier told the man sharply to go to his bunk
+and endeavor to sleep off the effects of the bad beer imbibed earlier
+in the day.
+
+Now, on this second night of the voyage, while the ship was plodding
+steadily southward with that fifteen point inclination to the west that
+would bring her far into the Atlantic soon after daybreak, Philip
+remembered Mr. Verity's niece, and felt sorry that when she paid those
+former visits to the _Andromeda_, fate had decreed that he should be
+serving his time on another vessel.  For there was an expression in her
+eyes that haunted him.  Though she addressed him with that absence of
+restraint which is a heaven-sent attribute of every young woman when
+circumstances compel her to speak to a strange young man--though her
+tone to the more favored cook was kindly, and even sprightly--though
+Philip himself was red and inclined to stammer--despite all these
+hindrances to clear judgment, he felt that she was troubled in spirit.
+His acquaintance with women was of the slightest, since a youth who is
+taught his business on the _Conway_, and means to attach himself to one
+of the great Trans-Atlantic shipping lines, has no time to spare for
+dalliance in boudoirs.  But it gave him a thrill when he heard that
+this charming girl knew his name, and it seemed to him, for an instant,
+that she was looking into his very soul, analyzing him, searching for
+some sign that he was not as others, which meant that there were some
+whom she had bitter cause to distrust.  Of course, that was mere
+day-dreaming, a nebulous fantasy brought by her gracious presence into
+a medley of hurrying windlasses, strenuous orders, and sulky, panting
+men.
+
+At any rate, she had left a memento of her too brief appearance on
+board in the shape of the bag.  He would contrive to take on his own
+shoulders its mission in Monte Video; then, on returning to Liverpool,
+he would have an excuse for calling on her.  He did not know her name
+yet.  Possibly, Captain Coke would mention that interesting fact when
+his temper lost its raw edge.  As a last resource, the cook might
+enlighten him.
+
+It was strange that he should be thinking of Iris--far stranger than he
+could guess--but his thoughts were sub-conscious, and he was in no wise
+neglecting the safety of the ship.  The night was clear but dark, the
+stars blinked with the subdued radiance that betokens fine weather, and
+ever and anon their reflection glimmered from the long slope of a wave
+like the glint of spangles on a dress.  But it was a garment of
+far-flung amplitude, woven on the shadowy loom of night and the sea,
+and from such mysterious warp and weft is often produced the sable robe
+of tragedy and death.  It was so now, within an ace.  At one instance,
+the restless plain of the ocean seemed to bear no other argosy than the
+_Andromeda_; in the next, Hozier's quick-moving glance had caught the
+pallid sheen of some small craft's starboard light.  No need to tell
+him what might happen.  A sailing vessel, probably a fishing smack, was
+crossing the steamer's course.  He sprang to the telegraph, and
+signaled "Slow" to the engine-room.  Simultaneously he shouted to the
+steersman to starboard the helm, and the siren trumpeted a single
+raucous blast into the silence.  With the rattle of the chains and
+steering-rods in the gear-boxes came a yell from the lookout forward:
+
+"Light on the port bow!"
+
+Hozier repeated the hail, but promised the blear-eyed sentinels in the
+bows of the ship a lively five minutes when the watch was relieved.
+Slowly the _Andromeda_ swung to the west.  Even more slowly, or so it
+appeared to the anxious man on the bridge, a red eye peeped into being
+alongside the green one.  A blacker smear showed up on the black sea,
+and a hoarse voice, presumably situated beneath the smear, expressed a
+desire for information.
+
+"Arr ye all aslape on board that crimson collier?" it asked in a
+Waterford brogue.
+
+"Got the hooker's wheel tied, I suppose?" retorted Hozier, for the now
+visible schooner had not attempted to change her course by half a
+point.  She was now bowling along with every stitch set before a
+five-knot breeze from the east; the tilt of her sails was such that she
+practically presented only the outline of her spars when first sighted
+from the steamer; and her side lights probably had tallow candles in
+them.
+
+"Bedad, it's aisier in moind we'd be if you were tied to it," shouted
+the voice, and Hozier felt, like many another Saxon, that an Irishman's
+last word is often the best one.
+
+The engines resumed their cadence, and the _Andromeda_ crept round
+again to South 15 West.  She was back on her proper line when a heavy
+step sounded on the iron rungs of the bridge ladder.
+
+"Wot's up?" demanded Coke, who was fully dressed, though Hozier thought
+he had retired two hours earlier.  "Oh, the beer is frothin' up to
+their eyes, is it?" went on the skipper, after listening to a brief
+summary of events.  "I thought, mebbe, the wheel had jammed.  But those
+lazy swabs want talkin' to.  I'll just give 'em a bit of me mind," and
+he went forward.
+
+Hozier heard him reading the Riot Act to the shell-backs who were
+supposed to keep a sharp lookout ahead.  But the captain did not
+monopolize the conversation.  His deep notes rumbled only at intervals.
+The men had something to say.  He returned to the bridge.
+
+"One of them scallywags sez 'e 'as seen a ghost," he announced, with
+the calm air of a man who states that the moon will rise during the
+next hour.
+
+"I wish he could see less remarkable things, such as schooners, sir,"
+said Hozier.
+
+"But 'e swears 'e sawr it twiced."
+
+"Oh, is he the man who reported a ghost outside the lazarette last
+night?"
+
+"I s'pose so.  Did 'e tell you about it?  That's where she walks."
+
+"She!"
+
+"That's his yarn--a female ghost, a black 'un, black clo'es anyhow.
+He's a dashed fool, but he's no boozer, though his mate's tongue is a
+bit thick yet.  I'll take the forenoon watch, an' you might overhaul
+the ship for stowaways after breakfast.  Never heard of one on this
+journey--I've routed out as many as twenty at a time w'en I was runnin'
+between Wellington an' Sydney--but you never can tell, so 'ave a squint
+round."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Hozier, and that is how it fell to his lot to discover
+Iris Yorke, looking very white and miserable, when the hatch of the
+lazarette was broken open at half-past eight o'clock on Thursday
+morning!
+
+A tramp steamer is not a complex organism.  She is made up of holds,
+bunkers, boilers and engines, with scanty accommodation for officers
+and crew grouped round the funnel or stuck in the bows.  When the boats
+were stripped of their tarpaulins, and a few lockers and store-rooms
+examined, the only available hiding-places were the shaft tunnel, the
+holds, and the lazarette, a small space between decks, situated
+directly above the propeller, where a reserve supply of provisions is
+generally carried.
+
+But the door of the lazarette was locked, and the key missing, though
+it ought to be hanging with others, all duly labeled, on a hook in the
+steward's cabin.  A duplicate set of keys in the captain's possession
+was far from complete.  As the steward was certain he had fastened the
+lazarette himself early on Tuesday morning, there was nothing for it
+but to force the lock.
+
+Even that would not have been necessary had the carpenter slackened his
+efforts after the first assault.  Iris cried loudly enough that she
+would open the door, but the noise of the shaft and the flapping of the
+screw drowned her voice, and she was compelled to stand clear when the
+stout planking began to yield.
+
+It was dark in there, and Hozier was undeniably startled by the
+spectacle of a slim figure, wrapped in a long ulster, standing among
+the cases and packages.  "Now, out you come!" he cried, with a
+gruffness that was intended only to cover his own amazement; but Iris,
+despite the horrors of sea-sickness and confinement in the dark, was
+not minded to suffer what she considered to be impertinence on the part
+of a second officer.
+
+"I am Miss Yorke," she said, coming forward into the half light of the
+lower deck.  "Any explanation of my presence here will be given to the
+captain, and to no other person."
+
+That innocent word "person" is capable of many meanings.  Hozier felt
+that its application to himself was distinctly unfavorable.  And Iris
+was quite dignified and self-possessed.  She had given a few deft
+touches to her hair.  Her hat was set at the right angle.  Her dark
+gray coat and brown boots looked neat and serviceable.
+
+"Of course I did not know to whom I was speaking," he managed to say,
+for he now recognized the "ghost," and was more surprised than he had
+ever been in his life before.
+
+"That is matterless," said Iris frigidly.  "Where is Captain Coke?"
+
+"On the bridge," said Philip.
+
+"I will go to him.  Please don't come with me.  I tried to tell you
+that I would unlock the door, but you refused to listen.  Will you let
+me pass?"
+
+He obeyed in silence.
+
+"Well, s'help me!" muttered a sailor, "talk about suffrigettes!  Wot
+price _'er_?"
+
+Iris hurried to the deck.  The light seemed to dazzle her, and her
+steps were so uncertain that Hozier sprang forward and caught her arm.
+
+"Won't you sit down a moment, Miss Yorke?" he said.  "If you searched
+the whole ship, you could not have chosen a worse place to travel in
+than the lazarette."
+
+"I was driven out twice at night by the rats," she gasped, though she
+strove desperately to regain control of her trembling limbs.
+
+"Too bad!" he whispered.  "But it was your own fault.  Why did you do
+it?  At any rate, wait here a few minutes before you meet the captain."
+
+"I am not afraid of meeting him.  Why should I be?  He knows me."
+
+"I meant only that you are hardly able to walk, but I seem to say the
+wrong thing every time.  There is nothing really to worry about.  We
+are not far from Queenstown.  We can put you ashore there by losing
+half a day."
+
+The girl had been ill, wracked in body and distraught in mind, with the
+added horror of knowing that rats were scampering over the deck close
+to her in the noisy darkness, but she summoned a half laugh at his
+words.
+
+"You are still saying the wrong thing, Mr. Hozier," she murmured.  "The
+_Andromeda_ will not put into Queenstown.  From this hour I become a
+passenger, not a stowaway.  My uncle knows now that I am here.  Thank
+you, you need not hold me any longer.  I have quite recovered.  Captain
+Coke is on the bridge, you said?  I can find my way; this ship is no
+stranger to me."
+
+And away she went, justifying her statements by tripping rapidly
+forward.  The mere sight of her created boundless excitement among such
+members of the crew as were on deck, but the shock administered to Mr.
+Watts was of that intense variety often described as electric.  In the
+matter of disposing of large quantities of ardent spirits he was a
+seasoned vessel, and, as a general rule, the first day at sea sufficed
+to clear his brain from the fumes of the last orgy on shore.  But, to
+be effective, the cure must not be too drastic.  This morning, after
+leaving the bridge, he had fortified his system with a liberal
+allowance of rum and milk.  Breakfast ended, he took another dose of
+the same mixture as a "steadier," and he was just leaving the messroom
+when he set eyes on Iris.  Of course, he refused to believe his eyes.
+Had they not deceived him many times?
+
+"Ha!" said he, "a bit liverish," and he pressed a rough hand firmly
+downward from forehead to cheek-bones.  When he looked again, the girl
+was much nearer.
+
+"Lord luv' a duck, this time I've got 'em for sure!" he groaned.
+
+His lower jaw dropped, he stared unblinkingly, and purple veins bulged
+crookedly on his seamed forehead.  He was bereft of the power of
+movement.  He stood stock-still, blocking the narrow gangway.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Watts.  You remember me, don't you?" said Iris,
+showing by her manner that she wished to pass him.
+
+A slight roll of the ship assisted in the disintegration of Watts.  He
+collapsed sideways into the cook's galley, the door of which was
+hospitably open.  Somewhat frightened by the wildness of his looks,
+Iris ran on, and dashed at the foot of the companion rather
+breathlessly.  The keen air was already tingeing her cheeks with color.
+When she reached the bridge, where Captain Coke was propped against the
+chart-house, with a thick, black cigar sticking in his mouth and
+apparently trying to touch his nose, she had lost a good deal of the
+pallor and woe-begone semblance that had demoralized Hozier.
+
+Coke heard the rapid, light footsteps, and turned his head.  At all
+times slow of thought and slower of speech, he was galvanized into a
+sudden rigidity that differed only in degree from the symptoms
+displayed by his chief officer.  Certainly he could not have been more
+stupefied had he seen the ghost reported overnight.
+
+"They told me I should find you here, Captain," said she.  "I must
+apologize for thrusting my company on you for a long voyage,
+but--circumstances--were--too much for me--and----"
+
+Face to face with the commander of the ship, and startled anew by his
+expression of blank incredulity, the glib flow of words conned so often
+during the steadfast but dreadful hours spent in the lazarette failed
+her.
+
+"You know me," she faltered.  "I am Iris Yorke."
+
+Not a syllable came from the irate and astonished man gazing at her
+with such a bovine stolidity.  His shoulders had not abated a fraction
+of their stubborn thrust against the frame of the chart-house.  His
+hands were immovable in the pockets of his reefer coat.  The cigar
+still stuck out between his lips like a miniature jib-boom.  Had he
+wished to terrify her by a hostile reception, he could not have
+succeeded more completely, though, to be just, he meant nothing of the
+sort; his wits being jumbled into chaos by the apparition of the last
+person then alive whom he expected or desired to see on board the
+_Andromeda_.
+
+But Iris could not interpret his mood, and she strove vainly to conquer
+the fear welling up in her breast because of the grim anger that seemed
+to blaze at her from every line of Coke's brick-red countenance.  In
+the struggle to pour forth the excuses and protestations that sounded
+so plausible in her own ears, while secured from observation behind the
+locked door of her retreat, she blundered unhappily on to the very
+topic that she had resolved to keep secret.
+
+"Why are you so unwilling to acknowledge me?" she cried, with a nervous
+indignation that lent a tremor to her voice.  "You have met me often
+enough.  You saw me on Sunday at my uncle's house?"
+
+"Did I?" said Coke, speaking at last, but really as much at a loss for
+something to say as the girl herself.  He had recognized her instantly,
+just as he would recognize the moon if the luminary fell from the sky,
+and with as little comprehension of the cause of its falling.
+
+Of course, she took the question as a forerunner of blank denial.  This
+was not to be borne.  She fired into a direct attack.
+
+"If your memory is hazy concerning the events of Sunday afternoon, it
+may be helpful if I recall the conversation between my uncle and you in
+the summer-house," she snapped.
+
+Some of the glow fled from Coke's face.  He straightened himself and
+glanced at the sailor inside the wheel-house, whose attention was given
+instantly to the fact that the vessel's head had fallen away a full
+point or more from South 15 West owing to the easterly set of a strong
+tide.  Vessels' heads are apt to turn when steersmen do not attend to
+their business.
+
+"Wot's that you're sayin'?" demanded Coke, coming nearer, and looking
+her straight in the eyes.
+
+"I heard every word of that interesting talk," she continued valiantly,
+though she was sensible of a numbness that seemed to envelop her in an
+ice-cold mist.  "I know what you arranged to do--so I have promised--to
+marry Mr. Bulmer--when the _Andromeda_--comes back----"
+
+A light broke on Coke's intelligence that irradiated his prominent
+eyes.  His heavy lips relaxed into a cunning grin, and he flicked the
+ash off the end of the cigar with a confidential nod.
+
+"Oh, is _that_ it?" he said.  "Artful old dog, Verity!  But why in--why
+didn't 'e tell me you was comin' aboard this trip?  We 'aven't the
+right fixin's for a lady, so you must put up with the best we can do
+for you, Miss Yorke.  Nat'rally, we're tickled to death to 'ave your
+company, an' if on'y that blessed uncle of your's 'ad told me wot to
+expect, I'd 'ave made things ship-shape at Liverpool.  But, my
+god-father, wot sort of ijjit axed you to stow yourself away in the
+lazareet?  Steady now; you ain't a-goin' to faint, are you?"
+
+Coke's amiability came too late.  His squat figure and red face
+suddenly loomed into a gigantic indistinctness in the girl's eyes.  She
+would have fallen to the deck had not the captain's strong hands
+clutched her by the shoulders.
+
+"Hi!  Below there!" he yelled.  "Tumble up, some of you!"
+
+Hozier was the first to gain the bridge.  He had followed the progress
+of events with sufficient accuracy to realize that Miss Iris Yorke had
+met with a distinct rebuff by the skipper, and, judging from his own
+experience of her physical weakness when she emerged into daylight, he
+was not surprised to hear that she had fainted.
+
+"'Ere, take 'old," gurgled Coke, who had nearly swallowed the cigar in
+his surprise at Iris's unforeseen collapse.  "This kind of thing is
+more in your line than mine, young feller.  Just lay 'er out in the
+saloon, an' ax Watts to 'elp.  His missus goes orf regular w'en they
+bring 'im 'ome paralytic."
+
+Philip took the girl into his arms.  To carry her safely down the steep
+stairway he was compelled to place her head on his left shoulder and
+clasp her tightly round the waist with his left arm.  Some loosened
+strands of her hair touched his face; he could feel the laboring of her
+breast, the wild beating of her heart, and he was exceeding wroth with
+that unknown man or woman who had driven this insensible girl to such
+straits that she was ready to dare the discomforts and deprivations of
+a voyage as a stowaway, rather than be persecuted further.
+
+Iris was laid on a couch in the messroom, and the steward summoned Mr.
+Watts.  The chief officer came, looking sheepish.  It was manifestly a
+great relief when he found that the "ghost" was unconscious.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing," he cried, in response to his junior's eager
+demand for information as to the treatment best fitted for such
+emergencies.  "They all drop in a heap like that w'en they're worried.
+Fust you takes orf their gloves an' boots, then you undoes their stays
+an' rips open their dresses at the necks.  One of you rubs their 'ands
+an' another their feet, an' you dabs cold water on their foreheads, an'
+burn brown paper under their noses.  In between whiles you give 'em a
+drink, stiff as you can make it.  It's dead easy.  Them stays are a bit
+troublesome if they run to size, but she's thin enough as it is.
+Anyhow, I can show you a fine trick for that.  Just turn her over till
+I cast a lashin' loose with my knife."
+
+Watts was elbowed aside so unceremoniously that his temper gave way.
+Hozier lifted Iris's head gently and unfastened the neck-hooks of her
+blouse.  He began to chafe her cold hands tenderly, and pressed back
+the hair from her damp forehead.  The "chief," not flattered by his own
+reflections, thought fit to sneer at these half measures.
+
+"She's on'y a woman like the rest of 'em," he growled, "even if she
+_is_ the owner's niece, an' a good-lookin' gal at that.  I s'pose now
+you think----"
+
+"I think she will want some fresh air soon, so you had better clear
+out," said Philip.
+
+His words were quiet, but he flashed a warning glance at the other man
+that sufficed.  Watts retired, muttering sarcasms under his breath.
+
+Iris revived, to find Philip supporting her with a degree of skill that
+was remarkable in one who had enjoyed so little experience in those
+matters.  She heard his voice, coming, as it seemed, rapidly nearer,
+urging her to sip something very fiery and spirituous.  Instantly she
+protested.
+
+"What are you giving me?" she sobbed.  "What has happened?"
+
+Then the whole of her world opened up before her.  Her hands flew to
+her throat, her hair.  She flushed into vivid life as the marble
+Galatea incardinated under Pygmalion's kiss.
+
+"Did I faint?" she asked confusedly.
+
+"Yes, but you are all right now.  You did not fall.  Captain Coke
+caught you and handed you over to me.  I wish you would drink the
+remainder of this brandy, and rest for a little while."
+
+Iris pushed away the glass and sat up.
+
+"You carried me?" she said.
+
+"Well, I couldn't do anything else."
+
+"I suppose you don't realize what it means to a woman to feel that she
+has been out of her senses under such conditions?"
+
+"No, but in your case it only meant that you sighed deeply a few times
+and tried to bite my fingers when I wished to open your mouth."
+
+"What for?  Why did you want to open my mouth?"
+
+"To give you a drink--you needed a stimulant."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+By this time a few dexterous twists and turns had restrained those
+wandering tresses within bounds.  She held a hair-pin between her lips,
+and a woman can always say exactly what she means when a hairpin
+prevents discursiveness.
+
+"I am all right now," she announced.  "Will you please leave me, and
+tell the steward to bring me a cup of tea?  If there is a cabin at
+liberty, he might put that portmanteau in it which I brought on board
+at Liverpool."
+
+Hozier fulfilled her requests, and rejoined Coke on the bridge.
+
+"Miss Yorke is quite well again, sir," he reported.  "She wants a
+cabin--to change her clothes, I imagine.  That bag you saw----"
+
+"Pretty foxy, wasn't it?" broke in Coke, with a glee that was puzzling
+to his hearer.
+
+"The whole affair seems to have been carefully planned," agreed Philip.
+"But, as I was saying, she asked for the use of a cabin, so I told the
+steward to give her mine until we put into Queenstown."
+
+Coke, who had lighted another black and stumpy cigar, removed it in
+order to speak with due emphasis.
+
+"Put into h--l!" he said.
+
+"But surely you will not take this young lady to the River Plate?"
+cried the astounded second officer.
+
+"She knew where she was bound w'en she kem aboard the _Andromeda_,"
+said the skipper, frowning now like a man who argues with himself.
+"There's her portmanter to prove it, with a label, an' all, in her own
+'and-writin'.  It's some game played on me by 'er an' 'er uncle.
+Any'ow, the fust time she sees land again it'll be the lovely 'arbor of
+Pernambuco--an' that's straight.  'Ere she is, an' 'ere she'll stop,
+an' the best thing you can do is spread the notion among the crew that
+she's runnin' away to avoid marryin' a man she doesn't like.  That
+sounds reasonable, an' it 'appens to be true.  Verity an' me talked it
+over last Sunday, p.m."
+
+"To avoid a marriage?" repeated Hozier, who discovered a bluff honesty,
+not to say candor, in the statement, not perceptible hitherto in his
+commander's utterances.
+
+"Yes, that's it," said Coke, waving the cigar across an arc of the
+horizon as he warmed to the subject.  "But look 'ere, me boy, this gal
+sails under my flag.  I'm, wot d'ye call it, in locomotive parentibus,
+or something of the sort, while she's on the ship's books.  You keep
+your mouth shut, an' wink the other eye, an' leave it to me to give you
+the chanst of your life--eh, wot?"
+
+Philip Hozier did not strive to extract the precise meaning of the
+skipper's words.  The process would have been difficult, since Coke
+himself could not have supplied any reasonable analysis.  Somehow, to
+the commander's thinking, the presence of the girl seemed to make
+easier the casting away of the ship--exactly how, or what bearing her
+strangely-begun voyage might have on subsequent events, he was not yet
+in a position to say.  But when the second officer left him, and he was
+steeped once more in the fresh breeze and the sunshine, with his
+shoulders braced against the chart-house, he looked at a smoke trail on
+the horizon far away to the west.
+
+"Queenstown!" he chuckled.  "Not this journey--not if my name's Jimmie
+Coke, the man 'oo is stannin' on all that is left of 'is 'ard-earned
+savin's.  No, sir, I've got me orders an' I've got me letter, an' the
+pore old _Andromeda_ gets ripped to pieces in the Recife, or I'll know
+the reason why.  Wot a card to play at the inquiry!  Owner's niece on
+board--bound to South America for the good of 'er health.  'Oo even
+'eard of a man sendin' 'is pretty niece on a ship 'e meant to throw
+away?  It's Providential, that's wot it is, reel Providential!  I do
+believe ole Verity 'ad a 'and in it."
+
+Which shows that Captain Coke confused Providence with David Verity,
+and goes far to prove how ill-fitted he was to theorize on the ways of
+Providence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE
+
+"Five bells, miss!  It'll soon be daylight.  If you wants to see the
+Cross, now's your time!"
+
+Iris had been called from dreamless sleep by a thundering rat-tat on
+her cabin door.  In reply to her half-awaked cry of "All right," the
+hoarse voice of a sailor told her that the Southern Cross had just
+risen above the horizon.  She had a drowsy recollection of someone
+saying that the famous constellation would make its appearance at seven
+bells, not at five, and the difference of an hour, when the time
+happens to be 2:30 instead of 8:30 a.m. is a matter of some importance.
+But, perhaps that was a mistake; at any rate, here was the messenger,
+and she resolutely screwed her knuckles into her eyes and began to
+dress.  In a few minutes she was on deck.  A long coat, a Tam o'
+Shanter, and a pair of list slippers will go far in the way of costume
+at night in the tropics, and the _Andromeda's_ seventeenth day at sea
+had brought the equator very near.  At dinner on the previous
+evening--in honor of the owner's niece fashionable hours were observed
+for meals--Mr. Watts mentioned, by chance, that the Cross had been very
+distinct during the middle watch, or, in other words, between midnight
+and 4 a.m.  Iris at once expressed a wish to see it, and Captain Coke
+offered a suggestion.
+
+"Mr. Hozier takes the middle watch to-night," said he.  "We can ax 'im
+to send a man to pound on your door as soon as it rises.  Then you must
+run up to the bridge, an' 'e'll tell you all about it."
+
+If Iris was conscious of a slight feeling of surprise, she did not show
+it.  Hitherto, the burly skipper of the _Andromeda_ had made it so
+clearly understood that none of the ship's company save himself was to
+enjoy the society of Miss Iris Yorke, that she had exchanged very few
+words with the one man whose manners and education obviously entitled
+him to meet her on an equal plane.  Even at meals, he was often absent,
+for the captain and chief officer of a tramp steamer are not altruists
+where eating is concerned.  She often visited the bridge, her favorite
+perch being the shady side of the wheel-house, but talking to the
+officer of the watch was strictly forbidden.  In everything
+appertaining to the vessel's navigation the discipline of a man-of-war
+was observed on board the _Andromeda_.  So Coke's complacency came now
+quite unexpectedly, but Iris was learning to school her tongue.
+
+"Thank you very much," she said.  "When shall I see him?"
+
+"Oh, you needn't bother.  I'll tell 'im meself."
+
+She was somewhat disappointed at this.  Hozier would be free for an
+hour before he turned in, and they might have enjoyed a nice chat while
+he smoked on the poop.  In her heart of hearts, she was beginning to
+acknowledge that a voyage through summer seas on a cargo vessel, with
+no other society than that of unimaginative sailormen, savored of
+tedium, indeed, almost of deadly monotony.  Her rare meetings with
+Hozier marked bright spots in a dull round of hours.  During their
+small intercourse she had discovered that he was well informed.  They
+had hit upon a few kindred tastes in books and music; they even
+differed sharply in their appreciation of favorite authors, and what
+could be more conducive to complete understanding than the attack and
+defense of the shrine of some tin god of literature?
+
+While, therefore, it was strange that Captain Coke should actually
+propose a visit to the bridge at an unusual time--at a time, too, when
+Hozier would be on duty--it struck her as far more curious that he
+should endeavor to prevent an earlier meeting.  But she had never lost
+her intuitive fear of Coke.  His many faults certainly did not include
+a weak will.  He meant what he said--also a good deal that he left
+unsaid--and his word was law to everyone on board the _Andromeda_.  So
+Iris contented herself with meek agreement.
+
+"I shall be delighted to come at any time.  I have often read about the
+Southern Cross, yet three short weeks ago I little thought----"
+
+"You reely didn't think about it at all," broke in Coke.  "If you 'ad,
+you'd 'ave known you couldn't cross the line without seein' it."
+
+Here was another perplexing element in the skipper's conduct.  That
+Iris was a stowaway was forgotten.  She was treated with the attention
+and ceremony due to the owner's niece.  Coke never lost an opportunity
+of dinning into the ears of Watts, or Hozier, or the steward, or any
+members of the crew who were listening, that Miss Yorke's presence in
+their midst was a preordained circumstance, a thing fully discussed and
+agreed on as between her uncle and himself, but carried out in an
+irregular manner, owing to some girlish freak on her part.  The
+portmanteau, with its change of raiment, brought convincing testimony,
+and Iris's own words when discovered in the lazaretto supplied further
+proof, if that were needed.  Her name figured in the ship's papers, and
+the time of her appearance on board was recorded in the log.  Coke
+might be a man of one idea, but he held to it as though it were written
+in the Admiralty Sailing Directions; not his would be the fault if
+David Verity failed to appreciate the logic of his reasoning long
+before an official investigation became inevitable.
+
+A keen, invigorating breeze swept the last mirage of sleep from the
+girl's brain as she flitted silently along the deck.  A wondrous galaxy
+of stars blazed in the heavens.  In that pellucid air the sky was a
+vivid ultramarine.  The ship's track was marked by a trail of
+phosphorescent fire.  Each revolution of the propeller drew from the
+ocean treasure-house opulent globes of golden light that danced and
+sparkled in the tumbling waters.  It was a night that pulsated with the
+romance and abandon of the south, a night when the heart might throb
+with unutterable longings, and the blood tingle in the veins under the
+stress of an emotion at once passionate and mystic.
+
+Iris, spurred on by no stronger impulse than that of the sight-seer,
+though not wholly unaware of an element of adventurous shyness in her
+expectation of a _tête-à-tête_ with a good-looking young man of her own
+status, climbed to the bridge so speedily and noiselessly that Hozier
+did not know of her presence until he heard her dismayed cry:
+
+"Is _that_ the Southern Cross?"
+
+[Illustration: "Is that the Southern Cross?"]
+
+He turned quickly.
+
+"You, Miss Yorke?" he exclaimed, and not even her wonder at the
+insignificance of the stellar display of which she had heard so much
+could cloak the fact that Hozier was unprepared for her appearance.
+
+"Of course, it is I--who else?" she asked.  "Did not Captain Coke tell
+you to expect me?"
+
+"No."
+
+"How odd!  That is what he arranged.  A man came and rapped at my door."
+
+"Pardon me one moment."
+
+He leaned over the bridge and hailed the watch.  The same hoarse voice
+that had roused Iris answered his questions, and, in the faint light
+that came from the binnacle, she caught a flicker of amusement on his
+face.
+
+"Our excellent skipper's intentions have been defeated," he said.  "He
+told one of the men to call him at seven bells, but not to wake you
+until the Cross was visible.  His orders have been obeyed quite
+literally.  He will be summoned in another hour, and you have been
+dragged from bed to gaze at the False Cross, which every foremast hand
+persists in regarding as the real article.  The true Cross, of which
+Alpha Crucis is the Southern Pole star, comes up over the horizon an
+hour after the false one."
+
+"But Captain Coke said he would see you and warn you of my visit."
+
+"I can only assure you that he did not.  Perhaps he thought it
+unnecessary--meaning to be on deck himself."
+
+"Must I wait here a whole hour, then?"
+
+Hozier laughed.  It was amusing to find how Coke's marked effort to
+keep the girl and him apart had been defeated by a sailor's blunder.
+
+"I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said.  "It is a beautiful
+night.  You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, no
+matter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you will
+never have a better chance of star-gazing.  Look at Sirius up there,
+brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than any
+star in southern latitudes.  Our dear old Bear of the north ranks far
+beyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dust
+contrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds such
+luster to the firmament nearer the equator."
+
+Under other circumstances, Iris would have reveled in just such an
+opportunity of acquiring knowledge easily.  Astronomy, despite its
+limitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm of
+wonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal of
+the infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soul
+pined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference the
+instant extinction of the Milky Way.
+
+"I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlier
+than was necessary," she said.  "You and I have not said much to each
+other since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier."
+
+"Our friends at table are somewhat--difficult.  If only you knew how I
+regretted----"
+
+"Oh, what of that?  When I became a stowaway I fully expected to be
+treated as one.  I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourself
+why I was guilty of such a mad trick?"
+
+"Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain Coke partly
+expected to have your company."
+
+"That is absurd.  He had not the remotest notion----"
+
+"Forgive me, but there you are wrong.  He says that your uncle and he
+discussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool.  His
+theory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship's larder.
+I assure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the
+_Andromeda's_ mess during this voyage."
+
+Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishing
+in her own ears.
+
+"Being the owner's niece, I am well catered for?" she cried.
+
+"Something of the sort.  It is only natural."
+
+"But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappy
+creature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuries
+that would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?"
+
+"Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke."
+
+"It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks,
+and remembers, and is capable of--of giving evidence."
+
+She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly.
+Coke's counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriage
+was hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothing
+else.  For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes.
+
+"Things are not so bad as that," he said gently.  "I hope I am not
+trespassing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you that
+the skipper was quite explicit, up to a point.  He said you were being
+forced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful----"
+
+"And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?"
+
+"Well, the story sounded all right."
+
+"Hid myself on my uncle's ship when I wished to avoid marrying the man
+of his choice?"
+
+Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes off
+the starlit sea for a few amazed seconds.  There was no mistaking the
+scornful ring in the girl's words.  He could see the deep color that
+flooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensity
+of feeling that thrilled while it perplexed.
+
+"Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not your
+motive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us on
+the this trip, why are you here?" he said.
+
+"Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that my
+presence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and the
+crime he had planned to commit.  If one wants to avoid hateful people a
+change of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the money
+for ordinary travel.  Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board the
+Andromeda without good reason.  I have often wished to have a talk with
+you.  I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence.  If you
+agree to help me, something may yet be done.  At first, I was sure that
+Captain Coke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discovered
+that I knew what was in his mind.  But now, I am beginning to doubt.
+Each day brings us nearer South America, and--and----"
+
+She was breathless with excitement.  She drew nearer to the silent, and
+impassive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, she
+caught his arm with an appealing hand.
+
+"I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme,"
+she murmured.  "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain,
+quite _certain_, that the ship will be lost within the next few days."
+
+Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl was
+saying that which she honestly thought to be true.
+
+"Lost!  Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked,
+and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on to
+repress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened in
+her brown eyes.
+
+"Yes, that is what he said--on the rocks, this side of Monte Video."
+
+"He said--who?"
+
+"The--the captain."
+
+"To whom did he say it?"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me."
+
+"How?"
+
+"I do not know.  I am half distracted with thinking.  What can we do?
+Captain Coke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly to
+him.  But, make no mistake--he knows that I heard his very words, and
+there is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence,
+that frightens me."
+
+After that, neither spoke during many minutes.  The _Andromeda_ jogged
+along steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beat
+time to the placid hum of her engines.  The sturdy old ship could
+seemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through the
+living waters, marking her track with a golden furrow.
+
+"That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," muttered
+Hozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in the
+wheel-house to assure himself that the man could not, by any chance,
+overhear their conversation.
+
+"But it is true--dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her hands
+together and resting them on the high railing of the bridge.
+
+"It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on.
+"Don't you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in any
+discussion with the man principally concerned?  I want to say this,
+though--you are in no danger.  There is no ship so safe as one that is
+picked out for wilful destruction.  Men will not sacrifice their own
+lives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is what
+is intended.  So you can sleep sound o' nights--at any rate until we
+near the coast of Brazil.  I can only promise you if any watchfulness
+on my part can stop this piece of villainy----  Hello, there!  What's
+up?  Why is the ship falling away from her course?"
+
+The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that she
+uttered a slight shriek.  It took her an appreciable time to understand
+that he was speaking to the man at the wheel.  But the sailor knew what
+he meant.
+
+"Something's gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled.  "I wasn't
+certain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s'uth'ard.  Then
+she jammed for sure."
+
+Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room.
+Already the golden pathway behind the _Andromeda_ had changed from a
+wavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve.  There
+was a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside the
+chart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action.
+
+"Steady there!" bellowed Hozier.  "Wait until we have examined the
+gear-boxes.  There may be a kink in a chain."
+
+A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck.  Some of the
+men ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting that
+governed the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap the
+wooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains.  In the
+midst of the hammering and excitement, Captain Coke swung himself up to
+the bridge.
+
+"Well, I'm blowed!  _You_ here?" he said, looking at Iris.  "Wot is it
+now?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier.  "Wheel stuck again?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  Has it happened before?"
+
+"Well--er--not this trip.  But it 'as 'appened.  Just for a minnit I
+was mixin' it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin'
+hooker off the Irish coast.  Ah, there she goes!  Everything O.K. now.
+W'en daylight comes we'll overhaul the fixin's.  Nice thing if the
+wheel jammed just as we was crossin' the Recife!"
+
+Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause of
+the disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow with
+an adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings.  Coke treated
+the incident with nonchalance.
+
+"Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, Miss
+Yorke?" he said abruptly.
+
+"I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannot
+distinguish between falsity and truth," she answered.  "But please
+don't be angry with any of the men on my account.  Mr. Hozier tells me
+they often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistake
+has been enjoyable.  Now I know all about it--what were those stars you
+were telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?"
+
+Philip took the cue she offered.
+
+"Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major.  I shall write the names and
+particulars for you after breakfast," he said with a smile.
+
+"Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross," grunted Coke; "it ain't a patch on
+the Bear."
+
+"Mr. Hozier said something like that," put in Iris mischievously.
+
+"Did 'e?  Well 'e's right for once.  But don't you go an' take as
+Gospel most things 'e says.  Every shipmaster knows that the second
+officer simply can't speak the truth.  It ain't natural.  W'y, it 'ud
+bust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man."
+
+Coke grinned at his own pleasantry.  To one of his hearers, at least,
+it seemed to be passing strange that he was so ready to forget such a
+vital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a few
+minutes earlier.
+
+At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seen
+and admired the cluster of stars which oldtime navigators used to
+regard with awe.  When shafts of white light began to taper,
+pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin.
+Contrary to Hozier's expectation, Coke did not attempt to draw from him
+any account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap to
+the wheel.  He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration in
+the course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge.
+
+"Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet," he said, nodding to
+Hozier confidentially.  "I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bit
+of bone into a gear-box.  If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, get
+the carpenter to see to it.  I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheel
+can let you down.  S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an'
+that 'appened!  It 'ud be the end of the pore ole ship; an' oo'd credit
+it?  Not a soul.  They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!'  Oh, I know
+'em, the swine--never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight,
+but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!"
+
+Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact position
+anticipated by Coke.  An elderly salt who had served with the P. & O.
+recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mail
+steamer while passing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.  He drew a
+lurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady passengers
+sleeping inside a curtained space on deck, and his location of the area
+of disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster.
+
+The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the whole
+of the next two days, for the _Andromeda_ revealed many gaps in her
+woodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsed
+by a new sensation.  At daybreak one morning every drop of water in the
+vessel's tanks suddenly assumed a rich, blood-red tint.  This unnerving
+discovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby stream
+pouring into the earliest kettle.  Thinking that an iron pipe had
+become oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap.
+Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncanny
+means, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color if
+not the taste of a thin Burgundy.
+
+Coke was summoned hastily.  _Noblesse oblige_; being captain, he
+valiantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage.
+
+"It ain't p'ison," he announced, gazing suspiciously at the little
+group of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict.  "It sartinly ain't
+p'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me born
+days.  'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker--'ave a
+sup?"
+
+"Not me!" said Watts.  "I don't like the look of it.  First time I've
+ever seen red ink on tap.  For the rest of this trip I stick to bottled
+beer, or somethink with a label."
+
+"It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash," volunteered
+Hozier.
+
+"Does it?" growled Coke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed.  "Wot a pity
+it ain't an infusion of whisky an' potash!" and he glared vindictively
+at Watts.  "Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot it
+is--some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an'
+corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic.  Stooard!"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the messroom attendant.
+
+"Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on the
+table every meal till it gives out.  See that nobody puts away more'n
+'is proper allowance, too.  I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the
+_Andromeda_ gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er."
+
+"If you're alloodin' to me," put in the incensed "chief," whose temper
+rose on this direct provocation, "I want to tell you now----"
+
+"Does the cap fit?" sneered Coke.
+
+"No, it doesn't.  I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life.
+D'ye take me for a--chemist's shop?"
+
+"Never 'eard of it!" cried the incensed skipper, who had obviously made
+up his mind as to the person responsible for the outrage.  "There's
+'arf a dozen cases of it in the after hold--or there was, w'en we put
+the hatches on."
+
+"Even if some of the cases were broken, sir, the contents could not
+reach the tanks," said Hozier, who fancied that Coke's attack on the
+bibulous Watts was wholly unwarranted.  But the commander's wrath could
+not be appeased.
+
+"Get this stuff pumped out, an' 'ave the tanks scoured.  We'll put into
+Fernando Noronha, an' refill there.  It's on'y a day lost, an' I guess
+the other liquor on board 'll last till we make the island.  Sink me,
+if this ain't the queerest run this crimson ship 'as ever 'ad.  I'll be
+glad w'en it's ended."
+
+Coke lurched away in the direction of the chart-room.  Hozier found him
+there later, poring over a chart of Fernando Noronha.  Iris, on hearing
+the steward's version of the affair, came to the bridge for further
+enlightenment, but Coke merely told her that the island was a Lloyd's
+signal station, so she could cable to her uncle.
+
+"Can I go ashore?" she asked.
+
+"I dunno.  We'll see.  It's a convict settlement for the Brazils, an'
+they're mighty partic'lar about lettin' people land, but they'll 'ardly
+object to a nice young lady like you 'avin' a peep at 'em."
+
+As his tone was unusually gruff, not to say jeering, she resolved to
+find an opportunity of seeking Hozier's advice on the cablegram
+problem.  But the portent of the blood-red water was not to be
+disregarded.  Never was Delphic oracle better served by nature.  The
+_Andromeda_ began to roll ominously; masses of black cloud climbed over
+the southwest horizon; at midday the ship was driving through a heavy
+sea.  As the day wore, the weather became even more threatening.  A sky
+and ocean that had striven during three weeks to produce in splendid
+rivalry blends of sapphire blue and emerald green and tenderest pink,
+were now draped in a shroud of gray mist.  With increasing frequency
+and venom, vaulting seas curled over the bows, and sent stinging
+showers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge.  Instead of
+the natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, the
+ship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots.  Torrents
+swept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hull
+with a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plank
+creaked.  Despite these drawbacks, the _Andromeda_ wormed her way
+south.  She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, and
+labored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiff
+gale.
+
+Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of a
+century.  Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of courage
+when Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shouted
+to her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outer
+furies!  The first time he announced that they were just "crossing the
+line," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lair
+was uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst.  On the second
+occasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be under
+the lee of Fernando Noronha early next morning.  She had sufficient sea
+lore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, but
+Hozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in the
+island, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by the
+present adverse combination of the elements.  In fact, Coke had already
+called both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with him
+that the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from the
+east, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the lead
+would permit.
+
+As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost,
+Philip did not give it other than a passing thought.  Coke was
+navigating the _Andromeda_ with exceeding care and no little skill.  He
+was a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to the
+younger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worst
+part of the blow.  About midnight the weather moderated.  It improved
+steadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun.
+By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainly
+visible.  Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost due
+west.  The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloud
+battalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea.  Soon it was
+possible to distinguish the full extent of the coast line.  Houses
+appeared, and trees, and green oases of cultivation, but these were
+mere spots of color amid the arid blackness of a land of bleak rock and
+stone-strewed hills.
+
+There was a strong current setting from the southeast, and the dying
+gale left its aftermath in a long swell, but the _Andromeda_ rolled on
+with ever-increasing comfort.  Even Iris was tempted forth by the
+continued sunshine.
+
+Coke was not on the bridge at the moment.  Mr. Watts was taking the
+watch; Hozier was on deck forrard, looking for gravel and shells on the
+instrument that picks up these valuable indications from the floor of
+the sea.  Suddenly the captain appeared.  He greeted Iris with a genial
+nod.
+
+"Ah, there you are," he cried.  "Not seen you since this time
+yesterday.  Sorry, but there'll be no goin' ashore to-day.  We're on
+the wrong side of the island, an' it 'ud toss you a bit if you was to
+try an' land in eether of the boats.  Take 'er in easy now, Mr. Watts.
+That's our anchorage--over there," and he pointed to the mouth of a
+narrow channel between South Point and the Ile des Frégates, the latter
+a tiny islet that almost blocks the entrance to a shallow bay into
+which runs a rivulet of good but slightly brackish water.
+
+The ship slowed perceptibly, and Hozier busied himself with the lead,
+which a sailor was swinging on the starboard side from the small
+platform of the accommodation ladder.  Iris did not know what was said,
+but the queer figures repeated to Coke seemed to be satisfactory.
+Headlands and hills crept nearer.  The rocky arms of the island closed
+in on them.  A faint scent as of sweet grasses reached them from the
+shore.  Iris could see several people, nearly all of them men in
+uniform, hurrying about with an air of excitement that betokened the
+unusual.  Perhaps a steamer's advent on the south side of the island
+was a novelty.
+
+Now they were in a fairly smooth roadstead; the remnants of the gale
+were shouldered away from the ship by the towering cliff that jutted
+out on the left of the bay.  The crew were mostly occupied in clearing
+blocks and tackle and swinging two life-boats outward on their davits.
+
+"All ready forrard?" roared Coke.  Hozier ran to the forecastle.  He
+found the carpenter there, standing by the windlass brake.
+
+"All ready, sir!" he cried.
+
+Coke nodded to him.
+
+"Give her thirty-five," he said, meaning thereby that the anchor should
+be allowed thirty-five fathoms of chain.
+
+From the bridge, where Iris was standing, she could follow each
+movement of the commander's hands as he signaled in dumbshow to the
+steersman or telegraphed instructions to the engine-room.  It was
+interesting to watch the alertness of the men on duty.  They were a
+scratch crew, garnered from the four quarters of the globe at the
+Liverpool shipping office, but they moved smartly under officers who
+knew their work, and the _Andromeda_ was well equipped in that respect.
+
+The turbulent current was surging across the bows with the speed of a
+mill-race, so Coke brought the vessel round until she lay broadside
+with the land and headed straight against the set of the stream.  It
+was his intent to drop anchor while in that position, and help any
+undue strain on the cable by an occasional turn of the propeller.
+
+"Keep her there!" he said, half turning to the man at the wheel; he
+changed the indicator from "Full speed" to "Slow ahead"; in a few
+seconds the anchor chain would have rattled through the
+hawse-hole--when something happened that was incomprehensible,
+stupefying--something utterly remote and strange from the ways of
+civilized men.
+
+The _Andromeda_ quivered under a tremendous buffet.  There was a crash
+of rending iron and an instant stoppage of the engines.  Almost merging
+into the noise of the blow came a loud report from the land, but that,
+in its turn, was drowned by the hiss of steam from the exhaust.
+
+Coke appeared to be dumfounded for an instant.  Recovering himself, he
+ran to the starboard side, leaned over, looked down at a torn plate
+that showed its jagged edges just above the water-line, and then lifted
+a blazing face toward a point half-way up the neighboring cliff, where
+a haze lay like a veil of gauze on the weather-scarred rocks.
+
+"You d--d pirates!" he yelled, raising both clenched fists at the
+hidden battery which had fired a twelve-pound shell into the doomed
+ship.
+
+The _Andromeda_ herself seemed to recognize that she was stricken unto
+death.  She fell away before the current with the aimless drift of a
+log.
+
+"Let go!" bellowed Coke with frenzied pantomime of action to Hozier.
+It was too late.  Before the lever controlling the steam windlass that
+released the anchor could be shoved over, another shell plunged through
+the thin iron plates in the bows, smashing a steam pipe, and jamming
+the hawser gear by its impact.  The missile burst with a terrific
+report.  A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killed
+outright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received a
+blow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him on
+the deck.
+
+The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship.
+That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear the
+bridge of its occupants.  Striking high and forward, it had robbed the
+_Andromeda_ of her last chance.  Now she was rolling in the full grip
+of the tidal stream.  It could only be a matter of a minute or less
+before she struck.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA"
+
+The island artillery did not succeed in hitting the crippled ship
+again.  Three more shells were fired, but each projectile screamed
+harmlessly far out to sea.  A trained gunner, noting these facts, would
+reason that the shore battery made good practice in the first instance
+solely because its ordnance was trained at a known range.  Indeed, he
+might even hazard a guess that the _Andromeda's_ warm reception was
+arranged long before her masts and funnel rose over the horizon.  That
+the islanders intended nothing less than her complete destruction was
+self-evident.  Without the slightest warning they had tried to sink
+her; and now that she was escaping the further attentions of the field
+pieces, a number of troops stationed on South Point and the Isle des
+Frégates began to pelt her with bullets.
+
+Iris, when the first paralysis of fear had passed, when her stricken
+senses resumed their sway and her limbs lost their palsy, flinched from
+this new danger, and sank sobbing to her knees behind the canvas shield
+of the bridge.  Somehow, this flimsy shelter, which sailors call the
+"dodger," gave some sense of safety.  Her throbbing brain was incapable
+of lucid thought, but it was borne in on her mistily that the world and
+its occupants had suddenly gone mad.  The omen of the blood-red water
+had justified itself most horribly.  The dead carpenter was sprawling
+over the forecastle windlass.  His hand still clutched the brake.  The
+sailor at the wheel had been shot through the throat, and had fallen
+limply through the open doorway of the chart-room; he lay there,
+coughing up blood and froth, and gasping his life out.  The two men
+wounded by the second shell were creeping down the forward companion in
+the effort to avoid the hail of lead that was beating on the ship.
+Hozier was raising himself on hands and knees, his attitude that of a
+man who is dazed, almost insensible.  Watts had gone from the
+bridge--he might have been whirled to death over the side like the
+unfortunate foremast hand she had seen tossed from off the forecastle;
+but Coke, whose charmed life apparently entitled him to act like a
+lunatic, was actually balancing himself on top of the starboard rails
+of the bridge by clinging to a stay, having climbed to that exposed
+position in order to hurl oaths at the soldiers on shore.  He had gone
+berserk with rage.  His cap had either fallen off or been torn from his
+head by a bullet; his squat, powerful figure was shaking with frenzy;
+he emphasized each curse with a passionate gesture of the free hand and
+arm; he said among other things, and with no lack of forceful
+adjectives, that if he could only come to close quarters with some of
+the Portygee assassins on the island he would tear their sanguinary
+livers out.  It is an odd thing that men made animal by fury often use
+that trope.  They do really mean it.  The liver is the earliest spoil
+of the successful tiger.
+
+The _Andromeda_, uncontrollable as destiny, and quite as heedless of
+her human freight, swung round with the current until her bows pointed
+to the islet occupied by the marksmen.  All at once, Coke suspended his
+flow of invectives and rushed into the chart-room, where Iris heard him
+tearing lockers open and throwing their contents on the deck.  To
+enter, he was obliged to leap over the body of the dying man.  The
+action was grotesque, callous, almost inhuman; it jarred the girl's
+agonized transports back into a species of spiritual calm, a mental
+state akin to the fatalism often exhibited by Asiatics when death is
+imminent and not to be denied.  The apparent madness of the captain was
+now more distressing to her than the certain loss of the ship or the
+invisible missiles that clanged into white patches on the iron plates,
+cut sudden holes and scars in the woodwork, or whirred through the air
+with a buzzing whistle of singularly menacing sound.  She began to be
+afraid of remaining on the bridge; her fear was not due to the really
+vital fact that it was so exposed; it arose from the purely feminine
+consideration that she was sure Coke had become a raving maniac, and
+she dreaded meeting him when, if ever, he reappeared.
+
+A bullet struck the front frame of the chart-room, and several panes of
+glass were shattered with a fearful din.  That decided her.  Coke, if
+he were not killed, would surely be driven out.  She sprang to her
+feet, and literally ran down the steep ladder to the saloon deck.
+Through the open door of the officers' mess she witnessed another
+bizarre act--an act quite as extraordinary in its way as Coke's jump
+over the steersman's body.  In the midst of this drama of death and
+destruction, Watts was standing there, with head thrown back and
+uplifted arm, gulping down a tumblerful of some dark-colored liquid,
+draining it to the dregs, while he held a black bottle in the other
+hand.  That a man should fly to rum for solace when existence itself
+might be measured by minutes or seconds, was, to Iris, not the least
+amazing experience of an episode crammed with all that was new, and
+strange, and horrible in her life.  She raced on, wholly unaware that
+the drifting ship was now presenting her port bow to the death-dealing
+fusillade.
+
+Then, from somewhere, she heard a gruff voice:
+
+"Hev' ye shut off steam, Macfarlane?"
+
+"Ou ay.  It's a' snug below till the watter reaches the furnaces," came
+the answer.
+
+So some of the men were doing their duty.  Thank God for that!
+Undeterred by the fact that a live shell had burst among the engines,
+the oil-stained, grim-looking engineers had not quitted their post
+until they had taken such precautions as lay in their power to insure
+the ship's safety.  A light broke in on the fog in the girl's mind.
+Even now, at the very gate of eternity, one might try to help others!
+The thought brought a ray of comfort.  She was about to look for the
+speakers when a bullet drilled a hole in a panel close to her side.
+She began to run again, for a terrified glance through the forward
+gangway showed that the ship was quite close to the land, where men in
+blue uniforms, wearing curiously shaped hats and white gaiters, were
+scattered among the rocks, some standing, some kneeling, some prone,
+but all taking steady aim.
+
+But it showed something more.  Hozier was now lying sideways on the
+raised deck of the forecastle; he partly supported himself on his right
+arm; his left hand was pressed to his forehead; he was trying to rise.
+With an intuition that was phenomenal under the circumstances, Iris
+realized that he was screened from observation for the moment by the
+windlass and the corpse that lay across it.  But the ship's ever
+increasing speed, and the curving course of her drifting, would soon
+bring him into sight, and then those merciless riflemen would shoot him
+down.
+
+"Oh, not that!  Not that!" she wailed aloud.
+
+An impulse stronger than the instinct of self-preservation caused the
+blood to tingle in her veins.  She had waited to take that one look,
+and now, bent double so as to avoid being seen by the soldiers, she
+sped back through the gangway, gained the open deck, crouched close to
+the bulwarks on the port side, and thus reached unscathed the foot of
+the companion down which the wounded men had crawled.  The zinc plates
+on the steps were slippery with their blood, but she did not falter at
+the sight.  Up she went, stooped over Hozier, and placed her strong
+young arms round his body.
+
+"Quick!" she panted, "let me help you!  You will be killed if you
+remain here!"
+
+Her voice seemed to rouse him as from troubled sleep.
+
+"I was hit," he muttered.  "What is it?  What is wrong?"
+
+"Oh, come, come!" she screamed, for some unseen agency tore a
+transverse gash in the planking not a foot in front of them.
+
+He yielded with broken expostulations.  She dragged him to the top of
+the stairs.  Clinging to him, she half walked, half fell down the few
+steps.  But she did not quite fall; Hozier's weight was almost more
+than she could manage, but she clung to him desperately, saved him from
+a headlong plunge to the deck, and literally carried him into the
+forecastle, where she found some of the crew who had scurried there
+like rabbits to their burrow when the first shell crashed into the
+engine-room.
+
+Iris's fine eyes darted lightning at them.
+
+"You call yourselves men," she cried shrilly, "yet you leave one of
+your officers lying on deck to be shot at by those fiends!"
+
+"We didn't know he was there, miss," said one.  "We'd ha' fetched him
+right enough if we did."
+
+Even in her present stress of mixed emotions, the sailor's words
+sounded reasonable.  Every other person on board was just as greatly
+stunned by this monstrous attack as she herself, and the firing now
+appeared to increase in volume and accuracy.  Several bullets clanged
+against the funnel or broke huge splinters off the boats.
+
+"Gord A'mighty, listen to that," growled a voice.  "An' we cooped up
+here, blazed at by a lot of rotten Dagos, with not a gun to our name!"
+
+Iris was still supporting Hozier, whose head and shoulders were
+pillowed against her breast as she knelt behind him.
+
+"Can nothing be done?" she asked.  "I believe Captain Coke has been
+killed.  Mr. Hozier is badly injured, I fear.  Bring some water, if
+possible."
+
+"Yes, yes, water. . . .  Only a knock on the head. . . .  How did it
+happen?  And what is that noise of firing?"
+
+Hozier's scattered wits were returning, though neither he nor Iris
+remembered that the _Andromeda_ was waterless.  He looked up at her,
+then at the men, and he smiled as his eyes met hers again.
+
+"Funny thing!" he said, with a natural tone that was reassuring.  "I
+thought the windlass smashed itself into smithereens.  But it couldn't.
+What was it that banged?"
+
+"A shell, fired from the island," said the girl.
+
+Hozier straightened himself a little.  He was hearing marvels, though
+far from understanding them, as yet.
+
+"A shell!" he repeated vacantly.  Had she said "a comet" it could not
+have sounded more incredible.
+
+"Yes.  It might have killed you.  Several of the men are dead.  I
+myself saw three of them killed outright, and two others are badly
+wounded."
+
+"Here you are, sir--drink this," said a fireman, offering a pannikin of
+beer.  It was unpalatable stuff, but it tasted like the nectar of the
+gods to one who had sustained a blow that would have felled an ox.
+Hozier had almost emptied the tin when an exclamation from an Irish
+stoker drew all eyes to the after part of the ship.
+
+"Holy war!  Will ye look at that!" shouted the man.  "Sure the skipper
+isn't dead, at all, at all."
+
+Iris had failed to grasp the meaning of Coke's antics in the
+chart-room, but they were now fully explained.  The bulldog breed of
+this self-confessed rascal had taken the upper hand of him.  Though he
+had not scrupled to plot the destruction of the ship, and thus rob a
+marine insurance company of a considerable sum of money--though at that
+very instant there was actual proof of his scheme in the preparations
+he had made to jam the steering-gear when the anchor was raised after
+the tanks were replenished--it was not in the man's nature to skulk
+into comparative safety because a foreigner, a pirate, a
+not-to-be-mentioned-in-polite-society Portygee, opened fire on him in
+this murderous fashion.  Moreover, Coke's villainy would have
+sacrificed no lives.  The _Andromeda_ might be converted into scrap
+iron, and thereby give back, by perverted arithmetic, the money
+invested in her.  But her white decks would not be stained with blood.
+Whatever risk was incurred would be his, the responsible captain's, his
+only.  It was a vastly different thing that shot and shell should be
+rained on an unarmed ship by the troops of a civilized power when she
+was seeking the lowest form of hospitality.  No wonder if the
+bull-necked skipper foamed at the mouth and used words forbidden by the
+catechism; no wonder if he tried to express his helpless fury in one
+last act of defiance.
+
+He rummaged the lockers for a Union Jack and the four flags that showed
+the ship's name in signal letters.  The red ensign was already
+fluttering from a staff at the stern, and the house flag of David
+Verity & Co. was at the fore, but these emblems did not satisfy Coke's
+fighting mettle.  The _Andromeda_ would probably crack like an eggshell
+the instant she touched the reef towards which she was hurrying; he
+determined that she would go down with colors flying if he were not put
+out of action by a bullet before he could reach the main halyard.
+
+The swerve in the ship's course as she passed the island gave him an
+opportunity.  In justice to Coke it should be said that he recked
+naught of this, but it would have been humanly impossible otherwise for
+the soldiers to have missed him.  And now, while the vessel lay with
+straight keel in the set of the current, the national emblem of
+Britain, with the _Andromeda's_ code flags beneath, fluttered up the
+mainmast.
+
+There are many imaginable conditions under which Coke's deed would be
+regarded as sublime; there are none which could deny his splendid
+audacity.  The soldiers, who seemed to be actuated by the utmost
+malevolence, redoubled their efforts to hit the squat Hercules who had
+bellowed at them and their fellow artillerists from the bridge.
+Bullets struck the deck, lodged in the masts, splintered the roof and
+panels of the upper structure, but not one touched Coke.  He coolly
+made fast each flag in its turn, and hauled away till the Union Jack
+had reached the truck; then, drawn forrard by a hoarse cheer that came
+from the forecastle, he turned his back on the enemy and swung himself
+down to the fore-deck.
+
+He was still wearing the heavy garments demanded by the gale; his
+recent exertions, joined to the fact that the normal temperature of a
+sub-tropical island was making itself felt, had induced a violent
+perspiration.  As he lumbered along the deck he mopped his face
+vigorously with a pocket handkerchief, and this homely action helped to
+convince Iris that she was mistaken in thinking him mad.  His words,
+too, when he caught sight of her, were not those of a maniac.
+
+"Well, missy," he cried, "wot'll they say in Liverpool now?  I s'pose
+they'll 'ear of this some day," and he jerked a thumb backwards to
+indicate the unceasing hail of bullets that poured into the after part
+of the ship.
+
+The girl looked at him with an air of surprise that would have been
+comical under less grievous conditions.  She knew, with a vague
+definiteness, that death was near, perhaps unavoidable, and it had
+never occurred to her that she or any other person on board need feel
+any concern about the view entertained by Liverpool as to their fate.
+Before she could frame a reply, however, Hozier seemed to recover his
+faculties.  He stood up, walked unaided to the side of the ship, and
+glanced ahead.
+
+"Shouldn't we try to lower a boat, sir?" he asked instantly.
+
+"Wot's the use?" growled Coke.  "Oo's goin' to lower boats while them
+blighters on the island are pumpin' lead into us?  And wot good are the
+boats w'en they're lowered?  They've been drilled full of holes.  You
+might as well try to float a sieve.  Look at that," he added
+sarcastically, as the side of the cutter was ripped open by a
+ricochetting shot, and splinters were littered on the deck, "they know
+wot they want an' they mean to get it.  Dead men tell no tales.  It
+won't be anybody 'ere now who'll 'ave the job of lettin' the folk at
+'ome know 'ow the pore ole _Andromeda_ went under."
+
+"Are none of the boats seaworthy?"
+
+"Not one.  They're knocked to pieces.  Sorry for you, Miss Yorke.  But
+we're all booked for Kingdom Come.  In 'arf a minnit, or less, we'll be
+on the reef, an' the ship must begin to break up."
+
+Coke was telling the plain truth, but Hozier ran aft to make sure that
+he was right in assuming the extent of the boats' damages.  One of the
+men, an Italian, climbed to the forecastle deck in order to see more
+clearly what sort of danger they were running into.  He came back
+instantly, and his swarthy face was green with terror.  Though he spoke
+English well enough, he began to jabber wildly in his mother tongue.
+None paid heed to him.  It was common knowledge that the vessel must be
+lost, and that those who still lived when she struck would have the
+alternatives of being drowned, or beaten to pieces against the frowning
+rocks, or shot from the mainland like so many stranded seals, if some
+alliance of luck and strength secured a momentary foothold on one of
+the tiny islets that barred the way.  And at such moments, when the
+mind is driven into a swift-running channel that ends in a cataract,
+elemental passions are apt to strive with elemental fears.  Few among
+these rough sailors had ever given thought to the future.  They had
+lived from hand to mouth, the demands of a hard and dangerous
+profession alternating with bouts of foolish revelry.  Most of them had
+looked on death in the tempest, in the swirling seas, in the uplifted
+knife.  But then, there was always a chance of escape, an open door for
+the stout heart and ready hand; whereas, under present conditions,
+there was nothing to be done but pray, or curse, or wait in stoic
+silence until the first ominous quiver ran through the swift-moving
+ship.  So, all unknowingly, they grouped themselves according to their
+nationalities, for the Latins knelt and supplicated the saints and the
+Virgin Mother, the Celts roared insensate threats at the islanders who
+had thrown them into the very jaws of eternity, and the Saxons stood
+motionless, with grim jaws and frowning brows, disdaining alike both
+frenzied appeal and useless execration.
+
+Someone threw a cork jacket over the girl's shoulders, and bade her
+fasten its straps around her waist.  She obeyed without a word.
+Indeed, she seemed to have lost the power of speech.  Everything had
+suddenly assumed such a crystal clear aspect that her eyes were gifted
+with unnatural vision though her remaining senses were benumbed.  The
+blue and white of the sky, the emerald green of the water, the russet
+brown and cold gray of the land--these shone now with a beauty vivid
+beyond any of nature's tints she had ever before seen.  She was
+conscious, too, of an awful aloofness.  Her spirit was entrenched in
+its own citadel.  She seemed to be brooding, solitary and remote, yet
+shrinking ever within herself; quite unknowing, she offered a piteous
+example of the old Hebrew's dire truism that man came naked into the
+world and naked shall he depart.
+
+In a curiously detached way she wondered why Hozier did not return.
+The prayers and curses of the men surrounding her fell unheeded on her
+ears.  Where was Hozier?  What was he doing?  Why did he not come to
+her?  She felt a strange confidence in him.  If he had not been struck
+down by that calamitous shell he would have saved the ship--assuredly
+he would have devised some means of saving their lives!  Perhaps, even
+now, he was attempting some desperate expedient! . . .  The thought
+nerved her for an instant.  Then a rending, grinding noise was followed
+by a sudden swerve and roll of the ship that sent her staggering
+against a bulkhead.  An outburst of cries and shouting rang through her
+brain, and a shriek was wrung from her parched throat.
+
+But the _Andromeda_ righted herself again, though there was another
+sound of tearing metal, and the deck heaved perceptibly under a shock.
+
+Ah, kind Heaven! here came Hozier, running, thundering some loud order.
+
+"The port life-boat . . . seaworthy!"
+
+There was a fierce rush, in which she joined.  She was knocked down.  A
+strong hand dragged her to her feet.  It was Coke, swearing horribly.
+She saw Hozier leap against the flood of men.
+
+"D--n you, the woman first!" she heard him say, and he sent the leaders
+of the mob sprawling over the hatches of the forehold.
+
+Coke, almost carrying her in his left arm, butted in among the crew
+like an infuriated bull.  Some of the men, shamefaced, made way for
+them.  Hosier reached her.  She thought he said to the captain:
+
+"There's a chance, if we can swing her clear."
+
+Then the ship struck, and they were all flung to the deck.  They rose,
+somehow, anyhow, but the _Andromeda_, apparently resenting the check,
+lifted herself bodily, tilted bow upward, and struck again.  A mass of
+spray dashed down upon the struggling figures who had been driven a
+second time to their knees.  There was a terrific explosion in the
+after-hold, for the deck had burst under the pressure of air, and
+another ominous roar announced that the water had reached the furnaces.
+Steam and smoke and dust mingled with the incessant lashing of sheets
+of spray, and Iris was torn from Coke's grip.
+
+She fancied she heard Hozier cry, "Too late!" and a lightning glimpse
+down the sloping deck showed some of the engineers and stokers crawling
+up toward the quivering forecastle.  She felt herself clasped in
+Hozier's arms, and knew that he was climbing.  After a few breathless
+seconds she realized that they were standing on the forecastle, where
+the captain and many of the crew were clinging to the windlass, and
+anchor, and cable, and bulwarks, to maintain their footing.  Below,
+beyond a stretch of unbroken deck, the sea raged against all that was
+left of the ship.  The bridge just showed above the froth and spume of
+sea level.  The funnel still held by its stays, but the mainmast was
+gone, and with it the string of flags.
+
+The noise was deafening, overpowering.  It sounded like the rattle of
+some immense factory; yet a voice was audible through the din, for
+Hozier was telling her not to abandon hope, as the fore part of the
+ship was firmly wedged into a cleft in the rocks: they might still have
+a chance when the tide dropped.
+
+So that explained why it was so dark where a few moments ago all was
+light.  Iris pressed the salt water out of her burning eyes, and tried
+to look up.  On both sides of the narrow triangle of the forecastle
+rose smooth overhanging walls, black and dripping.  They were festooned
+with seaweed, and every wave that curled up between the ship's plates
+and the rocks was thrown back over the deck, while streams of water
+fell constantly from the masses of weed.  She gasped for breath.  The
+mere sight of this dismal cleft with its super-saturated air space made
+active the choking sensation of which she was just beginning to be
+aware.
+
+"I--cannot breathe!" she sobbed, and she would have slipped off into
+the welter of angry foam beneath had not Hozier tightened a protecting
+arm round her waist.
+
+"Stoop down!" he said.
+
+She had a dim knowledge that he unbuttoned his coat and drew one of its
+folds over her head.  Ah, the blessed relief of it!  Freed from the
+stifling showers of spray, she drew a deep breath or two.  How good he
+was to her!  How sure she was now that if he had been spared by that
+disabling shell he would have saved them all!
+
+Bent and shrouded as she was, she could see quite clearly downward.
+The ship was breaking up with inconceivable rapidity.  Already there
+was a huge irregular vent between the fore deck and the central block
+of cabins topped by the bridge.  And a new horror was added to all that
+had gone before.  Swarms of rats were skimming up the slippery planks.
+They were invading the forecastle and the forecastle deck.  They came
+in an irresistible army, though, fortunately for Iris's continued
+sanity, the greater number scurried into the darkness of the men's
+quarters.
+
+She was watching them with fascinated eyes, though not daring to
+withdraw her head from under the coat, when she heard a ghastly yell
+from beneath, and an erie face appeared above the stairway.  It was
+Watts, mad with fright and drink.
+
+"Save me! save me!" he screamed, and the girl shuddered as she realized
+that the man did not fear death so much as he loathed the scampering
+rats.  He had no difficulty in climbing the steep companion, though, by
+reason of the present position of all that was left of the _Andromeda_,
+its pitch was thrown back to an unusual angle.  He scrambled up, a
+pitiable object.  A couple of rats ran over his body, and as each
+whisked across his shoulders and past his cheek he uttered a
+blood-curdling yell.  A big wave surged up into the recesses of the
+cleft and was flung off in a drenching shower on to the forecastle.  It
+nearly swept Watts into the next world, and it drove every rodent in
+that exposed place back to the dry interior.
+
+To return, they had to use the unhappy chief officer as a causeway, and
+the poor wretch's despairing cries were heartrending.  He was clinging
+for dear life to a bolt in the deck when Coke joined hands with a
+sailor and was thus enabled to reach him.  Once the skipper's strong
+fingers had clutched his collar he was rescued--at least from the
+instant death that might have been the outcome of his abject terror,
+for there could be little doubt in the minds of those who saw his
+glistening eyes and drawn lips that it would have needed the passage of
+but one more rat and he would have relaxed his hold.
+
+Coke pulled him up until he was lodged in safety in front of the
+windlass.  The manner of the welcome given by the captain to his _aide_
+need not be recorded here.  It was curt and lurid; it would serve as a
+sorry passport if proffered on his entry to another world; but the
+tragi-comedy of Watts's appearance among the close-packed gathering on
+the forecastle was forthwith blotted out of existence by a thing so
+amazing, so utterly unlooked for that during a couple of spellbound
+seconds not a man moved nor spoke.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE REFUGEES
+
+Watts was whimpering some broken excuse to his angry skipper when a
+coil of stout rope fell on top of the windlass and rebounded to the
+deck.  More than that, one end of it stretched into the infinity of
+dripping rock and flying spray overhead.  And it had been thrown by
+friendly hands.  Though it dangled from some unseen ledge, its purpose
+seemed to be that of help rather than slaughter, whereas every other
+act of the inhabitants of Fernando Noronha had been suggestive of
+homicidal mania in its worst form.
+
+Coke and Hozier recovered the use of their faculties simultaneously.
+The eyes of the two men met, but Coke was the first to find his voice.
+
+"Salvage, by G--d!" he cried.  "Up you go, Hozier!  I'll sling the girl
+behind you.  She can't manage it alone, an' it needs someone with
+brains to fix things up there for the rest of us."  And he added
+hoarsely in Philip's ear: "Sharp's the word.  We 'aven't many minutes!"
+
+Philip made no demur.  The captain's strong common sense had suggested
+the best step that could be taken in the interests of all.  Iris, who
+was nearer yielding now that there was a prospect of being rescued than
+when death was clamoring at her feet among the trembling remains of the
+ship, silently permitted Coke and a sailor to strip off a life-belt and
+tie her and Hozier back to back.  It was wonderful, though hidden from
+her ken in that supreme moment, to see how they devised a double sling
+in order to distribute the strain.  When each knot was securely
+fastened, Coke vociferated a mighty "Heave away!"
+
+But his powerful voice was drowned by the incessant roar of the
+breakers; not even the united clamor of every man present, fifteen all
+told, including the drunken chief officer, could make itself heard
+above the din.  Then Hozier tugged sharply at the rope three times, and
+it grew taut.  Amid a jubilant cry from the others, he and Iris were
+lifted clear of the deck.  At once they were carried fully twenty feet
+to seaward.  As they swung back, not quite so far, and now well above
+the level of the windlass from which their perilous journey had
+started, a ready-witted sailor seized a few coils of a thin rope that
+lay tucked up in the angle of the bulwarks, and flung them across
+Hozier's arms.
+
+"Take a whip with you, sir!" he yelled, and Philip showed that he
+understood by gripping the rope between his teeth.  It was obvious that
+the rescuers were working from a point well overhanging the recess into
+which the _Andromeda_ had driven her bows, and there might still be the
+utmost difficulty in throwing a rope accurately from the rock to the
+wreck.  As a matter of fact, no less than six previous attempts had
+been made, and the success of the seventh was due solely to a favorable
+gust of wind hurtling into the cleft at the very instant it was needed.
+The sailor's quick thought solved this problem for the future.  By
+tying the small rope to the heavier one, those who remained below could
+haul it back when some sort of signal code was established.  At
+present, all they could do was to pay out the whip, and take care that
+it did not interfere with Hozier's ascent.  They soon lost sight of him
+and the girl, for the spray and froth overhead formed an impenetrable
+canopy, but they reasoned that the distance to be traveled could not be
+great; otherwise the throwing of a rope would have been a physical
+impossibility in the first instance.
+
+Once there was a check.  They waited anxiously, but there was no sign
+given by the frail rope that they were to haul in again.  Then the
+upward movement continued.
+
+"Chunk o' rock in the way," announced Coke, glaring round at the
+survivors as if to challenge contradiction.  No one answered.  These
+men were beginning to measure their lives against the life of the wedge
+of iron and timber kept in position by the crumbling frame of the ship.
+It was a fast-diminishing scale.  The figures painted on the
+_Andromeda's_ bows represented minutes rather than feet.
+
+Watts was lying crouched on deck, with his arms thrown round the
+windlass.  Looking ever for a fresh incursion of rats, he seemed to be
+cheered by the fact that his dreaded assailants preferred the interior
+of the forecastle to the wave-swept deck.  He was the only man there
+who had no fear of death.  Suddenly he began to croon a long-forgotten
+sailor's chanty.  Perhaps, in some dim way, a notion of his true
+predicament had dawned on him, for there was a sinister purport to the
+verse.
+
+  "Now, me lads, sing a stave of the Dead Man's Mass;
+      Ye'll never sail 'ome again, O.
+  We're twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass,
+      Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.
+            Sing hay----
+            Sing ho----
+      A nikker is Davy Jones,
+        Just one more plug, an' a swig at the jug,
+      An' up with the skull an' bones."
+
+
+After a longer and faster haul than had been noticed previously, the
+rope stopped a second time.  Everyone, except Watts, was watching the
+whip intently.  His eyes peered around, wide-open, lusterless.  The
+pounding of the seas, the grating of iron on rock, left him unmoved.
+
+"Wy don't you jine in the chorus, you swabs?" he cried, and forthwith
+plunged into the second stanza.
+
+  "The _Alice_ brig sailed out of the Pool
+      For the other side of the world, O,
+  An' our ole man brought 'is gal from school,
+      With 'er 'air so brown an' curled, O.
+            Sing hum----
+            Sing hum----
+      Of death no man's a dodger,
+        An' we squared our rig for a yardarm jig
+      When we sighted the Jolly Roger."
+
+
+He grew quite uproarious because the lilting tune evoked neither
+applause nor vocal efforts from the others.
+
+"Lord luv' a duck!" he shouted.  "Can't any of ye lend a hand?  Cheer
+O, maties--'ere's a bit more----
+
+  The brig was becalmed in a sea like glass,
+      An' it gev' us all the creeps, O,
+  Wen the sun went down like a ball o' brass,
+      An' the pirate rigged 'is sweeps----"
+
+
+"There she goes!" yelled the sailor in charge of the line; he began to
+haul in the slack like a madman; Coke's fist fell heavily on the
+singer's right ear.
+
+"Wen your turn comes, I'll tie the rope round your bloomin' neck!" he
+growled vindictively, though his eyes continued to search the dark
+shroud overhead that inclosed them as in a tomb.  A dark form loomed
+downward through the mist.  It was Hozier, alone, coming back to them.
+A frenzied cheer broke from the lips of those overwrought men.  They
+knew what that meant.  Somewhere, high above the black rocks and the
+flying scud, was hope throned in the blessed sunshine.  They drew him
+in cautiously until Coke was able to grasp his hand.  They were quick
+to see that he brought a second rope and a spare whip.
+
+"Two at a time on both ropes," was his inspiriting message.  "They're
+friendly Portuguese up there, but no one must be seen if a boat is sent
+from the island to find out what has become of the ship.  So step
+lively!  Now, Captain, tell 'em off in pairs."
+
+Coke's method was characteristic.  He literally fell on the two nearest
+men and began to truss them.  Hozier followed his example, and tied two
+others back to back.  They vanished, and the ropes returned, much more
+speedily this time.  Four, and four again, were drawn up to safety.
+There were left the captain, Hozier, and the unhappy Watts, who was now
+crying because the skipper had "set about" him, just for singin' a reel
+ole wind-jammer song.
+
+"You must take up this swine," said Coke to Hozier, dragging Watts to
+his feet with scant ceremony.  "If I lay me 'ands on 'im I'll be
+tempted to throttle 'im."
+
+Watts protested vigorously against being tied.  He vowed that it was
+contrary to articles for a chief officer to be treated in such a
+fashion.  He howled most dolorously during his transit through mid-air,
+but was happily quieted by another sharp rap on the head resulting from
+his inability to climb over the obstructing rock.
+
+Before quitting the deck, Hozier helped to adjust the remaining rope
+around the captain's portly person.  They were lifted clear of the
+trembling forecastle almost simultaneously, and in the very nick of
+time.  Already the skeleton of the ship's hull was beginning to slip
+off into deep water.  The deck was several feet lower than at the
+moment of the vessel's final impact against the rocks.  Even before the
+three reached the ledge from which their rescuers were working, the
+bridge and funnel were swept away, the foremast fell, the forehold and
+forecastle were riotously flooded by the sea, and Watts, were he
+capable of using his eyes, might have seen his deadly enemies, the
+rats, swarming in hundreds to the tiny platform that still rose above
+the destroying waves.  Soon, even that frail ark was shattered.  When
+keel and garboard stroke plates snapped, all that was left of the
+_Andromeda_ toppled over, and the cavern she had invaded rang with a
+fierce note of triumph as the next wave thundered in without hindrance.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+It was, indeed, a new and strange world on which Iris looked when able
+to breathe and see once more.  During that terrible ascent she had
+retained but slight consciousness of her surroundings.  She knew that
+Hozier and herself were drawn close to a bulging rock, that her
+companion clutched at it with hands and knees, and thus fended her
+delicate limbs from off its broken surface; she felt herself half
+carried, half lifted, up into free air and dazzling light; she heard
+voices in a musical foreign tongue uttering words that had the ring of
+sympathy.  And that was all for a little while.  Friendly hands placed
+her in a warm and sunlit cleft, and she lay there, unable to think or
+move.  By degrees, the numbness of body and mind gave way to clearer
+impressions.  But she took much for granted.  For instance, it did not
+seem an unreasonable thing that the familiar faces of men from the
+_Andromeda_ should gather near her on an uneven shelf of rock strewn
+with broken bolders and the litter of sea-birds.  She recognized them
+vaguely, and their presence brought a new confidence.  They increased
+in number; sailor-like, they began to take part instantly in the work
+of rescue; but she wondered dully why Hozier did not come to her, nor
+did she understand that he had gone back to that raging inferno beneath
+until she saw his blood-stained face appear over the lip of the
+precipice.
+
+Then she screamed wildly: "Thank God!  Oh, thank God!" and staggered to
+her feet in the frantic desire to help in unfastening the ropes that
+bound him to the insensible Watts.  One of the men tried to persuade
+her to sit down again, but she would not be denied.  Her unaccustomed
+fingers strove vainly against the stiff strands, swollen as they were
+with wet, and drawn taut by the strain to which they had been
+subjected.  Tears gushed forth at her own helplessness.  The pain in
+her eyes blinded her.  She shrank away again.  Not until Philip himself
+spoke did she dare to look at him, to find that he was bending over
+her, and endeavoring to allay her agitation by repeated assurance of
+their common well-being.
+
+But her distraught brain was not yet equal to a complexity of thought.
+Watts was lying close to her feet, and it thrilled her with dread and
+contempt when Coke bestowed a well-considered kick on his chief
+officer's prostrate form.
+
+"Oh, how dare you?" she cried, indignant as an offended goddess.
+
+"Sorry, miss," said Coke, scowling as if he were inclined to repeat the
+assault, though he was not then aware of the more strenuous method
+adopted by the rock as a sobering agent.  "I didn't know you was there.
+But 'e fair gev' me a turn, 'e did, singin' 'is pot-'ouse crambos w'en
+we was in the very jors of death, so to speak."
+
+"He must not sing," she announced gravely, "but really you should not
+kick him."
+
+"Come, Miss Yorke," broke in Hozier, who was choking back a laugh that
+was nearer hysteria than he dreamed, "our Portuguese friends say we
+must not remain here an instant longer than is necessary."
+
+"Yes," said a strange voice, "the sea is moderating.  At any moment a
+boat may appear.  Follow me, all of you.  The road is a rough one, but
+it is not far."
+
+The speaker was an elderly man, long-haired and bearded, of whose
+personality the girl caught no other details than the patriarchal
+beard, a pair of remarkably bright eyes, a long, pointed nose, and a
+red scar that ran diagonally across a domed forehead.  He turned away
+without further explanation, and began to climb a natural pathway that
+wound itself up the side of an almost perpendicular wall of rock.
+
+Hozier caught Iris by the arm, and would have assisted her, but she
+shook herself free.  She felt, and conducted herself, like a fractious
+child.
+
+"I can manage quite well," she said with an odd petulance.  "Please
+look after that unfortunate Mr. Watts.  I am not surprised that he
+should have been frightened by the rats.  They terrified me, too.  Oh,
+how awful they were--in the dark--when their eyes shone!"
+
+Her mind had traveled back to the two nights and a day passed in the
+lazaretto.  She sobbed bitterly, and stumbled over a steep ledge.  She
+would have fallen were it not for Philip's help.
+
+"Watts is all right," he soothed her.  "Two of the men are seeing to
+him.  And the rats are all gone now.  There are none here!"
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Quite sure."
+
+"What became of them?"
+
+"They are all--we left them behind on the ship."
+
+Suddenly she clung to him.
+
+"Don't let them send me back to the ship," she implored.
+
+"No, no.  You are safe now."
+
+"Of course I am safe, but I dread that ship.  Why did I ever come on
+board?  Captain Coke said he would sink her.  I told you----"
+
+"Steady!  Keep a little nearer the rocks on your left.  The passage is
+narrow here."
+
+Hozier raised his voice somewhat, and purposely hurried her.  But she
+was not to be repressed.
+
+"Poor ship!  What had she done that she should be battered on the
+rocks?" she wailed.
+
+"You must not talk," he said firmly, well knowing that if the sailors
+and firemen lumbering close behind had not heard her earlier comment it
+was due solely to the blustering wind.  They were skirting the seaward
+face of the rocky islet on which they had found salvation.  The sun was
+blazing at them sideways from a wide expanse of blue sky.  The rear
+guard clouds of the gale were scurrying away over the horizon in front
+of their upward path.  Somehow, Philip's sailor's brain was befogged.
+Those clouds must have blown to the northeast.  If that were so, what
+was the sun doing in the southeast at this time of the day?  It had
+hardly budged a point from the quarter in which some fitful gleams
+shone when that mad thing happened near the windlass.  Thinking he was
+still dizzy from the effects of the blow, which the girl had ascribed
+to the bursting of a shell, Philip glanced at his watch.  It was
+twenty-five minutes past eight!  Yet he distinctly remembered eight
+bells being struck while Coke was telling him from the bridge to give
+the anchor thirty-five fathoms of cable.  Was it possible that they had
+gone through so much during those few minutes?  If he were really
+light-headed, then sun and clouds and watch were conspiring to keep him
+so.
+
+Iris, chilled by his stern tone, nevertheless noted his action.  Still
+unable to concentrate her thoughts on more than one topic, and that to
+the exclusion of all else, she asked the time.  He told her.  He
+awaited some expression of surprise on her part, provided it were,
+indeed, true that only twenty-five minutes had sped since the
+_Andromeda_ was quietly preparing to drop anchor off South Point.  But
+she received his news without comment.  She would have been equally
+undisturbed if told it was midnight, and that the vessel had gone
+ashore on the coast of China.
+
+Just then the track turned sharply away from the sea.  A dry
+water-course cut deeply into the cliff where torrential rains had found
+an upright layer of soft scoria imbedded in the mass of basalt.  Their
+guide was standing on the sky-line of the cleft, some forty feet above
+them.
+
+"Tell the others to make haste," he said.  "This is the end of your
+journey."
+
+It did not strike either Hozier or the girl as being specially
+remarkable that a man should meet them in this extraordinary place and
+address them in good English.  Iris, at any rate, gave no heed to this
+most amazing fact.  She merely observed for the first time that the
+elderly stranger, while dressed in a beggar's rags, assumed an air of
+command that was almost ludicrous.
+
+"Who is he?" she asked, being rather breathless now after a steep climb.
+
+"I don't know," said Hozier.
+
+"How absurd!" she gasped.  "I--I think I'm dreaming.  Why--have
+we--come here?"
+
+She heard a coarse chuckle from Coke, not far below.
+
+"Let 'im cough it up," the skipper was saying.  "It'll do 'im good.
+I've seen 'im blind many a time, but 'ow any man could dope 'isself in
+that shape in less'n two minutes!----  Well, it fair gives me the
+go-by!"
+
+Two minutes!  Hozier listened, and he was recovering his wits far more
+rapidly than Iris.  Was the skipper, then, in league with nature
+herself to perplex him?  And Watts, too?  Why did Coke hint so coarsely
+that he was drunk?  He was on the bridge while he, Philip, was
+attending to the lead, and at that time the chief officer was perfectly
+sober.
+
+Iris, once again, was deeply incensed by Coke's brutality.
+
+"Horrid man!" she murmured, but she had no breath left for louder
+protest.  It was hot as a furnace in this narrow ravine; each upward
+step demanded an effort.  She would have slipped and hurt herself many
+times were it not for Hozier's firm grasp, nor did she realize the
+sheer exhaustion that forced him to seek support from the neighboring
+wall with his disengaged hand.  The man in front, however, was alive to
+their dangerous plight.  He said something in his own language--for his
+English had the precise staccato accent of the well-educated
+foreigner--and another man appeared.  The sight of the newcomer
+startled Iris more than any other event that had happened since the
+_Andromeda_ reached the end of her last voyage.  He wore the uniform of
+those dreadful beings whom she had seen on the island.
+
+She shrieked; Hozier fancied she had sprained an ankle; but before she
+could utter any sort of explanation the apparition in uniform was by
+her side, and murmuring words that were evidently meant to be
+reassuring.  Seeing that he was not understood, he broke into halting
+French.
+
+"Courage, madame!" he said.  "Il faut monter--encore un peu--et
+donc--vous êtes arrivé . . .  Ça y est!  Voilá!  Comptez sur moi.
+Juste ciel, mais c'est affreux l'escalier."
+
+But he worked while he poured out this medley, and Iris was standing on
+level ground ere he made an end.  He was a handsome youngster,
+evidently an officer, and his eyes dwelt on the girl's face with no
+lack of animation as he led her into a cave which seemed to have been
+excavated from the inner side of a small crater.
+
+"You can rest here in absolute safety, madame," he said.  "Permit me to
+arrange a seat.  Then I shall bring you some wine."
+
+Iris flung off the hand which held her arm so persuasively.
+
+"Please do not attend to me.  There are wounded men who need attention
+far more than I," she said, speaking in English, since it never entered
+her mind that the Portuguese officer had been addressing her in French.
+
+He was puzzled more by her action than her words, but Hozier, who had
+followed close behind, explained in sentences built on the
+Ollendorffian plan that mademoiselle was disturbed, mademoiselle
+required rest, mademoiselle hardly understood that which had arrived,
+_et voilá tout_.
+
+The other man smiled comprehension, though he scanned Hozier with a
+quick underlook.
+
+"Is monsieur the captain?" he asked.
+
+"No, monsieur the captain comes now.  Here he is."
+
+"Mademoiselle, without doubt, is the daughter of monsieur the captain?"
+
+"No," said Hozier, rather curtly, turning to ascertain how Iris had
+disposed of herself in the interior of the cavern.  It was his first
+experience of a South American dandy's pose towards women, or, to be
+exact, toward women who are young and pretty, and it seemed to him not
+the least marvelous event of an hour crammed with marvels that any man
+should endeavor to begin an active flirtation under such circumstances.
+
+He saw that Iris was seated on a camp stool.  Her face was buried in
+her hands.  A wealth of brown hair was tumbled over her neck and
+shoulders; the constant showers of spray had loosened her tresses, and
+the unavoidable rigors of the passage from ship to ledge had shaken out
+every hairpin.  The Tam o' Shanter cap she was wearing early in the day
+had disappeared at some unknown stage of the adventure.  Her attitude
+bespoke a mood of overwhelming dejection.  Like the remainder of her
+companions in misfortune, she was drenched to the skin.  That physical
+drawback, however, was only a minor evil in this almost unpleasantly
+hot retreat; but Hozier, able now to focus matters in fairly accurate
+proportion, felt that Iris had not yet plumbed the depths of suffering.
+Their trials were far from ended when their feet rested on the solid
+rock.  There was every indication that their rescuers were refugees
+like themselves.  The scanty resources visible in the cave, the intense
+anxiety of the elderly Portuguese to avoid observation from the chief
+island of the group, the very nature of the apparently inaccessible
+crag in which he and his associates were hiding--each and all of these
+things spoke volumes.
+
+Hozier did not attempt to disturb the girl until the dapper officer
+produced a goatskin, and poured a small quantity of wine into a tin
+cup.  With a curious eagerness, he anticipated the other's obvious
+intent.
+
+"Pardon me, monsieur," he said, seizing the vessel, and his direct
+Anglo-Saxon manner quite robbed his French of its politeness.  Then his
+vocabulary broke down, and he added more suavely in English: "I will
+persuade her to drink a little.  She is rather hysterical, you know."
+
+The Portuguese nodded as though he understood.  Iris looked up when
+Hozier brought her the cup.  The mere suggestion of something to drink
+made active the parched agony of mouth and throat, but her wry face
+when she found that the liquid was wine might have been amusing if the
+conditions of life were less desperate.
+
+"Is there no water?" she asked plaintively.
+
+The officer, who was following the little by-play with his eyes,
+realized the meaning of her words.
+
+"We have no water, mademoiselle," he said.  Then he glanced at the
+group of bedraggled sailors.  "And very little wine," he added.
+
+"Please drink it," urged Hozier.  "You are greatly run down, you know,
+though you really ought to feel cheerful, since you have escaped with
+your life."
+
+"I feel quite brave," said Iris simply.  "I would never have believed
+that I could go through--all that," and her childish trick of listening
+to the booming of the distant breakers told him how vivid was her
+recollection of the horrors crowded into those few brief minutes.
+
+"Be quick, please," put in the elderly Portuguese with a tinge of
+impatience.  "We have no second cup, and there are wounded men----"
+
+"Give it to them," said Iris, lifting her face again for an instant.
+"I do not need it.  I have told you that once already.  I suppose you
+think I should not be here."
+
+"I am sure our friend did not mean that," said Hozier, looking squarely
+into those singularly bright eyes.  He caught and held them.
+
+"I did not mean that the lady should be left to die if that is the
+interpretation put on my remark," came the quiet answer.  "But it was
+an act of the utmost folly to bring a delicate girl on such an errand.
+I cannot imagine what your captain was thinking of when he agreed to
+it."
+
+"Wot's that, mister?" demanded Coke.  Now that his fit of rage had
+passed, the bulky skipper of the _Andromeda_ was red-faced and
+imperturbable as usual.  The manifold perils he had passed through
+showed no more lasting effect on him than a shower of sleet on the
+thick hide of the animal he so closely resembled.
+
+"Are _you_ the captain?" said the other.
+
+"Yes, sir.  An' I'd like to 'ear w'y my ship or 'er present trip wasn't
+fit for enny young leddy, let alone----"
+
+"That is a matter for you to determine.  I suppose you know best how to
+conduct your own business.  My only concern is with the outcome of your
+rashness.  Why did you deliberately sacrifice your ship in that manner?"
+
+The speaker's cut-glass style of English left his hearers in no doubt
+as to what he had said.  During the tense silence that reigned for a
+few seconds even some among the crew pricked their ears, while Hozier
+and Iris forgot other troubles in their new bewilderment.  There were
+reasons why the drift of the stranger's words should be laid deeply to
+heart by three people present.  Coke, at any rate, found himself nearer
+a state of pallid nervousness than ever before in the course of a
+variegated life.  It was impossible that he should actually grow pale,
+but his brick-red features assumed a purple tint, and his fiery little
+eyes glinted.
+
+"Wot are you a-drivin' at, mister?" he growled at last, after trying
+vainly to expectorate and compromising the effort in a husky gargle.
+
+"Do you deny, then, that you acted like a madman?  Do you say that you
+did not know quite well the risk you ran in bringing your vessel to the
+island in broad daylight?"
+
+Then Coke found his breath.
+
+"Risk!" he roared.  "Risk in steamin' to an anchorage an' sendin' a
+boat ashore for water?  There seems to be a lot of mad folk loose just
+now on Fernando Noronha, but I'm not one of 'em, an' that's as much as
+I can say for enny of you--damme if it ain't."
+
+Evidently the Portuguese was not accustomed to the direct form of
+conversation in vogue among British master mariners.  He bent his
+piercing gaze on Coke's angry if somewhat flustered countenance, and
+there was a perceptible stiffening of voice and manner when he said:
+
+"Who are you, then?  Who sent you here?"
+
+"I'm Captain James Coke, of the British ship _Andromeda_, that's 'oo
+_I_ am, an' I was sent 'ere, or leastways to the River Plate, by David
+Verity an' Co., of Liverpool."
+
+It must not be forgotten that Coke shared with his employer a certain
+unclassical freedom in the pronunciation of the ship's name; the long
+"e" apparently puzzled the other man.
+
+"_Andromeeda_?" he muttered.  "Spell it!"
+
+"My godfather, this is an asylum for sure," grunted Coke, in a spasm of
+furious mirth.  "A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a.  Now you've got it.  Ain't it up to
+Portygee standard?  A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a!  'Ow's that for the bloomin'
+spellin' bee?"
+
+But Coke's humor made no appeal.  The staring, brilliant eyes fixed on
+him did not relax their vigilance, nor did any trace of emotion exhibit
+itself in that calm voice.
+
+"You are unlucky, Captain Coke, most unlucky," it said.  "I regret my
+natural mistake, which, it seems, was shared by the authorities of
+Fernando do Noronha.  You have blundered into a nest of hornets, and,
+as a result, you have been badly stung.  Let me explain matters.  I am
+Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva, ex-President of the Republic of Brazil.
+There is, at this moment, a determined movement on foot on the mainland
+to replace me in power, and, with that object in view, efforts are
+being made to secure my escape from the convict settlement in which my
+enemies have imprisoned me.  I and two faithful followers are here in
+hiding.  My friend, Capitano Salvador De San Benavides," and he bowed
+with much dignity toward the uniformed officer, "came here two days ago
+in a felucca to warn me that a steamer would lie to about a mile south
+of the island to-night.  The steamer's name is _Andros-y-Mela_--it is
+rather like the name of your unhappy vessel--so much alike that the
+_Andromeda_ has been sunk by mistake.  That is all."
+
+Coke, listening to this explanation with the virtuous wrath of a knave
+who discovers that he has been wrongfully suspected, bristled now with
+indignation.
+
+"Oh, that's all, is it?" he cried sarcastically.  "No, sir, it ain't
+all, nor 'arf, nor quarter.  Let me tell you that no crimson pirate on
+Gawd's earth can blow a British ship off the 'igh seas an' then do the
+dancin'-master act, with 'is 'and on 'is 'eart, an' say it was just a
+flamin' mistake.  All! says you?  Don't you believe it.  There's a lot
+more to come yet, take my tip--a devil of a lot, or I'm the biggest
+lunatic within a ten-mile circle of w'ere I'm stannin', which is givin'
+long odds to any other crank in the whole creation."
+
+And Coke was right, though he little guessed then why he was so
+thoroughly justified in assuming that he and the other survivors of the
+_Andromeda_ had not yet gone through half, or quarter, or more than a
+mere curtain-raising prelude to the strange human drama in which they
+were destined to be the chief actors.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC
+
+There was an awkward pause.  Coke, rascal though he was, and
+pot-bellied withal, was no Falstaff.  Rather did he suggest the
+present-day atavism of some robber baron of the Middle Ages, whose
+hectoring speech bubbled forth from a stout heart.  But the ragged
+ex-President heeded him not.  After a moment of placid scrutiny of his
+enraged countenance by those bright, watchful eyes, Coke might have
+been non-existent so far as recognition of his outburst was apparent
+during the sonorous discussion that ensued between Dom Corria Antonio
+De Sylva and the Señor Capitano Salvador De San Benavides.
+
+The latter, it is true, betrayed excitement.  At first he favored Iris
+with a deprecatingly admiring glance, as one who would say, "Dear lady,
+accept my profound regret and respectful homage."  But that phase
+quickly passed.  His leader was not a man to waste words, and the
+gallant captain's expressive face soon showed that he had grasped the
+essential facts.  They did not please him.  In fact, he was distinctly
+cowed, almost stunned, by his companion's revelations.
+
+It fell to De Sylva to explain matters to his unexpected guests.
+
+"My friend agrees with me that it is only fair that the exact position
+should be revealed to you," he said, addressing Coke, though a
+dignified gesture invited the others to share his confidence.
+
+"It don't take much tellin'," began Coke.  De Sylva silenced him with
+an emphatic hand.
+
+"Please attend.  The situation is not so simple as you seem to imagine.
+The loss of your ship cannot be dealt with here.  It raises issues of
+international law which can only be settled by courts and governments.
+You know, I suppose, that nothing will be done until a complaint is
+lodged by a British minister, and that hinges upon the very doubtful
+fact that you will ever again see your own country."
+
+The ex-President certainly had the knack of expressing himself clearly.
+Those concluding words rang like a knell.  They even called Watts back
+from the slumber of unconsciousness; the "chief" stirred himself where
+he lay on the floor of the cavern, and began to quaver.
+
+  "----twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass
+      Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.
+            Sing hay----"
+
+
+Coke, taken by surprise, was unable to stop this warbling earlier.  But
+his hand clutched Watts's shoulder, and his venomous whisper of "Shut
+up, you ijjit!" was so unmistakable that the lyric ceased.
+
+De Sylva seemed to be aware of some peculiarity in the symptoms of the
+wounded man's recovery, but he continued speaking in the same balanced
+tone.
+
+"It happens, by idle chance, that my enemies have become yours.  The
+men who destroyed your ship thought they were injuring me.  I have just
+pointed out to Capitano De San Benavides the precise outcome of this
+attack.  Until a few moments ago we shared the delusion that the troops
+on Fernando de Noronha believed we were now on our way to a Brazilian
+port.  We were mistaken.  More than that, we know now that they have
+obtained news--probably through a traitor to our cause--of the
+_Andros-y-Mela's_ voyage.  They were prepared for her coming.  They had
+made arrangements to receive her--almost at the place decided on by our
+friends in Brazil.  It is more than likely that the _Andros-y-Mela_ is
+now lying under the guns of some coast fortress, since the presence of
+troops and cannon on this side of the island is unprecedented."
+
+"I don't see wot all this 'as to do with me," blurted out Coke
+determinedly.
+
+"No.  It would not concern you in the least if you were safe at sea.
+But, since you are here, it does concern you most gravely.  From one
+point of view, you served my cause well by preparing to lower a boat.
+You misled my persecutors as to locality, at least.  Of course, I saw
+you, and thought you were mad, but your action did help to conceal from
+the soldiers the secret of my true hiding-place.  I wish to be candid
+with you.  If my friends and I had realized that you were here by
+accident, we ought to have taken no steps to save you."
+
+"Really!" snarled Coke, eying the unruffled Brazilian much as an
+Andulusian bull might glare at a picador.  A buzz of angry whispering
+came from the crew.  Even Iris flashed a disdainful glance at the man
+who uttered this atrocious sentiment.  De Sylva raised his hand.  He
+permitted himself the luxury of a wintry smile.
+
+"Pray, do not misunderstand me," he said.  "I am humane as most others,
+but it is difficult to decide whether or not mere humanity, setting
+aside self-interest, would not rather condemn you to the speedy death
+of the wreck than drag you to the worse fate that awaits you here.  And
+please remember that we did succor you, thus risking observation and a
+visit by the troops when the sea permits a landing.  But that is not
+the true issue.  An hour ago there were four people on this bare
+rock--four of us who looked for escape to-night.  We were supplied with
+such small necessaries of existence as would enable us to live if our
+rescuers were delayed for a day, or even two.  Now, there will be no
+rescue.  We are--" he looked slowly around--"twenty instead of four;
+but we have the same quantity of stores, which consist of a
+half-emptied skin of wine, a bunch of bananas, a few scraps of maize
+bread, and some strips of dried meat.  Do you follow me?"
+
+Coke, who had been holding Watts in a sitting posture by a firm grip on
+his collar, allowed the limp figure to sprawl headlong again.  He
+wanted to plunge both hands deeply into his trousers pockets, because
+men of his type associate attitude so closely with thought that the one
+is apt to become almost dependent on the other.  And so, for the
+moment, the safeguarding of Watts was of no consequence.  But Watts had
+benefited much by the sousing of the spray, while his recovery was
+expedited by the forcible ejection of the salt water he had swallowed.
+He raised himself on one hand, and looked about with an inquiring eye.
+The Brazilian officer's uniform seemed to fascinate him.
+
+"'Ello!" he gurgled.  "Run in?  Well I'm----"
+
+"Is not that man wounded?  I thought I saw him dashed against the
+rocks," said De Sylva.
+
+"'E ought to be," said Coke, "but 'e's on'y drunk.  A skin o' rum, 'arf
+empty, too, just like your skin o' wine, mister."
+
+"Let him be taken outside and gagged if he resists."
+
+There was an uneasy movement among the men.  Their common impulse was
+to obey.  Coke spread his feet a little apart.
+
+"Leave 'im alone.  'E'll do no 'arm now," he said.
+
+"I cannot be interrupted," cried De Sylva, whose iron self-restraint
+seemed to be yielding before British truculence.
+
+"I'll keep 'im quiet but I can't 'ave 'im roasted afore 'is time, an'
+that's wot's 'ul 'appen if you tied him up in that gulley."
+
+"Thanke'ee, skipper.  You allus were a reel pal," murmured Watts.
+
+Coke bent over him.
+
+"If your tongue don't stop waggin' it'll soon be stickin' out between
+yer teeth," he hissed.  "This ain't no fancy lock-up in the East Injia
+Dock Road, Arthur, me boy.  They won't bring you a pint of cocoa 'ere,
+an' ax if you're comfortable.  You 'aven't long to live accordin' to
+all accounts, so just close your mouth an' open your ears, an' mebbe
+you'll know w'y."
+
+De Sylva regained his self-possession with a rapidity that was
+significant.  He had not climbed to the presidential chair of the
+Republic from a clerkship in the London Embassy of the Empire without
+acquiring the habit of estimating his fellow men speedily and
+accurately.  Here was one who might be led, but would never permit
+himself to be driven.  Moreover, this dethroned ruler was by way of
+being a philosopher.
+
+"I hate drunkards," he said, shrugging his shoulders.  "You cannot
+trust them.  If I had been surrounded by trustworthy men, I should
+not----"
+
+He broke off.  There was a sound of hurrying footsteps on the steep
+pathway.  A figure, clad in rags that surpassed even De Sylva's,
+appeared in the entrance.  A brief colloquy took place.  De Sylva's
+eager questions were answered in monosyllables, or the nearest approach
+thereto.
+
+"Marcel tells me that one of your boats is drifting away with a man
+lying in the bottom," came the uneasy explanation.
+
+Coke's face showed a degree of surprise, which, in his case, was almost
+invariably akin to disbelief, but an exclamation from Hozier drew all
+eyes.
+
+"Good Lord!" he cried, "that must be the lifeboat I was trying to clear
+when the ship struck.  Macfarlane was helping me, but he was hit by a
+bullet and dropped across the thwarts.  I thought he was dead!"
+
+"Dead or alive, he is better off than we," said De Sylva.  He
+questioned Marcel again briefly.  "There can be no doubt that the man
+in the boat cast off the lashings when he found that the ship was
+sinking," he continued in English.  "Marcel saw him doing that, and
+wondered why he was alone.  At any rate, if he is carried beyond the
+reef, he has a fighting chance.  We have none."
+
+"Why not?  Are these men on the island so deaf to human sympathies that
+they would murder all of us in cold blood?"
+
+The girl's sweet, low-pitched voice sounded inexpressibly sad in that
+vaulted place.  Even De Sylva's studied control gave way before its
+music.  He uttered some anguished appeal to the deity in his own
+tongue, and flung out his hands impulsively.
+
+"What would you have me say?" he cried, and his eyes blazed, while the
+scar on his forehead darkened with the gust of passion that swept over
+his strong features.  "I might lie to you, and try to persuade you that
+we can exist here without food or water, whereas to-morrow, or next day
+at the utmost, will see most of us dead.  But in a few hours you will
+realize what it means to be kept on this bare rock under a tropical
+sun.  You can do one thing.  Your party greatly outnumbers mine.  Climb
+to the top-most pinnacle and signal to the island.  You will soon be
+seen."
+
+He laughed with a savage irony that was not good to hear, but Coke
+caught at the suggestion.
+
+"Even that is better'n tearin' one another like mad dogs," he growled.
+"I know wot's comin'.  I've seen it wonst."
+
+Hozier made for the exit, where Marcel stood, irresolute, apparently
+waiting for orders.
+
+"Where are you going?" demanded De Sylva.
+
+"To see what is becoming of the lifeboat."
+
+"Better not.  You cannot help your friend, and the instant it becomes
+known to the troops that there is a living soul on the Grand-père rock
+they will come in a steam launch and shoot everyone at sight."
+
+"Will that be the answer to our signal?"
+
+It was Iris who asked the question, and the Brazilian's voice softened
+again.
+
+"Yes," he said.
+
+"Why, then, do you advise us to seek our own destruction?"
+
+He bowed.  His manner was almost humble.
+
+"It is the easier way," he murmured.
+
+"Is there no other?"
+
+"None--unless we attack two hundred soldiers with sticks, and stones,
+and three revolvers, and a sword."
+
+Hozier came back.  He had merely stepped a pace or two into the
+sunlight.  Through the northerly dip of the gulley he had seen the
+ship's boat whirled past an islet by the fierce current.  Macfarlane
+was not visible.  Perhaps that was better so.  At any rate, the sight
+of the small craft vanishing behind one of the island barriers brought
+home with telling force the predicament of those who remained.  Now
+that the sheer frenzy of the wreck had relaxed, Philip's head was like
+to split with the throbbing anguish of the blow he had received.  But
+his mind was clearer.  De Sylva's words, amplifying his own vague
+recollection of the scene on board the _Andromeda_, enabled him to
+construct a picture of events as they were.  And his blood boiled when
+he thought of Iris, snatched many times from death, only to face it
+once more in the ravening form of starvation and thirst.
+
+"Attack!" he said hoarsely.  "How is that possible?  A deep and wide
+channel separates us from the main island."
+
+The Brazilian, who seemed to have argued himself into a state of stoic
+despair, gave a startling answer.
+
+"We have a boat, a sort of boat," he said quietly.
+
+"How many will it hold?"
+
+"Three, in a smooth sea, and with skilled handling.  It nearly
+overturned when I and two others crossed from the island, a distance of
+three hundred yards."
+
+"But we have ropes, clothes, perhaps some few pieces of wreckage.  Can
+nothing be done to repair it?"
+
+"Meaning that we draw lots to see who shall endeavor to escape
+to-night?"
+
+"The men might even do that."
+
+"Ah, yes--the men, of course.  I think it hopeless.  But, try it!  Yes,
+certainly, try it!"
+
+A pause, more eloquent than the most impassioned speech, showed how
+this frail straw, eddying in the vortex of their fate, might yet be
+clutched at.  San Benavides, trying vainly to guess what was being
+said, blurted forth an anxious inquiry.  His compatriot explained
+briefly.  Somehow, the measured cadence of their talk had a less
+reliable sound than the vigorous Anglo-Saxon.  They were both brave
+men.  They had not scrupled to risk their lives in an enterprise where
+success beckoned even doubtingly.  But they were lacking when all that
+remained to be settled was how best to die; in such an hour the men of
+an English speaking race will ever choose a fighting death.
+
+This time, it was a woman who decided.
+
+Iris rose to her feet.  She brushed back the strands of damp hair from
+her face, and with deft hands made a rough-and-ready coil of her
+abundant tresses.
+
+"Are you planning to send me with two others adrift in a boat, while
+seventeen men are left here?" she asked.
+
+The Brazilian ceased speaking.  There was another uneasy pause.  Hozier
+felt that the question was addressed to him, but he was tongue-tied,
+almost shame-faced.  Coke, however, did not shirk the task of
+enlightening her.
+
+"Something like that," he said.  "We can't let you cut in with the rest
+of us, missy.  That wouldn't be reasonable.  But it's best to fix the
+business fair an' square.  We ain't agoin' to try any other way, not so
+long as _I'm_ skipper," and he looked with brutal frankness at De Sylva
+and the anxious but uncomprehending San Benavides.
+
+The ex-President knew what he meant; even in his despondency he
+resented the implied slur on his good faith.
+
+"You cannot examine the boat until darkness sets in," he said.  "Then
+you will find out how frail a foundation you are building on.  It is
+absolutely ridiculous to assume that she can be made seaworthy.  Her
+occupants would be drowned before they were clear of the islands."
+
+"In any case, I refuse to go," said Iris.
+
+De Sylva smiled gloomily.
+
+"You are courageous, senhora, and, in some respects, you are wise," he
+said.  "Yet . . . I must admit it . . .  I would urge you to select the
+boat--in preference . . ."
+
+Marcel, the Brazilian who had come to tell them of the drifting
+life-boat, turned away from the mouth of the cavern, and scrambled down
+the ravine.
+
+"Wot's 'e after?" demanded Coke, suddenly suspicious.
+
+"He and Domingo are keeping a lookout," said De Sylva.  "If the
+soldiers intend to visit us we should at least be warned.  The boat is
+hidden among the rocks on the landward side," he added, not without a
+touch of scorn.
+
+"That man has taught us our own duty," cried Iris.  "The boat that
+brought these men to this rock can bring nineteen men and a woman to
+Fernando Noronha.  We must land there to-night.  With those to guide us
+who know the coast, surely that should be possible.  We have a right to
+struggle for our lives.  We, of the _Andromeda_, at least, have done no
+wrong to the cruel wretches who sought to kill us without mercy to-day.
+Why should we not endeavor to defend ourselves?  There is food there,
+and guns in plenty.  Let us take them.  Above all, let us not dream of
+any such useless device as this proposal to send three to drown
+somewhere in the sea and leave seventeen to perish miserably here.  We
+are in God's hands.  Let us trust to Him, but while doing that fully
+and fearlessly, we must seek life, not death."
+
+"Bully for you, miss!" roared a sailor, and a growl of admiration rang
+through the cave.  Instantly a hubbub of talk showed how intent the
+crew had been on the previous discussion, but Coke shouted them into
+silence.
+
+"Oo axed wot _you_ think, you swabs?" he bellowed.  "Stow your lip!
+Sink me, if you don't all do as you're bid, an' keep still tongues in
+your 'eds, I'll want to know w'y--P.D.Q."
+
+A big, blond Norwegian, Hans Olsen by name, strode forward.  Unlike the
+usual self-contained Norseman, he was reputed a "sea-lawyer" in the
+forecastle.
+
+"We haf somedings ter zay for our lifes, yez," he protested.  Coke bent
+and butted him violently in the stomach with his head.  The man crashed
+against the rocky wall, and sat dazed where he had fallen.
+
+"You've got to obey orders--savvy?" growled Coke.
+
+"Yez," gasped Olsen, evidently fearing a further assault.
+
+The incident ended.  Its outstanding feature was the amazing activity
+displayed by the burly skipper, who had rammed his man before the big
+fellow could lift a finger.  It might be expected that Iris would show
+some sign of dismay, owing to this unlooked-for violence.  But she was
+now beyond the reach of merely feminine emotions.  She had protested
+against the kicking of Watts because it seemed to lack motive, because
+Watts was helpless, and because she herself was half-delirious at the
+time.  Olsen's attitude, on the other hand, hinted at mutiny, and
+mutiny must be repressed at any cost.
+
+De Sylva's incisive accents helped to bridge a moment fraught with
+possibilities, for it would be idle to assume that this polyglot
+gathering was composed of Bayards.  Self-preservation is apt to prove
+stronger than chivalry under such circumstances.  Let it be assumed
+that three among the twenty could escape that night, and it was
+horribly true that the field of selection might be narrowed by a
+wild-beast struggle long before the sun went down.
+
+"The young lady has at least given us a project," he said.  "It is a
+desperate one, Heaven knows!  It offers a fantastic chance, and I can
+see no other, but--what can we do without arms?"
+
+"Use our heads," put in Hozier.  He had not the slightest intention of
+making a light-hearted joke at that crisis in their affairs, but he
+happened to look at Coke, and an involuntary smile gleamed through the
+crust of clotted blood and perspiration that gave his good-looking face
+a most sinister aspect.  The Irishman cackled with laughter.
+
+"Begob, that's wan for the skipper," he crowed; then some of the others
+grinned, and the _Andromeda's_ little company stood four-square again
+to the winds of adversity.  Having blundered into prominence, the
+second mate was quick to see that he must hammer home the facts, though
+in more serious vein.
+
+"Bring us to the island, Senhor De Sylva," he said, "and we will make a
+fight of it.  In any case, even if we fail, they will not deliberately
+kill a woman.  There must be other women there who will intervene in
+behalf of one of their own sex.  But we may succeed.  It is improbable
+that the whole of the troops will be gathered in one spot.  Why should
+we not take some small detachment by surprise and secure their weapons?
+If we can land unobserved, we ought to be able to drop on them
+apparently from the skies.  I take it that the presence here of Captain
+San Benavides is unknown, and the leadership of an officer in the
+enemy's own uniform should turn the scale in our favor.  Have you no
+followers among the troops or islanders?  Suppose we make good our
+first attack, and seize a strong position--isn't it probable we may
+receive assistance from your partisans?"
+
+"Perhaps--among the convicts," was De Sylva's grim reply.
+
+"No officials, or soldiers?"
+
+"Not one.  They are chosen for this service on account of their
+animosity against the former Government.  How else could you account
+for their treatment of unarmed men on a ship crippled by their first
+shell?"
+
+"You spoke of a steam launch.  Where is that kept?"
+
+"At a wharf under the walls of the citadel which commands the town and
+anchorage."
+
+"Assuming we have a stroke of luck and rush some outpost, would it be
+possible to cross the island before dawn and board the launch or some
+other craft in which we can put to sea?"
+
+"There is only the launch, and some small fishing catamarans.  No other
+boats are allowed to exist on the island, in order to prevent the
+escape of convicts.  The boat we possess is really a badly-constructed
+catamaran, without a sail, and minus the out-rigger which alone renders
+it safe for the shortest voyage."
+
+"Wy didn't you say that sooner, mister?" put in Coke.  "If some of
+these jokers knew wot sort of craft it was, mebbe it wouldn't 'ave
+needed a shove in the stommick to bring Hans Olsen to heel."
+
+"I am sorry," said De Sylva.  "You see, I realized the utter folly of
+trying to escape in that fashion."
+
+The two men looked each other squarely in the eye.  The ex-President of
+a great republic and the master of a worn-out tramp steamer were both
+born leaders of men.  Whatsoever prospect of a cabal existed
+previously, it was scotched now, beyond doubt.  Henceforth, no matter
+what ills threatened, surely the little army mustered on the Grand-père
+rock would stand or fall together!
+
+An unerring token of unity was forthcoming at once.
+
+"Please, miss, an' gents all, may we smoke?" pleaded a voice.
+
+Iris was for an immediate permission, but De Sylva shook his head.
+
+"Not until the tide falls," he said.  "There is a very real fear of a
+visit from the launch.  It has passed this spot four times during the
+past two days--ever since my absence was discovered, in fact.  The
+soldiers have searched every outlying island, but they have avoided
+Grand-père because it is believed that a landing is highly dangerous if
+not quite impracticable.  My friend Marcel, a fisherman, discovered by
+accident the only safe means of reaching the path which winds round the
+island.  Happily, the wretch who betrayed the mission of the
+_Andros-y-Mela_ did not know the secret of my refuge.  And I see now
+that the Governor must be convinced that I am still hiding among the
+cliffs, or your vessel would not have appeared off South Point this
+morning.  No, there must be no smoking as yet.  In this clear air the
+slightest cloud might be seen rising above the rocks from without."
+
+Marcel reappeared at the entrance.  With him was another man, whom
+Hozier remembered seeing when he was hauled up from the ship with Iris.
+
+"Ah, I was not mistaken," went on De Sylva.  "Here comes news of the
+launch!  They have signaled for it across the island."
+
+Marcel entered the cave with an expressive gesture, for long habit had
+almost robbed him of his native vivacity.  His companion, Domingo,
+climbed the opposite wall of the ravine and stretched himself at full
+length in a niche where there was room for a man to lie.  Some tufts of
+rough grass grew there in sufficient density to conceal his head while
+he peered between the stalks.  They could see him quite plainly, but no
+one wanted to speak.  Though the unceasing wash of a heavy swell
+against the rocks would have drowned the noise had they shouted in
+unison, there was no need to tell anyone present that a very real and
+dangerous crisis had arrived.  The slow change in the direction of
+Domingo's gaze showed the approach and passing of the hostile vessel.
+It was evident that a long halt was made in the channel close to the
+wreck, of which some fragments remained above water.  Still, curiously
+enough, it was impossible for those on board the launch to read the
+ship's name, since the word "_Andromeda_," twice embossed on the sharp
+cut-water, was hidden by the jutting rocks on both sides of the cleft.
+
+But it was not the fear of instant death following on the discovery
+that the Grand-père islet was inhabited that kept tongues mute and ears
+on the alert during a quarter of an hour that seemed to be protracted
+to a quarter of a day.  At present they were shut off from hostile
+bullets by the walls of a fortress stronger than any that could be
+built by men's hands.  The greater danger was that the enemy's
+suspicions might be aroused.  Let those who held Fernando Noronha with
+the armed forces of Brazil once come to regard the isolated rock in mid
+channel as providing even a possible refuge for the ex-President and
+his friends, and it would mean the complete overthrow of the slender
+chance of saving their lives that still offered itself.
+
+So they waited in silence, watching the rigid figure of the prostrate
+Brazilian, just as those among them who were saved from the _Andromeda_
+had watched the arch of spray and spindrift from the slowly sinking
+forecastle.
+
+At last Domingo turned his head slightly, and gave them a reassuring
+little nod.  He said something, which De Sylva translated.
+
+"They have a photograph of the wreck," he said, "and are now steaming
+through the northerly channel to the anchorage on the west side of the
+island.  Most fortunately, they do not seem to be aware of your
+drifting boat."
+
+Then he added, with a courtliness that was so incongruous with his
+unkempt appearance and patched and tattered garments;--"If the Senhora
+permits, the men may smoke now.  In another hour the channel will not
+be navigable.  We have a hot and tiring day before us, and I advise
+sleep for those to whom it is vouchsafed.  If the weather continues to
+improve, the next tide will bring us a smooth sea.  Given that, and a
+dark night--well--we may make history.  Who knows?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CROSS PURPOSES
+
+Though Iris gave such warlike counsel, it would be doing her a grave
+injustice to assume that her gentle disposition was changed because of
+the day's sufferings.  The erstwhile light-hearted schoolgirl and
+youthful mistress of her uncle's house had been subjected to dynamic
+influences.  The ordeal through which she had passed, unscathed bodily
+but seared in spirit, had left her strung to a tense pitch.  Relaxation
+had not come--as yet.  She only knew that she resented to the uttermost
+the Brazilians' malevolent fury.  Hers was a nature that could not
+endure unfairness.  It was unfair of David Verity to seek to mend his
+shattered fortunes by forcing her into a hateful marriage; unfair of
+both Verity and Coke to found their new venture on a great fraud; and
+monstrously unfair of these island factionaries to vent their spite on
+an innocent ship.  So, for the hour, she was inspired.  It is the
+high-souled enthusiast who devotes life itself to a cause; those who
+practice oppression have ever most to beware of in the man or woman
+whose conscience will not condone a wrong.
+
+Of course, in this present clash of emotions, Iris little understood
+what her advice really meant.  She was appealing to heaven rather than
+to the force of arms.  To one of her temperament, it seemed incredible
+that a number of inoffensive strangers should be slaughtered because a
+South American republic could not agree in choosing a president.  Such
+a thing was unheard of in her previous experience, built on no more
+solid foundation than the humdrum existence of Brussels and Bootle.
+And the inhabitants of neither Brussels nor Bootle settle their
+political differences by shooting casual visitors at sight.
+
+Oddly enough, the only professional soldier present condemned her
+project roundly when it was mooted.
+
+"In leaving the island to-night you are acting on an assumption,"
+protested Captain San Benavides to his chief.  "You cannot be sure that
+the _Andros-y-Mela_ will not appear.  The arrangement is that she is to
+send a boat here soon after midnight, yet, if this mad scheme of an
+attack on armed troops by unarmed men is persisted in, we must begin to
+ferry to the island long before that hour.  In all probability, we
+shall be discovered at once.  At the very moment that our friends are
+eagerly awaiting us on board the ship we may be lying dead on the
+island.  The notion is preposterous.  Be guided by me, Dom Corria, and
+decline to have anything to do with it.  Better still, let these
+English boors promise to forget that we are alive; then Marcel can
+guide them to the landing-place, where they will be shot speedily and
+comfortably.  There is no sense in sacrificing the girl.  She must be
+kept here on some pretext."
+
+The ex-President took thought before he answered.  He did not deny
+himself that the confident air of these hard-bitten sailors made strong
+appeal to his judgment.  He had his own reasons for distrusting some
+among his professed supporters, and he did not share his military
+aide's opinion as to the coming of the promised vessel.
+
+"There is a good deal in what you say, senhor adjudante," he announced
+after his bright eyes had dwelt on San Benavides' expressive face in
+thoughtful scrutiny.  "In England they have a proverb that a man cannot
+both run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, but such maxims are
+not framed for would-be Presidents.  I fear we must fall in with our
+allies' views, _faute de mieux_.  You and I have to lead a headstrong
+army.  That little Hercules of a commander is stubborn as a mule--a
+mule that has the strength and courage of a wild boar.  The younger man
+thinks only of the girl's safety.  He, at least, will not consent to
+leave her.  Both, backed by their crew, will not scruple to sacrifice
+us if their interests point that way.  Trust me to twist them into the
+course that shall best serve our own needs.  I am now going to tell
+them that you approve of their plan."
+
+Forthwith he launched out into an English version of the excellent
+captain's comments.  His precise, well-turned periods were admirable.
+Their marked defect was that he said the exact contrary to San
+Benavides.
+
+Iris, having a born aptitude for languages, spoke French and German
+with some proficiency.  She had also devoted many hours to the study of
+Spanish during the past winter, and it happens that the Portuguese of
+Brazil is less unlike Spanish than the Portuguese of Lisbon.  In
+Europe, national antipathies serve to accentuate existing differences
+between the two tongues, but the peoples of the South American seaboard
+feel the need of a common speech, and local conditions have
+standardized many words.  Hence, the Spanish language will serve all
+ordinary purposes among the Latin races who have made their own the
+vast continent that stretches from Panama to Tierra del Fuego.
+
+So the girl's super-active brain was puzzled by De Sylva's rendering of
+his military friend's remarks.  With the vaguest knowledge of what was
+actually said, she suspected that San Benavides had opposed the very
+project which, according to the President, he favored.  She had caught
+the name of the relief vessel, the words _bote_, "boat," _las doce_,
+"twelve o'clock," _à bordo de buque_, "on board the ship," and others
+which did not figure in the translation.  She wondered why.
+
+The long day wore slowly.  The heat was intense.  Even the hardened
+sailors soon found that if the atmosphere of the cavern were to remain
+endurable they might not smoke.  So pipes were extinguished, and they
+tried to better their condition.  Water-soaked coats and boots placed
+in the sun were dry in a few minutes.  Iris was persuaded to allow her
+dress to be treated in this manner.  She was still wearing the heavy
+ulster of the early morning--when the aftermath of the gale was chill
+and searching--and the possession of this outer wrap made easy the
+temporary discarding of a skirt and blouse.
+
+Unhappily, she answered in French some simple query of the dapper
+officer's.  Thenceforth, to her great bewilderment and Hozier's
+manifest annoyance, he pestered her with compliments and inquiries.  To
+avoid both, she expressed a longing for sleep.  It seemed to her
+excited imagination that she would never be able to sleep again, yet
+her limbs were scarcely composed in comfort on a litter of coarse grass
+and parched seaweed than her eyes closed in the drowsiness of sheer
+exhaustion.  This respite was altogether helpful.  She had slept but
+little during the gale, and its tremendous climax had surprised her
+vitality at a low ebb.
+
+When she awoke, the ravine was in shadow and the interior of the cave
+was dark.  Her first conscious sensation was that of almost intolerable
+thirst.  Her lips were blistered, her tongue and palate sore, and she
+asked herself in alarm what new evil was afflicting her, until she
+remembered the drenching she had received and the amount of salt-laden
+air that had passed into her lungs.  Nevertheless, she cried
+involuntarily for water, and again she was offered wine.  She managed
+to smile in a strained fashion at this malicious humor of fortune.  By
+a freak of memory she called to mind the somewhat similar predicament
+of the crew of a storm-tossed ship that she had once read about.  They
+ran short of water, but the vessel carried hundreds of cases of bottled
+stout.  During three long weeks of boating against the wind those
+wretched men were compelled to drink stout morning, noon, and night,
+and never did temperance argument apply with greater force to the
+seafaring community than toward the end of that enforced regimen of
+malt liquor.
+
+Hozier, who had aroused her by touching her shoulder, fancied he saw
+the gleam of merriment in her face.
+
+"What is amusing you?" he asked.
+
+She told him, though she spoke with difficulty.
+
+"It is not quite so bad as that," he said.  "If there is no hitch in
+our plans, we should be on the island within five hours.  We have
+everything thought out as far as may be in view of the unknown.  At any
+rate, Miss Yorke, if we succeed in getting you safely ashore, you
+personally will have but slight cause for further anxiety.  The
+proposal is that Marcel shall take you at once to the hut of an old
+convict whom he can trust----"
+
+"A convict!" she gasped.  The word was ominous, and she was hardly
+awake.
+
+"The population of Fernando Noronha is almost entirely made of convicts
+and soldiers," he explained.
+
+"But am I to be left there alone?"
+
+"What else is there to be done?  You cannot join in the attack on a
+fort--and that offers our only chance, it would seem.  Granted an
+effective surprise, we may carry it.  Then your guardian will bring you
+to us."
+
+"What if you fail?"
+
+"We must not fail," he said quietly.
+
+"Please do not hide the alternative from me," she pleaded.  "I have
+endured so much----"
+
+"Well, don't you see, this man--who, by the way, is married, and has a
+daughter aged fourteen--will, if necessary, reveal your presence to the
+Governor.  By that time, say, in a day or two, the excitement will have
+died down, the news of your escape will be cabled to England, you will
+be sent to the coast on the Government steamer, and you can travel home
+by the next mail."
+
+"That sounds very simple--and European," she said, and the pathetic
+sarcasm was not lost on him.
+
+"It is reasonable enough.  Unfortunately for us, all the bother centers
+round Senhor De Sylva, to whom we owe our lives.  He is outside at the
+moment, showing our skipper the lay of the land before the light fails,
+so I am free to speak plainly.  When he is dead there will be no
+further trouble, till the next revolution.  But why endeavor to look
+ahead when seeing is impossible?  At present, what really presses is
+the necessity that you should eat and drink.  We have shared out the
+whole of the available food.  Here is your portion.  We deemed it best
+to give the men one square meal.  They know now that they must earn the
+next one."
+
+With each instant her perceptive powers were quickening.  She was aware
+that he had deliberately avoided the main issue.  De Sylva's probable
+death implied a good deal, but it was the supreme test of her courage
+that she refrained from useless questioning.  Yet she thrust aside the
+two bananas and supply of dried meat and crusts that Hozier placed
+before her.
+
+"I cannot eat," she murmured, striving to control her voice.
+
+"But you must.  It is imperative.  You would not wish to break down at
+the very moment your best energies will be in demand.  Our lives, as
+well as your own, may depend on your strength.  Come, Miss Yorke, no
+woman could have been pluckier than you.  Don't fail us now."
+
+The gloom was deepening momentarily.  Hozier's back was turned to the
+entrance, and, in the ever-growing darkness, she was unable to see his
+face; but his anxious protest in no wise deceived her; she even smiled
+again at the ruse that attempted to saddle her with some measure of
+responsibility for the success or failure of the raid.
+
+"If I promise to eat--and drink this sour wine--will you be candid?"
+she asked.
+
+"Well----"
+
+"One must bargain.  There is no other way. . . .  Promise!"
+
+"I suppose you mean that I must agree to please you by wild guessing
+about events that may turn out quite differently."
+
+"Candid, I said."
+
+"Yes--that most certainly."
+
+"In the first place, may we go into the fresh air?  I must have slept
+many hours.  What time is it?"
+
+"About seven o'clock."
+
+"Seven!  Have I been lying here since goodness knows what time this
+morning?"
+
+"You were thoroughly used up," he said, and he added, with a laugh: "If
+it is any consolation, I may tell you that, to the best of my belief,
+you never moved nor uttered a sound."
+
+"For instance, I didn't snore," she cried, rising to her feet, and
+thanking the kindly night that veiled her untidiness.
+
+"I--don't--think so."
+
+"Oh, please be more positive than that.  You send a cold shiver down my
+back."
+
+"Several members of the _Andromeda's_ crew also indulged in a prolonged
+siesta," he said.  "I assure you it was almost out of the question to
+divide the sleepers into snorers and non-snorers."
+
+A man will talk harmless nonsense of that sort when he is at his wit's
+end to wriggle out of a perplexing situation.  Hozier was deputed to
+obtain the girl's consent to the proposal he had already put before
+her.  He feared that she would refuse compliance, for he understood her
+fine temper better than the others.  He was a young man--one but little
+versed in the ways of women--yet some instinct warned him that there
+was a nobility in Iris Yorke's nature that might set self at naught and
+urge her to share her companions' lot, even though certain death were
+the outcome.
+
+They passed together through the cavern.  Watts, sound asleep, was
+lying there.  The majority of the men were seated on the rocks without,
+or lounging near the entrance.  They were smoking now freely, the only
+stipulation being that matches were not to be struck in the open.
+Their whispered talk ceased when they saw the girl.  Absorbed in the
+prospect of a fight for life, for the moment they had forgotten her,
+but a murmured tribute of sympathy and recognition greeted her
+appearance.
+
+The Irishman found his tongue first.
+
+"Begorrah, miss," he said, "but it's the proud man I'll be the next
+time I see you smilin' from the kay side at Liverpool, no matter
+whether I'm there meself or not."
+
+No one laughed at the absurd phrase which so clearly expressed its
+meaning.  But the ship's cook, Peter, noting the strips of dried meat
+in her hands, raised a grin by saying:
+
+"Sorry the galley fire is out, miss, or I'd 'ave stewed 'em a bit."
+
+This kindly badinage was gratifying, though it helped to reveal the
+interrupted topic of their conversation.  There was no hiding the
+desperate character of the coming adventure.  The _Andromeda's_ crew
+did not attempt to minimize it.  The choice offered lay only in the
+manner of their death.  As to the prospect of ultimate escape, they
+hardly gave it a thought.  Some among them had served in the armies of
+Europe, and they, at least, were under no delusion concerning the issue
+of an attack on a fort by less than a score of unarmed men--seventeen
+to be exact, since two of the ship's company were so maimed by the
+bursting of the shell on the forecastle as to be practically helpless;
+it was by the rarest good fortune that they were able to walk.
+
+Iris smiled at them in her frank way.
+
+"I hope you will all be spared to ship on a new _Andromeda_," she said.
+No sooner had the words left her lips than the thought came unbidden:
+"If my uncle and Captain Coke wished the ship to be thrown away,
+nothing could have better suited their purposes than this tragic error."
+
+For the instant, the unforeseen outcome of that Sunday afternoon's
+plotting in the peaceful garden of Linden House held her imagination.
+She recalled each syllable of it, and there throbbed in her brain the
+hitherto undreamed of possibility that Coke had brought the _Andromeda_
+to Fernando Noronha in pursuance of his thievish project.
+
+At once she whispered to Hozier:
+
+"Is there anyone on the path below?"
+
+"No," he said.  "The Brazilians are with Coke at the top of the gully."
+
+"Is it safe for us to go the other way."
+
+"I think so.  But you must be careful not to slip."
+
+She caught his arm, little knowing the thrill her clasp sent through
+his frame.  This simple gesture of her confidence was bitter-sweet.  He
+resolutely closed his eyes to the knowledge that this might be their
+last talk.
+
+"I shall not fall," she said.  "I am a good mountaineer.  I learnt the
+trick of it in Cumberland.  Come with me.  There is a pleasant breeze
+blowing from the sea."
+
+They climbed down.  Neither spoke until they stood on the curving ledge
+that had proved their salvation.  Though the tide was rising again, the
+heavy sea was gone.  The current still created some spume and noise as
+it swept past the reef, but its anger had vanished with the gale.
+Beyond the fringe of broken water a slight swell only served to mirror
+in countless facets the tender light of a perfect sunset.  The eastern
+horizon was a broad line of silver.  Nearer, the shadow of the island
+created bands of purest green and ultramarine.
+
+They reached the place from which the Brazilians had thrown the rope.
+They could hear the quiet plash of the water in the cleft.  Piled
+against a low-lying rock were the funnel and other debris of the
+_Andromeda_.  The black hull was plainly visible beneath the surface.
+Even while they were looking at the wreck a huge fish curled his ten
+feet of length with stealthy grace from out some dim recess; it might
+be, perhaps, from out the crushed shell of the chart-room.
+
+Hozier glanced at his companion.  He half expected her to shrink back
+appalled at this sinister sight; it was her destiny to surprise him not
+once but many times during that amazing period.
+
+"Is that a shark?" she asked quietly.
+
+"Yes. . . .  You stipulated for candor, you know."
+
+"I had no notion that such a monster could move with so great elegance.
+I think I would rather be eaten by a shark than lie at the bottom of
+the sea like our poor vessel there."
+
+"Even a shark would appreciate the compliment," he said.
+
+Her eyes continued to watch the terrifying apparition until it prowled
+into hidden depths again.
+
+"I am not sorry I have seen it," she murmured.  "It helps one to
+understand.  We are glib concerning the laws of nature, and seem to
+regard them much as the printed regulations stuck on hackney carriages,
+whatsoever they may be.  Yet, how cruelly just they are!  I suppose
+that the finding of the ship's booty by that huge creature has given a
+new span of life to some weaker fish."
+
+Hozier did not know whether or not she had realized the shark's real
+quest.  Her next words enlightened him.
+
+"If we follow the others, will the soldiers throw our dead bodies into
+the sea?" she asked.
+
+"I want you to believe that you will be absolutely safe if we escape
+being discovered during the crossing of the narrow strip of water that
+separates this rock from the island," he hastened to say.  "That is
+your only risk, and it is a light one.  Senhor De Sylva is sure that
+the troops will not keep the keenest lookout to-night.  They are still
+convinced that the insurgent steamer is sunk.  Our chief danger will
+date from to-morrow's dawn.  Marcel reports that a systematic search of
+the island was begun to-day.  It will be continued to-morrow, but on
+new lines, because, by that time, they will have learnt the truth.  The
+_Andros-y-Mela_ is not lying in pieces at the foot of this rock, the
+President has not escaped, and every practicable inch of Fernando
+Noronha and the adjacent islands will be scoured in the hope of finding
+him.  At first sight, that looks like being in our favor; in reality,
+it means the end if we are discovered here.  The soldiers will shoot
+first and inquire afterwards.  I have not the slightest doubt but that
+plenty of evidence will be forthcoming that we were a set of
+desperadoes who had unlawfully interfered in the affairs of a foreign
+state."
+
+She appeared to be weighing this argument, sitting in judgment on De
+Sylva and his theories.
+
+"I want to do that which is for the good of all," she said at length.
+"Do you ask me to go to this convict's house, Mr. Hozier?"
+
+"I urge it on you with the utmost conviction.  With you off our hands,
+we can act freely.  We must deliver an attack to-night.  God in Heaven,
+you cannot think that we would expose you to the perils of a desperate
+fight!"
+
+His sudden outburst was unexpected, even by himself.  He trembled in an
+agony of passion.  Iris placed a timid hand on his shoulder.
+
+"I will go," she whispered.  "Please do not be distressed on my
+account.  I will go.  I brought you here, not to discuss my own fate,
+but yours.  These Brazilians will not scruple to make use of you, and
+then throw you aside if it suits their purpose.  That man, De Sylva,
+does not care how he attains power, and I know that he and the officer
+entertain some plan which they have not revealed to you."
+
+"You . . . _know_."
+
+"Yes.  I understand a little of their language.  I have a mere glimpse
+of its sense, as one sees a landscape through a mist.  When De Sylva
+told you to-day that San Benavides was with you heart and soul, he was
+lying.  There were things said about a ship, and midnight, and a boat.
+I watched the officer's face.  He was wholly opposed to the landing
+to-night.  My mind is not so vague now.  I think I can grasp his
+meaning.  Was it not to-night that the _Andros-y-Mela_ was to appear?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, may they not hope secretly that she will keep to the fixed hour?
+Once you and I and the others are on the island, and an alarm is given,
+the Brazilians could slip away unnoticed.  Yes, that is it.  I do not
+trust them any more than I trusted Captain Coke.  Don't you realize
+that he brought the _Andromeda_ to this place in order to wreck her
+more easily?  It was to supply a pretext for the visit that he made
+undrinkable the water in the ship's tanks."
+
+That appealing hand still rested on Philip's shoulder.  Its touch
+affected him profoundly.  With a lightning dart of memory his thoughts
+went back to the moment when she lay, inert and half-fainting, in his
+arms on the bridge, after he had taken her from the lazarette.  But he
+controlled his voice sufficiently to say:
+
+"You may be right; indeed, I know you are right, so far as Coke is
+concerned.  When I went aft to find out if one of the boats could not
+be cleared, I noticed that a steering-gear box had been prised open
+again.  I had time for only a second's glance, but I was sure the
+damage had not been done by a bullet.  So the _Andromeda_ was doomed to
+be lost, no matter what happened.  By ----, forgive me, Miss Yorke, but
+this kind of thing makes one savage."
+
+"Perhaps it is matterless now.  Coke will stand by the rest of us in
+our struggle for life, at any rate.  But the Brazilians----"
+
+"Have no fear of them.  I, too, have watched San Benavides.  I don't
+like the fellow, and wouldn't place an ounce of faith in him, but De
+Sylva has brains, and he knows well enough that no ship from Brazil
+will come to Fernando Noronha in his behalf.  In fact, he dreads a
+visit by a Government vessel, in which event our frail chance of
+seizing that launch----"
+
+She felt, rather than saw, that he had suddenly grown rigid.  His right
+arm flew out and drew her to him.
+
+"Sh-s-s-h!" he breathed, and pulled her behind a rock.  Her woman's
+heart yielded to dread of the unseen.  It pulsed violently, and she was
+tempted to scream.  Despite his warning, she must at least have
+whispered a question, but her ears caught a sound to which they were
+now well accustomed.  The light chug-chug of an engine and the flapping
+of a propeller came up to them from the sea.  The steam launch was
+approaching.  Perhaps they had been seen already!  As if to emphasize
+this new peril, there was an interval of silence.  Steam had been shut
+off.  Philip touched the girl's lips lightly with a finger.  Then he
+lay flat on the ledge and began to creep forward.  It was impossible
+that he should run and warn the others, but it was essential, above all
+else, that he should ascertain what the men on the launch were doing,
+and the extent of their knowledge.
+
+He found a tuft of the grass that clung to a crevice where its roots
+drew hardy sustenance from the crumbling rock; he ventured to thrust
+his head through this screen, following Domingo's example some hours
+earlier.  Almost directly beneath, his eager glance found the little
+vessel.  She was floating past with the current.  He peered down on to
+her deck as if from the top of a mast.  A few cigarette-smoking
+officers were grouped in her bows.  Apparently, they were more
+interested in the remains of the _Andromeda_ than in the natural
+fortress overhead.  Clustered round the hatch were some twenty
+soldiers, also smoking.
+
+One of the officers pointed to the ledge; he was excited and emphatic.
+Philip could not imagine that they had detected him, but he feared lest
+Iris, in her agitation, might have moved.  In that clear, calm air, not
+even the growing dusk would hide the flutter of a skirt or the altered
+position of a white face.  A man in charge of the wheel replied to the
+officer with a laugh.  The first speaker turned, glanced at the
+Brothers reef, behind which the _Andromeda's_ boat had vanished that
+morning, and nodded dubiously.  The man at the wheel growled an order,
+and the engine started again.  Though Hozier knew not what was said,
+the significance of this pantomime was not lost on him.  The local
+pilot was afraid of these treacherous waters in the dark, but next day
+Frade de Francez (which is the islanders' name for the Grand-père Rock)
+would surely be explored if a landing could be made.  At a guess, the
+silent watcher took it that the steersman had declined to make a
+circuit of the rock until the light was good.
+
+Away bustled the launch, but Hozier did not move until there was no
+risk of his figure being silhouetted against the sky.  Even then, he
+wormed his way backward with slow caution.  Iris was crouched where he
+had left her, wide-eyed, motionless.
+
+"Good job we came here," he said.  "It is evident they mean to maintain
+a patrol until there is news of De Sylva one way or the other.  It will
+be interesting now to hear what the gallant San Benavides says.  If any
+ship comes to Fernando Noronha to-night she will be seen from the
+island long before any signal is visible at this point."
+
+"Do you think the others saw the launch?" she asked.
+
+"No--not unless some of the men strayed down the gully, which they were
+told not to do.  The breakers would drown the noise of the engines and
+screw."
+
+There was a slight pause.
+
+"Will you tell them?" she went on.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+This time the pause was more eloquent than words.  Quite unconsciously,
+Iris replied to her own question.
+
+"Of course, as you said a little while ago, we owe our lives to Dom
+Corria De Sylva," she murmured, as if she were reasoning with herself.
+
+By chance, probably because Hozier stooped to help her to her feet, his
+arm rested lightly across her shoulders.
+
+"I will not pretend to misunderstand you," he said.  "If the Brazilians
+do not mean to play the game, it would be a just punishment to let them
+rush on their own doom.  But De Sylva may not agree with this fop of an
+officer, and, in any event, we must go straight with him until he shows
+his teeth."
+
+"You seem to dislike Captain San Benavides," she said inconsequently.
+
+"I regard him as a brainless ass," he exclaimed.
+
+"Somehow, that sounds like a description of a dead donkey, which one
+never sees."
+
+"Mademoiselle!" came a voice from the lip of the ravine.
+
+"One can hear him, though," laughed Hozier, with a warning pressure
+that suspiciously resembled a hug.  These two were children, in some
+respects, quicker to jest than to grieve, better fitted for mirth than
+tragedy.
+
+They moved out from their niche, and San Benavides blustered into
+vehement French.
+
+"We are going to the landing-place before it is too dark," he muttered
+angrily.  "We must not show a light; in a few minutes the path will be
+most dangerous.  Please make haste, mademoiselle.  We did not know
+where you had gone."
+
+"The men knew," suggested Hozier in the girl's ear.  He dared not trust
+either his temper or his vocabulary.
+
+"We shall lose no time, now, monsieur," said Iris, hurrying on.
+
+"This way then.  No, we do not pass the cave.  We go right round the
+cliff.  Permit me, mademoiselle.  I am acquainted with each step."
+
+He took her hand.  Philip followed.  He was young enough to long for an
+opportunity to tell San Benavides that he was a puppy, a mongrel puppy.
+Just then he would have given a gun-metal case, filled with cigars--the
+only treasure he possessed--for a Portuguese dictionary.
+
+After a really difficult and hazardous descent, they found the others
+awaiting them in a rock-shrouded cove.  The barest standing-room was
+afforded by a patch of shingle and detritus.  Alongside a flat stone
+lay three broad planks tied together with cowhide.  The center plank
+was turned up at one end.  This was the catamaran, which de Sylva had
+dignified by the name of boat.  The primitive craft rested in a black
+pool in which the stars trembled, though they were hardly visible as
+yet in the brighter sky.  The water murmured in response to the
+movement of the tide, but to the unaided eye there was no vestige of a
+passage through the volcanic barrier that reared itself on every hand.
+
+"Were 'ave you bin?" growled Coke.  "We've lost a good ten minnits.
+You ought to 'ave known, Hozier, that it's darkest just after sunset."
+
+"We could not have started sooner, sir."
+
+"W'y not?  We were kep' waitin' up there, searchin' for you."
+
+"That was our best slice of luck to-day.  Had any of you appeared on
+the ledge you would have been seen from the launch."
+
+"Wot launch?"
+
+"The launch that visited us this morning.  Ten minutes ago she was
+standing by at the foot of the rock."
+
+Philip spoke slowly and clearly.  He meant his news to strike home.  As
+he anticipated, De Sylva broke in.
+
+"You _saw_ it?" he asked, and his deep voice vibrated with dismay.
+
+"Yes.  I even made out, by actions rather than words, that the darkness
+alone prevented the soldiers from coming here to-night.  The skipper
+would not risk it."
+
+De Sylva said something under his breath.  He spoke rapidly to San
+Benavides, and the latter seemed to be cowed, for his reply was brief.
+Then the ex-President reverted to English.
+
+"I have decided to send Marcel and Domingo ashore first," he said.
+"They will select the safest place for a landing.  Marcel will bring
+back the catamaran, and take off Mr. Hozier and the young lady.
+Captain Coke and I will follow, and the others in such order as Senhor
+Benavides thinks fit.  The catamaran will only hold three with safety,
+but Marcel believes he can find another for Domingo.  Remember, all of
+you, silence is essential.  If there is an accident, some of us may be
+called on to drown without a cry.  We must be ready to do it for the
+sake of those who are left.  Are we all agreed?"
+
+A hum of voices answered him.  De Sylva was, at least, a born leader.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE RIGOR OF THE GAME
+
+In obedience to their leader's order, Marcel, the taciturn, and
+Domingo, from whose lips the Britons had scarce heard a syllable,
+squatted on the catamaran.  Marcel wielded a short paddle, and an
+almost imperceptible dip of its broad blade sent the strangely-built
+craft across the pool.  Once in the shadow, it disappeared completely.
+There was no visible outlet.  The rocks thrust their stark ridge
+against the sky in a seemingly impassable barrier.  Some of the men
+stared at the jagged crests as though they half expected to see the
+Brazilians making a portage, just as travelers in the Canadian
+northwest haul canoes up a river obstructed by rapids.
+
+"Well, that gives me the go-by," growled Coke, whose alert ear caught
+no sound save the rippling of the water.  "I say, mister, 'ow is it
+done?" he went on.
+
+"It is a simple thing when you know the secret," said De Sylva.  "Have
+you passed Fernando Noronha before, Captain?"
+
+"Many a time."
+
+"Have you seen the curious natural canal which you sailors call the
+Hole in the Wall?"
+
+"Yes, it's near the s'uth'ard end."
+
+"Well, the sea has worn away a layer of soft rock that existed there.
+In the course of centuries a channel has been cut right across the two
+hundred yards of land.  Owing to the same cause the summer rains have
+excavated a ravine through the crater up above, and a similar passage
+exists here, only it happens to run parallel to the line of the cliff.
+It extends a good deal beyond its apparent outlet, and is defended by a
+dangerous reef.  Marcel once landed on a rock during a very calm day,
+and saw the opening.  He investigated it, luckily for me--luckily, in
+fact, for all of us."
+
+Watts interrupted De Sylva's smooth periods by a startled ejaculation,
+and Coke turned on him fiercely.
+
+"Wot's up now?" he demanded.  "Ain't you sober yet?"
+
+"Some dam thing jumped on me," explained Watts.
+
+"Probably a crab," said De Sylva.  "There are jumping crabs all around
+here.  It will not hurt you.  It is quite a small creature."
+
+"Oh, if it's on'y a crab," muttered Watts, "sorry I gev' tongue,
+skipper.  I thought it was a rat, an' I can't abide 'em."
+
+"Then you must learn to endure them while you are in Fernando do
+Noronha itself," went on the Brazilian.  "The island absolutely swarms
+with rats; some of the larger varieties are rather dangerous."
+
+"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Watts.  "It'll be the death o' me."
+
+"Wot color are they?" asked Coke.  De Sylva's reply was given in a tone
+of surprise.  Certainly these hardy mariners had selected an unusual
+topic for discussion at a critical moment.
+
+"The common dark gray," he said.
+
+"That's all right, then," sneered Coke.  "Watts don't mind 'em gray.
+They're old messmates of his.  It's w'en they're pink or green that he
+fights shy of 'em."
+
+"I hate rats of any sort----" began Watts hotly, spurred to anger by an
+audible snigger among the men, but De Sylva stopped his protest
+peremptorily.  It was idiotic, this bantering when the next half hour
+might be their last.
+
+"You must learn to guard your tongue," he said with harsh distinctness.
+"We cannot have our plans marred by a fool's outcry."
+
+Nevertheless, the chief officer of the _Andromeda_ was far from being a
+fool.  He had cut an inglorious figure during the wreck, but he was
+sober enough now, and it hurt his pride to be jeered at by his own
+skipper and treated with contumely by one whom he privately classed as
+a Dago.  He had the good sense to realize that the present was no fit
+time for a display of temper; but he nursed his wrath.  Dom Corria
+would have been well advised had he followed the counsel given so
+ungraciously, and guarded his own tongue.
+
+It might well be that the ex-President, whose fortunes were on the
+tiptoe of desperate hazard, was beginning to despair.  He may have
+scanned the meager forces at his disposal and felt that he was asking
+the gods for more than they could grant.  A few minutes earlier he had
+put forth the suave suggestion that Hozier should be given the
+speediest chance of securing the girl's safety.  That was politic;
+perhaps his stanch nerve was yielding to the strain, now that the two
+islanders were gone on their doubtful quest.  Be that as it may, his
+attitude did not encourage light conversation.  Even Coke withheld some
+jibe at the unfortunate mate's expense.  A chill silence fell on the
+little group.  The more imaginative among them were calculating the
+exact kind of lurch taken by the unstable raft that would mean
+"drowning without a cry."
+
+Thus the minutes sped, until a dim shape emerged from the opposite
+blackness.  It came unheard, growing from nothing into something with
+ghostly subtlety.  Iris, a prey to many emotions, managed to stifle the
+exclamation of alarm that rose unbidden.  But Hozier read her distress
+in a hardly audible sob.
+
+"It is our friend, Marcel," he whispered.  "So Domingo has made good
+his landing.  Be brave!  The sea is quite calm.  This man has been to
+the island and back in less than a quarter of an hour."
+
+His confidence gave her new courage.  She even tried to turn danger
+itself into a jest.
+
+"We seem to be living in spasms just now," she said.  "We certainly
+crowd a good deal of excitement into a very few minutes."
+
+The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle.  Marcel was in a
+hurry.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris.
+
+"Yes," she said.
+
+"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself by
+placing your hands on his shoulders.  Yes, that is it.  Do not change
+your position until you are ashore.  Now you, Mr. Hozier."
+
+Marcel murmured something.
+
+"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly.  "Domingo, too, has secured a
+catamaran.  He is bringing it at once in order to save time."
+
+A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom.  Without waiting for
+further instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passed
+the other in the center of the pool.  Iris felt Hozier's hands on her
+waist.  He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told her
+that she might trust him implicitly.  When the narrow cleft was
+traversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample need
+for some such assurance of guardianship.  Viewed from the cliff, the
+swell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, but
+it presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seen
+in profile.  It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man to
+propel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across a
+wide channel through which such a sea was running.  Indeed, Hozier
+himself, sailor as he was, felt more than doubtful as to the fate of
+their argosy.  But Marcel paddled ahead with unflagging energy once he
+was clear of the tortuous passage, and, before the catamaran had
+traveled many yards, even Iris was able to understand that the outlying
+ridge of rocks both protected their present track and created much of
+the apparent turmoil.
+
+At last the raft, for it was little else, bore sharply out between two
+huge bowlders that might well have fallen from the mighty pile of
+Grand-père itself.  Pointed and angular they were, and set like a
+gateway to an abode of giants.  Beyond, there was a shimmer of
+swift-moving water, with a silver mist on the surface, though from a
+height of a few feet it would have been easy to distinguish the bold
+contours of Fernando Noronha itself.
+
+Marcel plied his paddle vigorously, and Iris thought they were heading
+against the current, since there was a constant swirl of white-tipped
+waves on both sides of the curved plank, and her dress soon became
+soaked.  But Hozier knew that one man could not drive a craft that had
+no artificial buoyancy in the teeth of a four-knot tidal stream.
+Marcel was edging across the channel, and making good use of the very
+force that threatened to sweep him away.  Indeed, in less than five
+minutes, a definite clearing yet darkening of the atmospheric light
+showed that land was near.  The hiss of the ripple subsided, the tide
+ceased its chant, and a dark mass sprang into uncanny distinctness
+right ahead.
+
+The girl's first sensation on nearing the island was an unpleasant one.
+She was conscious of a slight but somewhat nauseating odor, quite
+unlike anything within her ken previously.  It suffused the air, and
+grew more pronounced as the catamaran crept noiselessly into a tiny bay.
+
+Hozier sympathized with her distress; knowing that acquaintance with an
+evil often helps to minimize its effect, he bent close to her ear and
+whispered the words:
+
+"Mangrove swamp."
+
+Iris had read of mangroves.  In a dim way, she classed them with
+tamarinds, and cocoa-palms, and other sub-tropical products.  At any
+rate, she was exceedingly anxious to tell Hozier that if mangroves
+tasted as they smelt she would need to be very hungry before she ate
+one!
+
+Marcel was endowed with quick ears.  Though Hozier's whisper could
+hardly have reached him, he held up a warning hand, even while he
+brought the catamaran ashore on the shingle, so gently that not a
+pebble was disturbed.  He rose, a gaunt scarecrow, stepped off, and
+drew the shallow craft somewhat further up the sloping beach.  Then he
+helped Iris to her feet.  She became conscious at once that his
+thumb-nail was of extraordinary length, and--so strangely constituted
+is human nature--this peculiarity made a lasting impression on her mind.
+
+Hozier, thinking that he ought to remain near the catamaran, stood
+upright, but did not offer to follow the others.  Iris, filled with a
+sudden fear, hung back.  The Brazilian, aware of her resistance, sought
+its cause.  He saw Hozier, grinned, and beckoned to him.  So the three
+went in company, and at each upward stride the disagreeable stench,
+ever afterwards associated with Fernando Noronha in the girl's
+memories, became less and less perceptible, until, after a short walk
+through a clump of banana trees, it vanished altogether.
+
+At that instant, when Iris was beginning to revel in the sweet incense
+of a multitude of unseen flowers, Marcel halted, motioned to Hozier to
+stand fast, and indicated that Iris was to come with him.  At once she
+shrank away in terror.  Though in some sense prepared for this parting,
+she felt it now as the crudest blow that fortune had dealt her during a
+day crowded with misfortunes.  In all likelihood, those two would never
+meet again.  She needed no telling as to the risk he would soon be
+called on to face, and her anguish was made the more bitter by the
+necessity that they should go from each other's presence without a
+spoken word.
+
+Nevertheless, she forced herself to extend a hand in farewell.  Her
+eyes were blinded with tears.  She knew that Hozier drew her nearer.
+With the daring of one who may well cast the world's convention to the
+winds, he gathered her to his heart and kissed her.  Then she uttered a
+little sob of happiness and sorrow, and fainted.
+
+It was not until she was lying helpless in his embrace, with her head
+pillowed on his breast, and an arm thrown limply across his shoulder,
+that Philip understood what had happened.  He loved her, and she, the
+promised wife of another man, had tacitly admitted that she returned
+his love.  Born for each other, heirs of all the ages, they were
+destined to be separated under conditions that could not have been
+brought about by the worst tyrant that ever oppressed his fellow
+creatures.  Small blame should be his portion if in that abysmal moment
+there came to Philip a dire temptation.  There was every reason to
+believe that he and Iris, if they found some hiding-place on the island
+that night, might escape.  He could send Marcel crashing into the
+undergrowth with a blow, carry the unconscious girl somewhere,
+anywhere, until the darkness shrouded them, and wait for the dawn with
+some degree of confidence.  In a red fury of thought he pictured her
+face when she regained possession of her senses and was told that they
+had no more to fear.  He saw, with a species of fantastic intuition,
+that the island authorities would actually acclaim them for the tidings
+they brought.  And then, he would find those grave brown eyes of hers
+fixed on his in agonized inquiry.  What of the others?  Why had he
+betrayed his trust?  Dom Corria de Sylva had sent him ashore in advance
+of any among the little band of fugitives.  Marcel and Domingo were
+outside the pale.  Their lives, at least, were surely forfeit when
+recaptured.  It was not a prayer but a curse that Hozier muttered when
+Marcel whispered words he did not understand, but whose obvious meaning
+was that now the girl must be carried to the convict's hut, since they
+were losing time, and time was all-important.
+
+So they strode on, across ground that continued to rise in gentle
+undulations.  Even in his present frenzied mood, Hozier noticed that
+they were following the right bank of a rivulet, the catamaran being
+beached on the same side of its cove-like estuary.  Progress was rather
+difficult.  They were skirting a wood, and the trailers of a great
+scarlet-flowered bean and a climbing cucumber smothered the ground,
+canopied the trees, and swarmed over the rocks.  He could not
+distinguish these hindrances in the darkness, but he soon found that he
+must walk warily.  As for the effort entailed by his forlorn burden he
+did not give a thought to it until Marcel indicated that he must stand
+fast.  The Brazilian went on, leaving Hozier breathless.  Evidently he
+went to warn the inhabitants of a wretched hut, suddenly visible in the
+midst of a patch of maize and cassava, that there were those at hand
+who needed shelter.
+
+A dog barked--Marcel whistled softly, and the animal began to whimper.
+The Brazilian vanished.  Hozier still held Iris in his arms; his heart
+was beating tumultuously; his throat ached with the labor of his lungs.
+His straining ears caught rustlings among the grass and roots, but
+otherwise a solemn peace brooded over the scene.  Just beyond the hut,
+which was shielded from the arid hill by a grove of curiously contorted
+trees, the inner heights of the island rose abruptly.  Something that
+resembled a column of cloud showed behind the rugged sky-line of the
+land.  Even while he waited there, he saw a glint of light on its
+eastern side.  He fancied that under stress of emotion and physical
+weakness his eyes were deceiving him; but the line of golden fire grew
+brighter and more definite.  It was broken but unwavering, and black
+shadows began to take form as part of this phenomenon.  Then he
+remembered the giant peak of Fernando Noronha, that mis-shapen mass
+which thrusts its amazing beacon a thousand feet into the air.  The
+rising moon was gilding El Pico long ere its rays would illumine the
+lower land--that was all--yet he hailed the sight as a token of
+deliverance.  It was not by idle chance that that which he had taken
+for a cloud should be transmuted into a torch; there sprang into his
+heated brain a new trust.  He recalled the unceasing vigilance of One
+All-Powerful, who, ages ago, when His people were afflicted, "went
+before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by
+night in a pillar of fire, to give them light."
+
+Then Marcel came, and aroused him from the stupor that had settled on
+him, and together they entered into the hovel, where a dark-skinned
+woman and a comely girl uttered words of sympathetic sound when Iris
+was laid on a low trestle, and Hozier took a farewell kiss from her
+unheeding lips.
+
+The Englishman stumbled away with his guide; he fancied that Marcel
+warned him several times to be more circumspect.  He did his best, but,
+for the time, he was utterly spent.  At last the Brazilian signified
+that they were near a trysting place.  He uttered a cry like a
+night-jar's, and the answer came from no great distance.  Soon they
+encountered Coke and De Sylva, who were awaiting them anxiously, and
+wondering, no doubt, why Hozier was missing, since Domingo and Marcel
+had fixed on an aged fig-tree as a rendezvous, and Hozier was not to be
+found anywhere near it.
+
+The two boatmen hurried away, and De Sylva placed his lips close to
+Philip's ear.
+
+"What went wrong?" he asked.
+
+"Iris--Miss Yorke--fainted," was the gasping reply.
+
+"Ah.  You had to carry her?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+De Sylva fumbled in a pocket.  He produced a flask.
+
+"Here is some brandy.  I kept it for just such an extremity.  We cannot
+have you breaking down.  Drink!"
+
+Two weary hours elapsed before the little army of the Grand-père Rock
+was reunited on the shore of Cotton-Tree Bay.  Then there was a further
+delay, while their indefatigable scouts brought milk and water, some
+coarse bread, and a good supply of fruit from the hut.  It was part of
+their scheme that they should give their friend's habitation a wide
+berth.  If their plans miscarried he was instructed to say that he had
+found the English lady wandering on the shore soon after daybreak.  In
+any event, there would be no evidence that he had entertained the
+invaders in his hovel; otherwise, he would lose the first-class badge
+that permitted him, a convict, to dwell apart with his wife and
+daughter.
+
+It was with the utmost difficulty that the men could be restrained from
+expressing their delight when they were given water and milk to drink.
+The water was poor, brackish stuff; the milk was sour and had lost
+every particle of cream; yet they deemed each a nectar of rank, and
+even the miserable Watts, who had long ago ascertained that the
+rustlings in the herbage were caused by countless numbers of rats and
+mice, was ready to acclaim beverages which he was too apt to despise.
+
+About midnight there was a bright moon sailing overhead, and De Sylva
+gave a low order that they were to form in Indian file.  Marcel led,
+the ex-President himself followed, with San Benavides, Coke, and Hozier
+in close proximity.  Domingo brought up the rear, in order to prevent
+straggling, and assist men who might stray from the path.
+
+Avoiding the cultivated land surrounding the creek, the party struck up
+the hillside.  A few plodding minutes sufficed to clear the trees and
+dense undergrowth.  A rough, narrow path led to the saddle of the
+central ridge.  They advanced warily but without any real difficulty.
+Hozier took a listless interest in watching the furtive glances cast
+over his shoulder by San Benavides so long as the south coast of the
+island was visible.  At each turn in the mountain track the Brazilian
+officer searched the moonlit sea for the agreed signal.  At last, when
+the northern side also came in sight, and the whole island lay spread
+before them, San Benavides resigned himself to the inevitable.  For a
+little while, at least, he was perforce content to survey events
+through the eyes of his companions, and throw in his lot irrevocably
+with theirs.
+
+Roughly speaking, Fernando Noronha itself, irrespective of the group of
+islands at its northeasterly extremity, stretches five miles from east
+to west, and averages a mile and a half in width.  From Cotton-Tree
+Bay, to which the catamarans had brought the small force, it was barely
+a mile to the village, convict settlement, and citadel.  Some few
+lights twinkling near the shore showed the exact whereabouts of the
+inhabited section.  Another mile away to the right lay Fort San
+Antonio, which housed the main body of troops.  Watch-fires burning on
+South Point, whence came the shells that disabled the _Andromeda_,
+revealed the presence of soldiers in that neighborhood.  De Sylva
+explained that a paved road ran straight from the town and
+landing-place to the hamlet of Sueste and an important plantation of
+cocoanuts and other fruit-bearing trees that adjoined South Point.  It
+was inadvisable to strike into that road immediately.  A little more to
+the right there was a track leading to the Curral, or stockyard.  If
+they headed for the latter place the men could obtain some stout
+cudgels.  The convict peons in charge of the cattle should be
+overpowered and bound, thus preventing them from giving an alarm, and
+it was also possible to avoid the inhabited hillside overlooking the
+main anchorage until they were close to the citadel.  Then, crossing
+the fort road, they would advance boldly to the enemy's stronghold,
+first making sure that the launch was moored in her accustomed station
+in the roadstead beneath the walls.  San Benavides would answer the
+sentry's questions, there would be a combined rush for the guard-room
+on the right of the gate, and, if they were able to master the guard,
+as many of the assailants as possible would don the soldiers' coats,
+shakos, and accouterments.  Granted success thus far, there should not
+be much difficulty in persuading the men in charge of the launch that a
+cruise round the island was to be undertaken forthwith.  Marcel would
+remain with them until the citadel was carried.  He would then hurry
+back to bring Iris across the island to an unfrequented beach known as
+the Porto do Conceiçao, where he would embark her on a catamaran and
+row out to the steamer, which, by that time, would be lying off the
+harbor out of range of the troops who would surely be summoned from the
+distant fort.
+
+The project bristled with audacity, and that has ever been the soul of
+achievement.  Even the two wounded men from the _Andromeda_ took heart
+when they listened to De Sylva's low-toned explanation, given under the
+shadow of a great rock ere the final advance was made.  If all went
+well at the beginning, the small garrison of the citadel would be
+astounded when they found themselves struggling against unknown
+adversaries.  Haste, silence, determination--these things were
+essential; each and all might be expected from men who literally
+carried their lives in their hands.
+
+A keen breeze was blowing up there on the ridge.  A bank of cloud was
+rising in the southwest horizon, and, at that season, when the months
+of rain were normally at an end, the mere presence of clouds heralded
+another spell of broken weather, though the preceding gale had probably
+marked the worst of it.  Indeed, valuable auxiliary as the moon had
+proved during the march across rough country, it would be no ill hap if
+her bright face were veiled later.  The mere prospect of such an
+occurrence was a cheering augury, and it was in the highest spirits
+that the little band set out resolutely for the Curral.
+
+Here they encountered no difficulty whatever.  Perhaps the prevalent
+excitement had drawn its custodians to the town, since they found no
+one in charge save a couple of barking dogs, while, if there were
+people in the cattle-keepers' huts, they gave no sign of their
+presence.  A few stakes were pulled up; they even came upon a couple of
+axes and a heavy hammer.  Equipped with these weapons, eked out by
+three revolvers owned by the Brazilians and the dapper captain's sword,
+they hurried on, quitting the road instantly, and following a cow-path
+that wound about the base of a steep hill.
+
+They met their first surprise when they tried to cross the road to the
+fort.  Quite unexpectedly, they blundered into a small picket stationed
+there.  Its object was to challenge all passers-by during the dark
+hours, and it formed part of the scheme already elaborated by the
+authorities for a complete search of every foot of ground.  But
+Brazilian soldiers are apt to be lax in such matters.  These men were
+all lying down, and smoking.  For a marvel, they happened to be silent
+when Marcel led his cohort into the open road.  They were listening, in
+fact, to the crackling of the undergrowth, though utterly unsuspicious
+of its cause, and the first intimation of danger was given by the
+startling challenge:
+
+"Who goes there?"
+
+It was familiar enough to island ears, and the convict answered readily:
+
+"A friend!"
+
+"Several friends, it would seem," laughed a voice.  "Let us see who
+these friends are."
+
+Luckily, in response to De Sylva's sibilant order, most of the
+_Andromeda's_ crew were hidden by the scrub from which they were about
+to emerge.
+
+The soldiers rose, and strolled nearer leisurely.
+
+"Now!" shouted De Sylva, leaping forward.
+
+There was a wild scurry, two or three shots were fired, and Hozier
+found himself on the ground gripping the throat of a bronzed man whom
+he had shoved backward with a thrust, for he had no time to swing his
+stake for a blow.  He was aware of a pair of black eyes that glared up
+at him horribly in the moonlight, of white teeth that shone under long
+moustachios of peculiarly warlike aspect, but he felt the man was as
+putty in his hands, and his fingers relaxed their pressure.
+
+He looked around.  The fight was ended almost as soon as it began.  The
+soldiers, six in all, were on their backs in the roadway.  Two of them
+were dead.  The Italian sailor had been shot through the body, and was
+twisting in his last agony.
+
+The bloodshed was bad enough, but those shots were worse.  They would
+set the island in an uproar.  The reports would be heard in town,
+citadel, and fort, and the troops would now be on the _qui vive_.  But
+De Sylva was a man of resource.
+
+"Strip the prisoners!" he cried.  "Take their arms and ammunition, but
+bind them back to back with their belts."
+
+"Butt in there, me lads," vociferated Coke, who had accounted for one
+of the Brazilians with an ax.  "Step lively!  Now we've got some
+uniforms an' guns, we can rush that dam cittydel easy."
+
+Hozier was busy relieving his man of his coat.  When the prone warrior
+realized that he was not to be killed, he helped the operation, but
+Philip was thinking more of Iris than of deeds of derring-do.
+
+"Why attempt to capture the citadel at all?" he asked.  "Now that we
+can make sufficient display, is there any reason that we should not go
+straight for the launch?"
+
+"Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?" said Coke to De Sylva.  "There's horse
+sense in it.  The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest of
+wasps till they find out wot the shots meant."
+
+"I think it is a good suggestion," came the calm answer, "provided,
+that is, the launch is in the harbor."
+
+"She's just as likely to be there now as later.  If she isn't, we must
+hark back to the first plan.  Now, you swabs, all aboard!  See to them
+buckles afore you quit."
+
+A bell began to toll in the convict settlement.  Lights appeared in
+many houses scattered over the seaward slope.  In truth, Fernando
+Noronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied three
+years earlier because arrears of pay were not forthcoming.  It was
+impossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was at
+her berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck.
+Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel still
+remained with his leader.  Under these new circumstances, it certainly
+would be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of the
+launch.  So he hurried after them, struggling the while into a coat far
+too small, though fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was big
+in proportion to the rest of his body.
+
+Some few men were met, running from the town to the main road where
+they had located the shooting.  Each breathlessly demanded news, and
+was forthwith given most disconcerting information by a savage blow.
+The _Andromeda_ had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now.
+They did not deliberately murder anyone, but they took good care that
+none of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to work
+mischief until the night was ended.
+
+It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they were
+descending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees and
+houses rendered it impossible to see the actual landing-place.  Hence,
+there was no course open but to race on at the utmost speed, though De
+Sylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace was
+necessarily that of its slowest members.  Among these was Coke, who had
+never walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate.  He
+swore copiously as he lumbered along, and, what between shortness of
+breath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability being
+added to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barely
+able to reach the water's edge.
+
+Happily, the launch was there, moored alongside a small quay.  From the
+nearest building it was necessary to cross a low wharf some fifty yards
+in width, and De Sylva's whispered commands could not restrain the
+eager men when escape appeared no longer problematical but assured.
+They broke, and ran, an almost fatal thing, as it happened, since the
+soldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board.  One
+of them noticed the inexplicable disorder among a body of men some of
+whom resembled his own comrades.  He had heard the firing, and was
+discussing it with others when this strange thing happened.
+
+He challenged.  San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill and
+unofficer-like.
+
+The engines were started.  A man leaped to the wharf.  He was in the
+act of casting a mooring rope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shot
+him between the shoulder-blades.
+
+"On board, all of you!" shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy.
+
+"At 'em, boys!" gasped Coke, though scarce able to stagger another foot.
+
+The men needed no bidding.  Sheets of flame leaped from the vessel's
+deck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at these
+mysterious assailants who spoke in a foreign language.  But flame alone
+could not stop that desperate attack.  Some fell, but the survivors
+sprang at the Brazilians like famished wolves on their prey.  There was
+no more shooting.  Men grappled and fell, some into the water, others
+on deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in frantic
+struggle in the narrow cabin.  The fight did not last many seconds.  An
+engineer, finding a lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor to
+take the wheel, and already the launch was curving seaward when Hozier
+shouted:
+
+"Where is Marcel?"
+
+"Lyin' dead on the wharf," said Watts.
+
+"Are you certain?"
+
+"He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shot
+rabbit."
+
+"Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?"
+
+"No one.  D'ye think that this d--d President cares for anybody but
+hisself?"
+
+Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw.  The
+lights on shore were gliding by.  The launch was leaving Fernando
+Noronha, and Iris was waiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill,
+waiting for the summons that would not reach her, for Marcel was dead,
+and Domingo, the one other man who could have gone to her, was lying in
+the cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY
+
+Iris came back from the void to find herself lying on a truckle bed in
+a dimly-lighted hovel.  A cotton wick flickered in a small lamp of the
+old Roman type.  It was consuming a crude variety of castor oil, and
+its gamboge-colored flame clothed the smoke-darkened rafters and mud
+walls in somber yet vivid tints that would have gladdened the heart of
+a Rubens.  This scenic effect, admirable to an artist, was lost on a
+girl waking in affright and startled by unfamiliar surroundings.  She
+gazed up with uncomprehending eyes at two brown-skinned women bending
+over her.
+
+One, the elder, was chafing her hands; the other, a tall, graceful
+girl, was stirring something in an earthenware vessel.  She heard the
+girl murmur joyfully:
+
+"Graças a Deus, elh' abria lhes olhas!"
+
+Iris was still wandering in that strange borderland guarded by unknown
+forces that lies between conscious life and the sleep that is so close
+of kin to death.  If in full possession of her senses, she might not
+have caught the drift of the sentence, since it was spoken in a
+guttural patois.  But now she understood beyond cavil that because she
+had opened her eyes, the girl was giving thanks to the Deity.  The
+first definite though bewildering notion that perplexed her faculties,
+at once clouded and unnaturally clear, was an astonished acceptance of
+the fact that she knew what the strange girl had said, though the
+phrase only remotely resembled its Spanish equivalent.  She gathered
+its exact meaning, word for word, and it was all the more surprising
+that both women should smile and say something quite incomprehensible
+as soon as Iris lifted herself on an elbow and asked in English:
+
+"Where am I?  How did I come here?"
+
+[Illustration: "How did I come here?"]
+
+Then she remembered, and memory brought a feeling of helplessness not
+wholly devoid of self-reproach.  It was bad enough that her presence
+should add so greatly to the dangers besetting her friends; it was far
+worse that she should have fainted at the very moment when such
+weakness might well prove fatal to them.
+
+Why did she faint?  Ah!  A lively blush chased the pallor from her
+cheeks, and a few strenuous heartbeats restored animation to her limbs.
+Of course, in thinking that she had yielded solely to the stress of
+surcharged emotions, Iris was mistaken.  What she really needed was
+food.  A young woman of perfect physique, and dowered with the best of
+health, does not collapse into unconsciousness because a young man
+embraces her, and each at the same moment makes the blissful discovery
+that the wide world contains no other individual of supreme importance.
+Iris's great-grandmother might have "swooned" under such
+circumstances--not so Iris, who fainted simply because of the strain
+imposed by failure to eat the queer fare provided by De Sylva and his
+associates.  She hardly realized how hungry she was until the girl
+handed her the bowl, which contained a couple of eggs beaten up in
+milk, while small quantities of rum and sugar-cane juice made the
+compound palatable.
+
+"Bom!" said the girl, "bebida, senhora!"
+
+It certainly was good, and the senhora drank it with avidity, the
+mixture being excellent diet for one who had eaten nothing except an
+over-ripe banana during thirty hours.  Indeed, it would be no
+exaggeration to extend that period considerably.  Iris had left
+practically untouched the meals brought her by the steward during the
+gale, and the early morning cup of coffee, which would have proved most
+grateful after a storm-tossed night, was an impossible achievement
+owing to the lack of water.
+
+So Iris tackled the contents of the bowl with a vigorous appetite oddly
+at variance with the seeming weakness that ended in a prolonged
+fainting fit, and the hospitable Brazilians, to whom this fair English
+girl was a revelation in feature and clothing, bestirred themselves to
+provide further dainties.  But, excepting some fruit, Iris had the
+wisdom to refuse other food just then.  Her thoughts were rapidly
+becoming coherent, and she realized that a heavy meal might be
+absolutely disastrous.  If the men made good their project she would be
+called on within an hour to cross the island.  It seemed reasonable
+that, hungry though she was, she would be better fitted to climb the
+island hills at a fast pace if she ate sparingly.  Still, she longed
+for a drink of water, and taxed her small stock of Spanish to make
+known her desire.
+
+"Agua, senhora," she said with a smile, and the delight of mother and
+daughter was great, since they thought she could speak their language.
+
+Therein, of course, they were disappointed, but not more so than Iris
+when she tasted the brackish fluid alone procurable on the south coast
+of Fernando Noronha.  That was a fortunate thing in itself.  Only those
+who have endured real thirst can tell how hard it is to refrain from
+drinking deeply when water is ultimately obtained; but the mixture of
+milk and eggs had already soothed her parched mouth and palate, and she
+quickly detected an unpleasantly salt flavor in the beverage they gave
+her.
+
+Then she set herself to discover her whereabouts.  The women were eager
+to impart information, but, alas, Iris's brain had regained its
+every-day limitations, and she could make no sense of their words.  At
+last, seeing that the door was barred and the hut was innocent of any
+other opening, she stood upright, and signified by a gesture that she
+wished to go out.  There could be no mistaking the distress, even the
+positive alarm, created by this demand.  The girl clasped her hands in
+entreaty, and the older woman evidently tried most earnestly to
+dissuade her visitor from a proceeding fraught with utmost danger.
+
+Being quite certain that they meant to be friendly, Iris sat down
+again.  She knew, of course, that Marcel would come for her, if
+possible, and the relief displayed by her unknown entertainers was so
+marked that she resolved to await his appearance quietly.  She would
+not abandon hope till daylight crept through the chinks of the hut.
+How soon that might be she could not tell.  It seemed but a few seconds
+since she felt Hozier's arms around her, since her lips met his in a
+passionate kiss.  But, meanwhile, someone had brought her here.  Her
+dress, though damp, was not sopping wet.  Even the slight token of the
+beaten eggs showed how time must have sped while she was lying there
+oblivious of everything.  She tried again to question the women, and
+fancied that they understood her partly, as she caught the words "meia
+noite," but it was beyond her powers to ascertain whether they meant
+that she had come there at midnight, or were actually telling her the
+hour.
+
+At any rate, they were most anxious for her well-being.  The island
+housewife produced another dish, smiled reassuringly, and said,
+"Manioc--bom," repeating the phrase several times.  The compound looked
+appetizing, and Iris ate a little.  She discovered at once that it was
+tapioca, but her new acquaintance suggested "cassava" as an
+alternative.  The girl, however, nodded cheerfully.  She had heard the
+gentry at Fort San Antonio call it tapioca, and her convict father
+cultivated some of the finer variety of manioc for the officers' mess.
+
+"Ah," sighed Iris, smiling wistfully, "I am making progress in your
+language, slow but sure.  But please don't give me any mangroves."
+
+The girl apparently was quite fascinated by the sound of English.  She
+began to chatter to her mother at an amazing rate, trying repeatedly to
+imitate the hissing sound which the Latin races always perceive in
+Anglo-Saxon speech.  Her mother reproved her instantly.  To make
+amends, the girl offered Iris a fine pomegranate.  Iris, of course,
+lost nothing of this bit of by-play.  It was almost the first touch of
+nature that she had discovered among the amazing inhabitants of
+Fernando Noronha.
+
+These small amenities helped to pass the time, but Iris soon noted an
+air of suspense in the older woman's attitude.  Though mindful of her
+guest's comfort, Luisa Gomez had ever a keen ear for external sounds.
+In all probability, she was disturbed by the distant reports of
+fire-arms, and it was a rare instance of innate good-breeding that she
+did not alarm her guest by calling attention to them.  Iris, amid such
+novel surroundings, could not distinguish one noise from another.
+Night-birds screamed hideously in the trees without; a host of crickets
+kept up an incessant chorus in the undergrowth; the intermittent
+roaring of breakers on the rocks invaded the narrow creek.  The medley
+puzzled Iris, but the island woman well knew that stirring events were
+being enacted on the other side of the hill.  Her husband was there--he
+had, indeed, prepared a careful alibi since Marcel visited him--and
+wives are apt to feel worried if husbands are abroad when bullets are
+flying.
+
+So, while the girl, Manoela, was furtively appraising the clothing worn
+by Iris, and wondering how it came to pass that in some parts of the
+world there existed grand ladies who wore real cloth dresses, and lace
+embroidered under-skirts, and silk stockings, and shining leather
+boots--wore them, too, with as much careless ease as one draped one's
+self in coarse hempen skirt and shawl in Fernando Noronha--her mother
+was listening ever for hasty footsteps among the trailing vines.
+
+At last, with a muttered prayer, she went to the door, and unfastened
+the stout wooden staple that prevented intruders from entering unbidden.
+
+It was dark without.  Dense black clouds veiled the moon, and a gust of
+wind moaned up the creek in presage of a tropical storm.  Someone
+approached.
+
+"Is that you, Manoel?" asked Luisa Gomez in a hushed voice.
+
+There was no answer.  The woman drew back.  She would have closed the
+door, but a slim, active figure sprang across the threshold.  She
+shrieked in terror.  The new-comer was a Brazilian officer, one of
+those glittering beings whom she had seen lounging outside the
+Prindio[1] during her rare visits to the town.  She was hoping to greet
+her Manoel, she half expected to find Marcel, but to be faced by an
+officer was the last thing she had thought of.  In abject fear, she
+broke into a wild appeal to the Virgin; the officer merely laughed,
+though not loudly.
+
+"Be not afraid, senhora--I am a friend," he said with quiet confidence,
+and the fact that he addressed her so courteously was a wondrously
+soothing thing in itself.  But he raised a fresh wave of dread in her
+soul when he peered into the cabin and spoke words she did not
+understand.
+
+"I think you are here, mademoiselle," he said in French.  "I am come to
+share your retreat for a little while.  Perchance by daybreak I may
+arrive at some plan.  At present, you and I are in difficulties, is it
+not?"
+
+Iris recognized the voluble, jerky speech.  A wild foreboding gripped
+her heart until she was like to shudder under its fierce anguish.
+
+"You, Captain San Benavides?" she asked, and her utterance was
+unnaturally calm.
+
+"I, mademoiselle," he said, "and, alas!  I am alone.  May I come in?
+It is not well to show a light at this hour, seeing that the island is
+overrun with infuriated soldiers."
+
+The concluding sentence was addressed to Luisa Gomez in Portuguese.
+Realizing instinctively that the man came as a friend, she stood aside,
+trembling, on the verge of tears.  He entered, and the door was closed
+behind him.  The yellow gleam of the lamp fell on his smart uniform,
+and gilded the steel scabbard of his sword.  In that dim interior the
+signs of his three days' sojourn on Grand-père were not in evidence,
+and he had not been harmed during the struggle on the main road or in
+the rush for the launch.
+
+He doffed his rakish-looking kepi and bowed low before Iris.  Perhaps
+the white misery in her face touched him more deeply than he had
+counted on.  Be that as it may, a note of genuine sympathy vibrated in
+his voice as he said:
+
+"I am the only man who escaped, mademoiselle.  The others?  Well, it is
+war, and war is a lottery."
+
+"Do you mean that they have been killed, all killed?" she murmured with
+a pitiful sob.
+
+"I--I think so."
+
+"You . . . think?  Do you not know?"
+
+He sighed.  His hand sought an empty cigarette case.  Such was the
+correct military air, he fancied--to treat misfortunes rather as jests.
+He frowned because the case was empty, but smiled at Iris.
+
+"It is so hard, mademoiselle, when one speaks these things in a strange
+tongue.  Permit me to explain that which has arrived.  We encountered a
+picket, and surprised it.  Having secured some weapons and
+accouterments, we hastened to the quay, where was moored the little
+steamship.  Unhappily, she was crowded with soldiers.  They fired, and
+there was a short fight.  I was knocked down, and, what do you call
+it?--_étourdi_--while one might count ten.  I rose, half blinded, and
+what do I see?  The vessel leaving the quay--full of men engaged in
+combat, while, just beyond the point, a warship is signaling her
+arrival.  It was a Brazilian warship, mademoiselle.  She showed two red
+rockets followed by a white one.  It was only a matter of minutes
+before she met the little steamship.  I tell you that it was bad luck,
+that--a vile blow.  I was angry, yes.  I stamp my foot and say foolish
+things.  Then I run!"
+
+Iris made no reply.  She hid her face in her hands.  She could frame no
+more questions.  San Benavides was trying to tell her that Hozier and
+the rest had been overwhelmed by fate at the very instant escape seemed
+to be within reach.  The Brazilian, probably because of difficulties
+that beset him in using a foreign language, did not make it clear that
+he had flung himself flat in the dust when he heard the order to fire
+given by someone on board the launch.  He said nothing of a tragic
+incident wherein Marcel, shot through the lungs, fell over him, and he,
+San Benavides, mistaking the convict for an assailant, wrestled
+furiously with a dying man.  He even forgot to state that had he
+charged home with the others, he would either have met a bullet or
+gained the deck of the launch, and that his failure to reach the vessel
+was due to his own careful self-respect.  For San Benavides was not a
+coward.  He could be brave spectacularly, but he had no stomach for a
+fight in the dark, when stark hazard chooses some to triumph and some
+to die.  That sort of devilish courage might be well enough for those
+crude sailors; a Portuguese gentleman of high lineage and proved mettle
+demanded a worthier field for his deeds of derring-do.  Saperlotte!  If
+one had a cigarette one could talk more fluently!
+
+"Believe me, mademoiselle," he went on, speaking with a proud humility
+that was creditable to his powers as an actor, "the tears came to my
+eyes when I understood what had happened.  For myself, what do I care?
+I would gladly have given my life to save my brave companions.  But I
+thought of you, solitary, waiting here in distress, so I hurried into
+the village, and my uniform secured me from interruption until I was
+able to leave the road and cross the hills."
+
+Then the lightning of a woman's intuition pierced the abyss of despair.
+Surely there were curious blanks in this thrilling narrative.  As was
+her way when thoroughly aroused, Iris stood up and seized San Benavides
+almost roughly by the arm.  Her distraught eyes searched his face with
+a pathetic earnestness.
+
+"Why do you think that the launch did not get away?" she cried.  "It
+was dark.  The moon might have been in shadow.  If the launch met the
+warship and was seen, there must have been firing----"
+
+"Chère mademoiselle, there was much firing," he protested.
+
+"At sea?"
+
+The words came dully.  She was stricken again, even more shrewdly.  The
+gloom was closing in on her, yet she forced herself to drag the truth
+from his unwilling lips.
+
+"Yes.  Of course, I could not wait there in that open place.  I was
+compelled to seek shelter.  Troops were running from town and citadel.
+I avoided them by a miracle.  And my sole concern then was your safety."
+
+"Oh, my safety!" she wailed brokenly.  "How does it avail me that my
+friends should be slain?  Why was I not with them?  I would rather have
+died as they died than live in the knowledge that I was the cause of
+their death."
+
+San Benavides essayed a confidential hand on her shoulder.  She shrank
+from him; he was not pleased but he purred amiably:
+
+"Mademoiselle is profoundly unhappy.  Under such circumstances one says
+things that are unmerited, is it not?  If anyone is to blame, it is my
+wretched country, which cannot settle its political affairs without
+bloodshed.  Ah, mademoiselle, I weep with you, and tender you my most
+respectful homage."
+
+A deluge of tropical rain beat on the hut with a sudden fury.
+Conversation at once became difficult, nearly impossible.  Iris threw
+herself back on the trestle in a passion of grief that rivaled the
+outer tempest.  San Benavides, by sheer force of habit, dusted his
+clothes before sitting on the chair brought by Luisa Gomez.  The
+woman's frightened gaze had dwelt on Iris and him alternately while
+they spoke.  She understood no word that was said, but she gathered
+that the news brought by this handsome officer was tragic, woeful,
+something that would wring the heartstrings.
+
+"Was there fighting, senhor?" she asked, close to his ear, her voice
+pitched in a key that conquered the storm.
+
+He nodded.  He was very tired, this dandy; now that Iris gave no
+further heed to him, he was troubled by the prospects of the coming day.
+
+"Were they soldiers who fought?"
+
+He nodded again.
+
+"No islanders?"
+
+Then he raised a hand in protest, though he laughed softly.
+
+"Your good man is safe, senhora," he said.  "Marcel told him to go to
+Sueste and tend his cattle.  When he comes home it will be his duty to
+inform the Governor that we are here.  He will be rewarded, not
+punished.  _Sangue de Deus_!  I may be shot at dawn.  I pray you, let
+me rest a while."
+
+The girl, Manoela, weeping out of sympathy, crept to Iris's side and
+gently stroked her hair.  Like her mother, she could only guess that
+the English lady's friends were captured, perhaps dead.  Even her
+limited experience of life's vicissitudes had taught her what short
+shrift was given to those who defied authority.  The Republic of Brazil
+does not permit its criminals to be executed, but it shows no mercy to
+rebels.  Manoela, of course, believed that the Englishmen were helping
+the imprisoned Dom Corria to regain power.  She remembered how a mutiny
+was once crushed on the island, and her eyes streamed.
+
+Meanwhile, Luisa Gomez was touched by the good-looking soldier's
+plight.  Never, since she came to Fernando Noronha to rejoin her
+convict husband, had she been addressed so politely by any member of
+the military caste.  The manners of the officers of the detachment at
+Fort San Antonio were not to be compared with those of Captain San
+Benavides.  Her heart went out to him.
+
+"We must try to help you, Senhor Capitano," she said.  "If the others
+are dead or taken, you may not be missed."
+
+He threw out his hands in an eloquent gesture.  Life or death was a
+matter of complete indifference to him, it implied.
+
+"We shall know in the morning," he said.  "Have you any cigarettes?  A
+milrei[2] for a cigarette!"
+
+"But listen, senhor.  Why not take off your uniform and dress in my
+clothes?  You can cut off your mustaches, and wear a mantilha over your
+face, and we will keep you here until there is a chance of reaching a
+ship.  Certainly that is better than being shot."
+
+He glanced at Iris.  Vanity being his first consideration, it is
+probable that he would have refused to be made ridiculous in her eyes,
+had not a knock on the door galvanized him into a fever of fright.  He
+sprang up and glared wildly around for some means of eluding the
+threatened scrutiny of a search party.  Luisa Gomez flung him a rough
+skirt and a shawl.  He huddled into a corner near the bed,--in such
+wise that the figures of Iris and Manoela would cloak the rays of the
+lamp,--placed his drawn sword across his knees, and draped the two
+garments over his head and limbs.
+
+Then, greatly agitated, but not daring to refuse admittance to the
+dreaded soldiery, the woman unbarred the door.  A man staggered in.  He
+was alone, and a swirl of wind and rain caused the lamp to flicker so
+madly that no one could distinguish his features until the door was
+closed again.
+
+But Iris knew him.  Though her eyes were dim with tears, though the
+new-comer carried a broken gun in his hands, and his face was
+blood-stained, she knew.
+
+With a shriek that dismayed the other women--who could not guess that
+joy is more boisterous than sorrow, she leaped up and threw her arms
+around him.
+
+"Oh, Philip, Philip!" she sobbed.  "He told me you were dead . . . and
+I believed him!"
+
+The manner of her greeting was delightful to one who had faced death
+for her sake many times during the past hour, yet Hozier was so
+surprised by its warmth that he could find never a word at the moment.
+But he had the good sense to throw aside the shattered rifle and return
+her embrace with interest.  Long ago exhausted in body, his mind reeled
+now under the bewildering knowledge that this most gracious woman did
+truly love him.  When they parted in that same squalid hut at midnight,
+he took with him the intoxication of her kiss.  Yet he scarce brought
+himself to believe that the night's happenings were real, or that they
+two would ever meet again on earth.  And now, here was Iris quivering
+against his breast.  He could feel the beating of her heart.  The
+perfume of her hair was as incense in his nostrils.  She was clinging
+to him as if they had loved through all eternity.  No wonder he could
+not speak.  Had he uttered a syllable, he must have broken down like
+the girl herself.
+
+San Benavides supplied a timely tonic.
+
+Throwing aside the rags which covered him, he tried to rise.  Philip
+caught a glimpse of the uniform, the sheen of the naked sword.  He was
+about to tear himself from Iris's clasp and spring at this new enemy
+when the Brazilian spoke.
+
+"Mil diabos!" he cried in a rage, "this cursed Inglez still lives, and
+here am I posing before him like an old hag."
+
+His voice alone saved him from being pinned to the floor by a man who
+had adopted no light measures with others of his countrymen during the
+past half-hour, as the dented gun-barrel, minus its stock, well showed.
+But the captain's mortified fury helped to restore Philip's sanity.
+Lifting Iris's glowing face to his own, he whispered:
+
+"Tell me, sweetheart, how comes it that our Brazilian friend is here?"
+
+"He ran away when some shots were fired," which was rather unfair of
+Iris.  "He said the launch had been sunk by a man-of-war----"
+
+"But he is wrong.  I saw no man-of-war.  We captured the launch.  By
+this time she is well out to sea.  Unfortunately, Marcel was killed,
+and Domingo badly wounded.  There was no one to come for you, so I
+jumped overboard and swam ashore.  I had to fight my way here, and it
+will soon be known that there are some of us left on the island.  I
+thought that perhaps I might take you back to the Grand-père cavern.
+These people may give us food.  I have some few sovereigns in my
+pocket. . . ."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes!"  She was excited now and radiantly happy.  "Of course,
+Captain San Benavides must accompany us.  He says the soldiers will
+shoot him if they capture him.  I, too, have money.  Let me ask him to
+explain matters to this dear woman and her daughter.  They have been
+more than kind to me already."
+
+She turned to the sulky San Benavides and told him what Hozier had
+suggested.  He brightened at that, and began a voluble speech to Luisa
+Gomez.  Interrupting himself, he inquired, in French, how Hozier
+proposed to reach the rock.
+
+"On a catamaran.  There are two on the beach, and I can handle one of
+them all right," said Philip.  "But what is this yarn of a warship?
+When last I sighted the launch she was standing out of the harbor, and
+the first clouds of the storm helped to screen her from the citadel."
+
+Iris interpreted.  San Benavides repeated his story of the rockets.  In
+her present tumult, the girl forgot the touch of realism with regard to
+the firing that he had heard.  Certainly there was a good deal of
+promiscuous rifle-shooting after the departure of the launch, but
+warships use cannon to enforce their demands, and the boom of a big gun
+had not woke the echoes of Fernando Noronha that night.  Philip deemed
+the present no time for argument; he despised San Benavides, and gave
+no credence to him.  Just now the Brazilian was an evil that must be
+endured.
+
+Luisa Gomez promised to help in every possible way.  Her eyes sparkled
+at the sight of gold, but the poor woman would have assisted them out
+of sheer pity.  Nevertheless, the gift of a couple of sovereigns,
+backed by the promise of many more if her husband devoted himself to
+their service, spurred her to a frenzy of activity.
+
+There was not a moment to be lost.  The squall had spent itself, and a
+peep through the chinks of the door showed that the moon would quickly
+be in evidence again.  It was essential that they should cross the
+channel while the scattering clouds still dimmed her brightness; so
+Manoela and her mother collected such store of food, and milk, and
+water, as they could lay hands on.  Well laden, all five hastened to
+the creek, and Hozier, Iris, and San Benavides, boarded the larger of
+the two catamarans.  The strong wind had partly dissipated the noisome
+odor, but it was still perceptible.  Iris was sure she would never like
+mangroves.
+
+Having a degree of confidence in the queer craft that was lacking
+during their earlier voyage, they did not hesitate to stack jars and
+baskets against the curved prow in such a manner that the eatables
+would not become soaked with salt water.  Then, after a hasty farewell,
+during which Iris showed her gratitude to those kindly peasants by a
+hug and a kiss, Hozier pushed off and tried to guide the catamaran as
+Marcel had done.
+
+Oddly enough, he and Iris now saw the majestic outlines of the
+Grand-père for the first time.  The great rock rose above the water
+like some immense Gothic cathedral.  The illusion was heightened by a
+giant spire that towered grandly from the center of the islet.  It
+looked a shrine built by nature in honor of its Creator, a true temple
+of the infinite, and the semblance was no illusion to these three
+castaways, since they regarded it as a sanctuary to which alone, under
+Heaven, they might owe their lives.  Hozier, of course, realized that
+there was a certain element of risk in returning there.  The island
+authorities would surely endeavor to find out where the party of
+desperadoes had lain _perdu_ between the sinking of the ship and the
+attack on the picket.  But the ill-starred Marcel had been confident
+that none could land on the rock who was not acquainted with the
+intricacies of the approach, and Philip was content to trust to the
+reef-guarded passage rather than seek shelter on the mainland.
+
+Once embarked in the fairway, the management of the catamaran occupied
+his mind to the complete exclusion of all other problems.  He was
+puzzled by the discovery that the awkward craft was traveling too far
+to the westward, until he remembered that the tide had turned, and that
+the current was either slack or running in the opposite direction.
+Changing the paddle to the starboard side, he soon corrected this
+deviation in the route.  But he had been carried already a hundred
+yards or more out of the straight line.  To reach the two pointed rocks
+that marked the entrance to the secret channel, he was obliged to creep
+back along the whole shoreward face of the Grand-père; and to this
+accident was due a surprise that ranked high in a day replete with
+marvels.
+
+When the catamaran rounded the last outlying crag, and they were all
+straining their eyes to find the sentinel pillars, they became aware
+that a small boat was being pulled cautiously toward them from the
+opposite side of the rock.
+
+Iris gasped.  She heard Hozier mutter under his breath, while San
+Benavides revealed his dismay by an oath and a convulsive tightening of
+the hands that rested on the girl's shoulders.
+
+Hozier strove with a few desperate strokes of the paddle to reach the
+shadows of the passage before the catamaran was seen by the boat's
+occupants.  He might have succeeded.  Many things can happen at night
+and on the sea--strange escapades and hair's-breadth 'scapes--thrills
+denied to stay-at-homes dwelling in cities, who seldom venture beyond a
+lighted area.  But there was even a greater probability that the
+unwieldy catamaran might be caught by the swell and dashed side-long
+against one of the half-submerged rocks that thrust their black fangs
+above the water.
+
+Happily, they were spared either alternative.  At the very instant that
+their lot must be put to the test of chance, Coke's hoarse accents came
+to their incredulous ears.
+
+"Let her go, Olsen," he was growling.  "We've a clear course now, an'
+that dam moon will spile everything if we're spotted."
+
+In this instance hearing was believing, and Philip was the first to
+guess what had actually occurred.
+
+"Boat ahoy, skipper!" he sang out in a joyous hail.
+
+Coke stood up.  He glared hard at the reef.
+
+"Did ye 'ear it?" he cried to De Sylva, who was steering.  "Sink me, I
+'ope I ain't a copyin' pore ole Watts, but if that wasn't Hozier's
+voice I'm goin' dotty."
+
+"It's all right, skipper," said Philip, sending the catamaran ahead
+with a mighty sweep.  "Miss Yorke is here--Captain San Benavides, too.
+I was sure you would look for us if you cleared the harbor safely."
+
+Then Coke proclaimed his sentiments in the approved ritual of the high
+seas, while the big Norseman at the oars swung the boat's head round
+until both craft were traveling in company to the waiting launch.  But
+before anything in the nature of an explanation was forthcoming from
+the occupants of either the boat or the catamaran, a broad beam of
+white light swept over the crest of the island from north to south.  It
+disappeared, to return more slowly, until it rested on Rat Island, at
+the extreme northwest of the group.  It remained steady there, showing
+a wild panorama of rocky heights and tumbling sea.
+
+"A search-light, by G--d!" growled Coke.
+
+"Then there really _was_ a warship," murmured Iris.
+
+"Ha!" said San Benavides, and his tone was almost gratified, for he had
+gathered that Hozier was skeptical when told of the rockets.  But in
+that respect, at least, he was not mistaken.  A man-of-war had entered
+the roadstead, and her powerful lamp was now scouring sea and coast for
+the missing launch.  And in that moment of fresh peril it was forgotten
+by all but one of the men who had survived so many dangers since the
+sun last gilded the peak of Fernando Noronha, that were it not for Iris
+having been left behind, and Philip's mad plunge overboard to go to
+her, and the point-blank refusal of the _Andromeda's_ captain and crew
+to put to sea without an effort to save the pair of them, the launch
+would not now be hidden behind the black mass of the Grand-père rock.
+
+Nevertheless, the fact was patent.  Had the little vessel sailed to the
+west, in the assumption that her only feasible course lay in that
+direction, she must have been discovered by the cruiser's far-seeing
+eye.  And what that meant needed no words.  The bones of the
+_Andromeda_ supplied testimony at once silent and all-sufficing.
+
+
+
+[1] The Governor's residence.
+
+[2] The Brazilian milrei is worth 55 cents, or 2s. 3 1/2d.  The
+Portuguese is worth only one-tenth of a cent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE HIGH SEAS
+
+Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the
+sky.  But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base.
+The warship was in motion.  She was about to steam around the group of
+islands.
+
+Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange
+oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's
+hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech.  Under pressure of this new
+peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline.
+The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the
+_Andromeda's_ crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when
+they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial.  It may
+be urged that they had suffered much.  Out of a ship's company of
+twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors.  Domingo was
+lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he
+lived or died.  With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from
+the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every
+Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he
+was best able.  Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that
+Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed.  He landed at the same
+moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except
+their own dangerous plight.
+
+Small wonder, then, if authority was cast to the winds now that capture
+seemed to be unavoidable.  Coke tried to still the tumult by thundering
+a command to Norrie, second engineer, to throw open the throttle valve.
+He took the wheel in person, meaning to shape a course due east, and
+thus endeavor to avoid the cruiser's baleful glance.  But some of the
+men realized instantly that this expedient would fail.  They were in no
+mood for half measures.  Norrie felt a bayonet under his left
+shoulder-blade.  Coke was roared down, and a hoarse voice growled:
+
+"Me for the tall timbers, maties.  It's each one for hisself now."
+
+"Aye, aye!" came the chorus . . .  "Shove her ashore! . . .  Give us a
+chanst there. . .  We've none at sea."
+
+Dom Corria, being something of a fatalist, did not interfere.  On this
+cockleshell of a craft, among these rude spirits of alien races, he was
+powerless.  On land a diplomat and strategist of high order, here he
+was a cipher.  Moreover, he was beaten to his knees, and he knew it.
+The arrival of the warship had upset his calculations.  After many
+months' planning of flight, he had been forced, by the events of a few
+hours, into an aggressive campaign.  His little cohort had done
+wonders, it is true, but of what avail were these ill-equipped
+stalwarts against a fast-moving fort, armed with heavy guns and
+propelled by thousands of steam horses?  None, absolutely none.  Dom
+Corria drew San Benavides aside.
+
+"All is ended!" he said quietly.  "We shall never see Brazil again,
+Salvador _meu_!  Carmela must find another lover, it seems."
+
+Salvador did not appear to be specially troubled by the new quest
+imposed on Carmela, but he was much perturbed by an uproar betokening
+disunion among the men who had already saved his life twice.  He was
+beginning to believe in them.  It was night, and they possessed a
+vessel under steam.  Why did they not hurry into the obscurity of the
+smooth dark plain that looked so inviting?
+
+It was left to Hozier to solve a problem that threatened to develop
+into a disastrous brawl.  Danger sharpens a brave man's wits, but love
+makes him fey.  To succor Iris was now his sole concern.  He swung a
+couple of the excited sailors out of his way and managed to stem the
+torrent of Coke's futile curses.
+
+"Give in to them!" he cried eagerly.  "Tell them they are going ashore
+in the creek.  That will stop the racket.  If they listen to me, I can
+still find a means of escape."
+
+"Avast yelpin', you swabs!" bellowed Coke.  "D'ye want to let every
+bally sojer on the island know where you are?  We're makin' for the
+creek.  Will _that_ please you?  Now, Mr. Norrie, let her rip!"
+
+The head of the launch swung toward the protecting shadows.  The men
+knew the bearings of Cotton-Tree Bay, so the angry voices yielded to
+selfish thought.  If it was to be _sauve qui peut_ when the vessel
+grounded, there was ample room for thought, seeing that each man's
+probable fate would be that of a mad dog.
+
+Hozier seized the precious respite.  He spoke loudly enough that all
+should hear, and he began with a rebuke.
+
+"I am sorry that those of us who are left should have disgraced the
+fine record set up by the _Andromeda's_ crew since the ship struck," he
+said.  "Your messmates who fell fighting would hardly believe St. Peter
+himself if he told them that we were on the verge of open mutiny.  I am
+ashamed of you.  Let us have no more of that sort of thing.  Sink or
+swim, we must pull together."
+
+There was some discordant muttering, but he gained one outspoken
+adherent.
+
+"Bully for you!" said the man who had suggested tree-climbing as an
+expedient.
+
+"Shut up!" was the wrathful answer.  "You've made plenty of row
+already.  I only hope you have not attracted attention on the island.
+You may not have been heard, owing to the disturbance on the other
+side, but no thanks to any of you for that.  Our skipper's first notion
+was to put to sea.  Wasn't it natural?  Do you want to be hunted over
+Fernando Noronha at daybreak?  But he would have seen the uselessness
+of trying to slip the cruiser before the launch had gone a cable's
+length.  Now, here is a scheme that strikes me as workable.  At any
+rate, it offers a forlorn hope.  There is a sharp bend in the creek
+just where the tidal water ends.  I fancy the launch will float a
+little higher up, but we must risk it.  We will take her in, unship the
+mast, tie a few boughs and vines on the funnel, and not twenty
+search-lights will find us."
+
+A rumble of approving murmurs showed that he had scotched the dragon.
+It was even ready to become subservient again.  He continued rapidly:
+
+"No vessel of deep draught can come close in shore from the east.  The
+cruiser will have the Grand-père rock abeam within an hour, but, to
+make sure, two of you will climb the ridge and watch her movements.
+The rest will load up every available inch of space with wood and water
+and food.  How can we win clear of Fernando Noronha without fuel?  It
+is a hundred to one that the launch would not steam twenty miles on her
+present coal supply.  Such as it is, we must keep it for an emergency,
+even if we are compelled to tear up the deck and dismantle the cabin."
+
+"Talks like a book!" snorted Coke, and some of the men grinned
+sheepishly.
+
+Hozier was coolly reminding them of those vital things which frenzy had
+failed wholly to take into account.  Confidence was reborn in them.
+They wanted to cheer this fearless young officer who seemed to forget
+nothing, but the island promontories were so close at hand that
+perforce they were dumb.
+
+The simplicity of the project was its best recommendation.  Sailors
+themselves, the mind of the cruiser's commander was laid bare to them.
+He would soon be convinced that the launch had passed him in the dark
+ere the search-light looked out over the sea.  Long before the circuit
+of Fernando Noronha was completed he would be itching to rush at top
+speed along the straight line to Pernambuco.  It was a bold thing, too,
+to land on the island and stock their vessel for a voyage, the end of
+which no man could foresee.  The dare-devil notion fascinated them.  In
+that instant, the _Andromeda's_ crew returned to their allegiance,
+which was as well, since it was fated to be stiffly tested many times
+ere they were reported inside 1 degree West again.
+
+Unfortunately, Coke was in a raging temper.  Never before had his
+supremacy been challenged.  Having lost control over his men, he owed
+its restoration to Hozier.  Such a fact was gall and wormwood to a man
+of his character, and he was mean-souled enough to be vindictive.
+Promising himself the future joy of pounding to a jelly the features of
+every mother's son among the forecastle hands, he began to snarl his
+orders.
+
+"Watts, you must leg it to the sky-line, an' pipe the cruiser.  Olsen,
+you go, too, an' see that Mr. Watts doesn't find a brewery.  Hozier,
+p'raps you'd like to rig the mistletoe.  Miss Yorke 'll 'elp, I'm sure.
+It's up to you, mister, an' his nibs with the sword, to parly-voo to
+the other convicts about the grub.  Is there a nigger's wood-pile
+handy?  If not, we must collar the hut.  I'll take care of the stowage."
+
+He meant each jibe to hurt, and probably succeeded, but Watts was too
+despondent, and Hozier and De Sylva too self-controlled, to say aught
+that would add to their difficulties.  Nevertheless, he was answered,
+from a quarter whence retort was least expected.
+
+"You must modify your instructions, Captain Coke," said Iris with quiet
+scorn.  "It would be a shameful act to destroy the house of those who
+befriended us.  They gave freely of their stores, as you will see by
+the supplies lashed to the catamaran, and will assist us further if
+Senhor De Sylva appeals to them----"
+
+"You can safely leave that to me," broke in Dom Corria.
+
+But Iris was not to be placated thus easily.
+
+"I know that," she said.  "I only wished Captain Coke to understand
+that if he cannot make clear his meaning he should obey rather than
+command."
+
+"The lady 'as 'ad the last word.  Now let's get busy," sneered Coke.
+
+Hozier, who had not quitted his side since the incipient outbreak was
+quelled, gripped his shoulder.
+
+"There is a pile of wood near the cottage," he said in Coke's ear.  "I
+saw it there.  It must be paid for.  Have you any money?"
+
+"A loose quid or two--no more."
+
+"A sovereign will be ample.  Miss Yorke has already given the owners
+two pounds."
+
+"Wot for?"
+
+"For their kindness.  You are all there when it comes to a scrap,
+skipper, but at most other times you ought to be muzzled.  No, don't
+talk now.  We will discuss the point on some more suitable occasion,
+when we can deal with it fully, and Miss Yorke is not present."
+
+Philip spoke in a whisper, but the low pitch of his voice did not
+conceal its menace.  He was longing to twine his fingers round Coke's
+thick neck, and some hint of his desire was communicated by the clutch
+of his hand.  Coke shook himself free.  He feared no man born, but it
+would be folly to attack Hozier then, and he was not a fool.
+
+"Let go, you blank ijjit," he growled.  "I've no grudge ag'in you.  If
+we pull out of this mess you'll 'ave to square matters wi' David Verity
+an' that other ole ninny, Dickey Bulmer.  She's promised to 'im, you
+know.  Told me so 'erself, so there's no mistake.  I got me rag out, I
+admit, an' 'oo wouldn't after bein' 'owled down by those swine forrard.
+My godfather!  Watch me put it over 'em w'en I get the chanst.  Stop
+'er, Norrie!  There's plenty of way on 'er to round that bend."
+
+Hozier reflected that he had chosen an odd moment to quarrel with his
+captain, whose mordant humor in the matter of the mistletoe was only
+accentuated by his reference to Iris's reported engagement.  The
+pungent smell of the mangrove swamp was wafted now to his nostrils.  It
+brought a species of warning that the disagreeable conditions of life
+in Fernando Noronha were yet active.  It was not pleasant to be thus
+suddenly reminded of pitfalls that might exist in England; meanwhile,
+here was the launch thrusting her nose into the mud and shingle of this
+malevolent island.
+
+To his further annoyance, San Benavides, who depended on his compatriot
+for a summary of the latest scheme, asked Iris to accompany De Sylva
+and himself to the hut.
+
+"They are stupid creatures, these peasants," he said.  "When they see
+you they will not be frightened."
+
+There was so much reason in the statement that Iris was a ready
+volunteer.  Soon all hands were at work, and it was due to the girl's
+forethought that strips of linen were procured from Luisa Gomez, and
+healing herbs applied to the cuts and bruises of the injured men.
+Sylva was all for leaving the two soldiers on the island, but Coke's
+sailor-like acumen prevented the commission of that blunder.
+
+"No, that will never do," he said, with irritating offhandness.  "These
+jokers will be found at daylight, an' they'll be able to say exactly
+wot time we quit.  The wimmin can make out they was scared stiff an'
+darsent stir.  It 'ud be different with the sojers.  An' we ain't goin'
+to have such a 'eart-breakin' start, even if the cruiser clears away
+soon after two o'clock."
+
+"Where do you propose to make for?"
+
+"Where d'ye think, mister?  Nor'-east by nor', to be sure, until we
+sight some homeward-bound ship."
+
+There was a pause.  The pair could talk unheard, since they were
+standing on the bank, and the men were either loading firewood and
+fruit and cassava, or stripping trees and vines to hide the
+superstructure of the launch.
+
+"You mean to abandon everything, then?" said De Sylva.  He seemed to be
+watching the onward sweep of the search-light as the warship went to
+the north.  But Coke was shrewd.  He felt that there was something
+behind the words, and he suspected the ex-President's motives.
+
+"I don't see any 'elp for it," he answered.  "Gord's trewth, wot is
+there to abandon?  I've lost me ship, an' me money, an' me papers, an'
+'arf me men.  Unless one was lookin' for trouble, this ain't no
+treasure island, mister."
+
+"Yet it might be made one."
+
+"As how?"
+
+"Do you not realize how greatly the members of the present Government
+fear my return to Brazil?  Here, I am their prisoner, practically
+friendless, almost alone.  They dare not kill me by process of law, yet
+they are moving heaven and earth to prevent my escape, or shoot me down
+in the act.  Why?  Because they know that the people are longing to
+hail me as President again.  Suppose you and your men took me to
+Pernambuco----"
+
+"S'pose hell!" snapped Coke.
+
+"Please listen.  You can but refuse when you look at the facts fairly.
+If, as I say, I were put ashore at Pernambuco, or at any other of half
+a dozen ports I can name, I should be among my own followers.  You,
+Captain Coke, and every officer and man of your ship, and her owners,
+and the relatives of those who have lost their lives, would not only be
+paid all just claims by the new Government, but adequately rewarded.
+In your own case, the recompense would be princely.  But, assuming that
+we board a vessel bound for Europe, what certainty have you that you
+will ever receive a penny?"
+
+"Oh, reely, that's comin' it a bit thick, mister," growled Coke.
+
+"You believe I am exaggerating the difficulties of your position?  Pray
+consider.  Your vessel is broken up.  She was fired on while at anchor
+on the wrong side of the island, on the very day selected for my
+escape.  You and your men manage to dodge the bullets, and, under my
+leadership, assisted by Captain San Benavides, you overrun the place by
+night, kill several soldiers, seize a launch, despoil peasants of their
+crops and stores, and make off with a good deal of property belonging
+to the Brazilian Government, not to mention the presence in your midst
+of such a significant personage as myself.  Speaking candidly, Senhor
+Captain, what chance have you of convincing any international court of
+your innocence?  Who will believe that you were not a true filibuster?
+That is what Brazil will say you are.  How will you disprove it?  In
+any event, who will enforce your claims against my country?  English
+public opinion would never compel your Government to take action in
+such an exceedingly doubtful case, now would it?"
+
+"If we was to try and land you in Brazil, we'd bust up our claim for
+good an' all," muttered Coke.  Though this was a powerful argument
+against De Sylva's theory, it revealed certain qualms of perplexity.
+The other man's brilliant eyes gleamed for an instant, but he guarded
+his voice.  He was in his element now.  When words were weapons he
+could vanquish a thousand such adversaries.
+
+"I think otherwise," he said slowly.  "A judge might well hold that in
+a small vessel like the launch you were entitled to make for the
+nearest land.  But I grant you that point; it is really immaterial.  If
+I fail, you lose everything.  Accept my offer, and you have a
+reasonable chance of winning a fortune."
+
+"Wot exactly is your offer?"
+
+"Ample compensation officially.  Five thousand pounds to you in person."
+
+"Five thousand!"  Coke cleared a throat husky with doubt.  He scratched
+his head under the absurd-looking kepi which he was still wearing; for
+a moment, his lips set in grim calculation.  "That 'ud make things
+pretty easy for the missus an' the girls," he muttered.  "An' there's
+no new ship for me w'en Dickey Bulmer cocks 'is eye at Hozier.  It's a
+moral there'll be a holy row between 'im an' David. . . .  D'ye mean
+it, mister?"
+
+"Even if I fail, and my life is spared, I will pay you the money out of
+my own private funds," was the vehement reply.
+
+"Well, well, leave the job to me.  You sawr 'ow them tinkers jibbed
+just now.  I must 'umor 'em a bit, d--n 'em.  But wait till the next
+time some of 'em ships under me.  Lord luv' a duck, won't I skin 'em?
+Not 'arf!"
+
+De Sylva, with all his admirable command of English, could not follow
+the Coke variety in its careless freedom.  But he knew his man.  Though
+bewildered by strange names and stranger words, he was alive to the
+significance of things being made easy "for the missus and the girls."
+So, even this gnarled sea-dog had a soft spot in his heart!  On the
+very brink of the precipice his mind turned to his women-kind, just as
+De Sylva himself had whispered a last memory of his daughter to San
+Benavides when their common doom was seemingly unavoidable.
+
+He would urge no more, since Coke was willing to fall in with his
+designs, but he could not forbear from clinching matters.
+
+"I promise on my honor----" he began.
+
+But the nearer surface of the sea flashed into a dazzling distinctness,
+and Coke dragged him down to the launch.  The cruiser had rounded Rat
+Island, and was devoting one sweeping glance eastward ere she sought
+her prey in creek or tortuous channel.  The men were summoned hastily.
+Watts and Olsen had been warned to crouch behind the rocks on the
+crest, while those who remained near the launch were told to hide among
+the trees or crowd into the small cabin.  Movement of any kind was
+forbidden.  There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a
+sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay.
+Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the
+vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery.  The long, large-leafed
+vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this
+crisis.  Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened
+the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high
+above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess
+her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light
+as day.
+
+The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the _Andromeda_ on
+Grand-pere.  She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in
+many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren.  It did not occur to
+anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on
+South Point.  De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright.  He
+whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship
+continued her scrutiny of the coast-line.
+
+At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished.  Five minutes later,
+Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the
+roadstead.
+
+It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after
+five.  Now or never the launch must make her effort.  Ready hands tore
+away her disguise, she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every
+man on board, the engines throbbed, and she was afloat.
+
+At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur
+on the western horizon.  No sail or smudge of smoke broke the remainder
+of the far-flung circle.  The fugitives could breathe freely once more.
+They were not pursued.
+
+Iris fell asleep when assured that the dreaded warship was not in
+sight.  Hozier, too, utterly exhausted by all that he had gone through,
+slept as if he were dead.  Coke, whose iron constitution defied
+fatigue, though it was with the utmost difficulty that he had walked
+across the narrow breadth of Fernando Noronha, took the first watch in
+person.  He chatted with the men, surprised them by his candor on the
+question of compensation, and announced his resolve to make for the
+three-hundred-mile channel between Fernando Noronha and the mainland.
+
+"You see, it's this way, me lads," he explained affably.  "We're short
+o' vittles an' bunker, an' if we kep' cruisin' east in this latitood
+we'd soon be drawrin' lots to see 'oo'd cut up juiciest.  So we must
+run for the tramp's track, which is two hundred miles to the west.
+We'll bear north, an' that rotten cruiser will look south for sartin,
+seein' as 'ow they know we 'ave the next President aboard."
+
+Coke paused to take breath.
+
+"Wot a pity we can't give 'im a leg up," he added confidentially.  "It
+'ud be worth a pension to every man jack of us.  'Ere 'e is, special
+freight, so to speak.  W'y _'e'd sign anythink_."
+
+Once the train was laid, it was a simple matter to fire the mine.  When
+Hozier awoke, to find the launch heading west, he was vastly astonished
+by Coke's programme.  It was all cut and dried, and there was really
+nothing to cavil at.  If they met a steamship, and she stopped in
+response to their signals, her captain would be asked to take care, not
+only of Miss Yorke, but of any other person who shirked further
+adventure.  As for Coke, and Watts, and the majority of the men, they
+were pledged to De Sylva.  Even Norrie, the engineer, a hard-headed
+Scot, meant to stick to the launch until the President that was and
+would be again was safely landed among his expectant people.
+
+Watts let the cat out of the bag later.
+
+"Those of us 'oo don't leave Dom Wot's-'is-name in the lurch are to get
+ten years' full pay, extry an' over an' above wot the court allows," he
+said.  "Just think of it!  Don't it make your mouth water?  Reminds me
+of a chap I wonst read about in a trac'.  It tole 'ow 'e took to booze.
+One 'ot Sunday, bein' out for a walk, 'e swiped 'arf a pint of ginger
+beer, the next 'e tried shandy-gaff, the third 'e went the whole hog,
+an' then 'e never stopped for ten years.  My godfather!  Ten years' pay
+an' a ten years' drunk!  It's enough to make a sinner of any man."
+
+Hozier laughed.  Two days ago he would have asked no better luck than
+the helping of Dom Corria to regain his Presidentship.  Now, there was
+Iris to protect.  He would not be content to leave her in charge of the
+first grimy collier they encountered, nor was he by any means sure that
+she would agree to be thus disposed of.  He was puzzled by the singular
+unanimity of purpose displayed by his shipmates.  But that was their
+affair.  His was to insure Iris's safety; the future he must leave to
+Providence.
+
+And, indeed, Providence contrived things very differently.
+
+By nightfall the launch was a hundred miles west of the island.  Norrie
+got eight knots out of her, but it needed no special calculation to
+discover that she would barely make the coast of Brazil if she consumed
+every ounce of coal and wood on board.  The engines were strong and in
+good condition, but she had no bunker space for a long voyage.  Were it
+not for Hozier's foresight she would have been drifting with the Gulf
+Stream four hours after leaving the island.  As it was, unless they
+received a fresh supply of fuel from another ship, they must
+unquestionably take the straightest line to the mainland.
+
+During the day they had sighted three vessels, but at such distances
+that signaling was useless, each being hull down on their limited
+horizon.  Moreover, they had to be cautious.  The cruiser, trusting to
+her speed, might try a long cast north and south of the launch's
+supposed path.  She alone, among passing ships, would be scouring the
+sea with incessant vigilance, and it behooved them, now as ever, not to
+attract her attention.  They were burning wood, so there was no smoke,
+and the mast was unstepped.  Yet the hours of daylight were tortured by
+constant fear.  Even Iris was glad when the darkness came and they were
+hidden.
+
+At midnight a curious misfortune befell them.  The compass had been
+smashed during the fight, and not a sailor among them owned one of the
+tiny compasses that are often worn as a charm on the watchchain.  This
+drawback, of little consequence when sun or stars could be seen,
+assumed the most serious importance when a heavy fog spread over the
+face of the waters.  The set of the current was a guide of a sort, but,
+as events proved, it misled them.  Man is ever prone to over-estimate,
+and such a slight thing as the lap of water across the bows of a small
+craft was sure to be miscalculated; they contrived to steer west, it is
+true, but with a southerly inclination.
+
+At four o'clock, by general reckoning, they were mid-way between island
+and continent.  They were all wide awake, too weary and miserable to
+sleep.  Suddenly a fog-horn smote the oppressive gloom.  It drew near.
+A huge blotch crossed their bows.  They could feel it rather than see
+it.  They heard some order given in a foreign language, and De Sylva
+whispered:
+
+"The _Sao Geronimo_!"
+
+"The wot-ah?" demanded Coke, who was standing beside him.
+
+"The cruiser!"
+
+Coke listened.  He could distinguish the half-speed beating of twin
+screws.  He knew at once that the ex-President must have recognized the
+warship as she passed the creek, but, by some accident, had failed to
+mention her name during the long hours that had sped in the meantime.
+The sinister specter passed and the launch crept on.  Everyone on board
+was breathless with suspense.  Faces were shrouded by night and the
+fog, but some gasped and others mumbled prayers.  One of the wounded
+soldiers shouted in delirium, and a coat was thrust over his head with
+brutal force.  The fog-horn blared again, two cables' lengths distant.
+They were saved, for the moment!
+
+In a little while, perhaps twenty minutes, they heard another siren.
+It sounded a different note, a quaintly harsh blend of discords.
+Whatsoever ship this might be, it was not the _Sao Geronimo_.  And in
+that thrilling instant there was a coldness on one side of their faces
+that was not on the other.  Moist skin is a weather-vane in its way.  A
+breeze was springing up.  Soon the fog would be rolled from off the sea
+and the sun would peer at them in mockery.
+
+Coke's gruff voice reached every ear:
+
+"This time we're nabbed for keeps unless you all do as I bid you," he
+said.  "When the fog lifts, the cruiser will see us.  There's only one
+thing for it.  Somewhere, close in, is a steamer.  She's a tramp, by
+the wheeze of 'er horn.  We've got to board 'er an' sink the launch.
+If she's British, or American, O.K., as 'er people will stand by us.
+If she's a Dago, we've got to collar 'er, run every whelp into the
+forehold, an' answer the cruiser's signals ourselves.  That's the
+sittiwation, accordin' to my reckonin'.  Now, 'oo's for it?"
+
+"Butt right in, skipper," said a gentleman who claimed Providence,
+Rhode Island, as the place of his nativity.
+
+Hozier, who had contrived to draw near Iris while Coke was speaking,
+breathed softly, so that none other could hear:
+
+"This is rank piracy.  But what else can we do?"
+
+"Is it wrong?" she asked.
+
+"Well--no, provided we kill no one.  We are justified in saving our own
+lives, and the average German or Italian shipmaster would hand us over
+to the Brazilians without scruple."
+
+Iris was far from Bootle and its moralities.
+
+"I don't care what happens so long as you are not hurt," she whispered.
+
+"Mr. Hozier," said Coke thickly.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You've got good eyes an' quick ears.  Lay out as far forrard as you
+can, an' pass the word for steerin'."
+
+Hozier obeyed.  The discordant bleat of a foghorn came again,
+apparently right ahead.  In a few seconds he caught the flapping of a
+propeller, and silenced the launch's engines.
+
+"We are close in now," he said to Coke, after a brief and noiseless
+drift.  "Why not try a hail!"
+
+"Ship ahoy!" shouted Coke, with all the force of brazen lungs.
+
+The screw of the unseen ship stopped.  The sigh of escaping steam
+reached them.
+
+"_Holla_!  _Wer rufe_?" was the gruff answer.
+
+"Sink me if it ain't a German!" growled Coke, _sotto-voce_, "Norrie,
+you must stick here till I sing out to you.  Then open your exhaust an'
+unscrew a sea-cock. . . .  Wot ship is that?" he vociferated aloud.
+
+Some answer was forthcoming--what, it mattered not.  The launch bumped
+into the rusty ribs of a twelve-hundred ton tramp.  A rope ladder was
+lowered.  A round-faced Teuton mate--fat and placid--was vastly
+surprised to find a horde of nondescripts pouring up the ship's side in
+the wake of a short, thick, bovine-looking person who neither
+understood nor tried to understand a word he was saying.
+
+These extraordinary visitors from the deep brought with them a girl and
+three wounded men.  By this time the captain was aroused; he spoke some
+English.
+
+"Vas iss diss?" he asked, surveying the newcomers with amazement, and
+their bizarre costumes with growing nervousness.  "Vere haf you coomed
+vrom?"
+
+Coke pushed him playfully into the cook's galley.
+
+"This is too easy," he chortled.  "Set about 'em, you swabs.  Don't
+hurt anybody unless they ax for it.  Round every son of a gun into the
+fo'c'sle till I come.  Mr. Watts, the bridge for you.  Olsen, take the
+wheel.  Mr. Hozier, see wot you can find in their flag locker.  _Now_,
+Mr. Norrie!  Sharp for it.  You're wanted in the engine-room."
+
+And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the
+nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock
+forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS
+
+Coke and his merry men became pirates during the early morning of
+Thursday, September 2d; the curious reader can ascertain the year by
+looking up "Brazil" in any modern Encyclopedia, and turning to the
+sub-division "Recent History."  On Monday, September 6th, David Verity
+entered his office in Exchange Buildings, Liverpool, hung his hat and
+overcoat on their allotted pegs, swore at the office boy because some
+spots of rain had come in through an open window, and ran a feverish
+glance through his letters to learn if any envelopes bearing the
+planetary devices of the chief cable companies had managed to hide
+themselves among the mass of correspondence.
+
+The act was perfunctory.  Well he knew that telephone or special
+messenger would speedily have advised him if news of the _Andromeda_
+had arrived since he left the office on Saturday afternoon.  But it is
+said that drowning men clutch at straws, and the metaphor might be
+applied to Verity with peculiar aptness.  He was sinking in a sea of
+troubles, sinking because the old buoyancy was gone, sinking because
+many hands were stretched forth to push him under, and never one to
+draw him forth.
+
+There was no cablegram, of course.  Dickey Bulmer, who had become a
+waking nightmare to the unhappy shipowner, had said there wouldn't
+be--said it twelve hours ago, after wringing from Verity the astounding
+admission that Iris was on board the _Andromeda_.  It was not because
+the vessel was overdue that David confessed.  Bulmer, despite his
+sixty-eight years, was an acute man of business.  Moreover, he was
+blessed with a retentive memory, and he treasured every word of the
+bogus messages from Iris concocted by her uncle.  They were lucid at
+first, but under the stress of time they wore thin, grew disconnected,
+showed signs of the strain imposed on their author's imagination.
+Bulmer, a typical Lancashire man, blended in his disposition a genial
+openhandedness with a shrewd caution.  He could display a princely
+generosity in dealing with Verity as the near relative and guardian of
+his promised wife; to the man whom he suspected of creating the
+obstacles that kept her away from him he applied a pitiless logic.
+
+The storm had burst unexpectedly.  Bulmer came to dinner, ate and drank
+and smoked in quiet amity until David's laboring muse conveyed his
+niece's latest "kind love an' good wishes," and then----
+
+"Tell you wot," said Dickey, "there's another five thousand due
+to-morrow on the surveyor's report."
+
+"There is," said Verity, knowing that his guest and prospective partner
+alluded to the new steamer in course of construction on the Clyde.
+
+"Well, it won't be paid."
+
+David lifted his glass of port to hide his face.  Was this the first
+rumbling of the tempest?  Though expected hourly, he was not prepared
+for it.  His hand trembled.  He dared not put the wine to his lips.
+
+"Wot's up now?" he asked.
+
+"You're playin' some underhand game on me, David, an' I won't stand
+it," was the unhesitating reply.  "You're lyin' about Iris.  You've bin
+lyin' ever since she disappeared from Bootle.  Show me 'er letters an'
+their envelopes, an' I'll find the money.  But, of course, you can't.
+They don't exist.  Now, own up as man to man, an' I'll see if this
+affair can be settled without the lawyers.  You know wot it means once
+_they_ take hold."
+
+Then David set down the untasted wine and told the truth.  Not
+all--that was not to be dreamed of.  In the depths of his heart he
+feared Bulmer.  The old man's repute for honesty was widespread.  He
+would fling his dearest friend into prison for such a swindle as that
+arranged between Coke and the shipowner.  But it was a positive relief
+to divulge everything that concerned Iris.  From his pocket-book David
+produced her frayed letter, and Bulmer read it slowly, aloud, through
+eyeglasses held at a long focus.
+
+Now, given certain definite circumstances, an honest man and a rogue
+will always view them differently.  David had interpreted the girl's
+guarded phrases in the light of his villainous compact with Coke.
+Dickey, unaware of this disturbing element, was inwardly amazed to
+learn that Verity had lied so outrageously with the sole object of
+carrying through a commercial enterprise.
+
+"'Tell him I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England
+from South America,'" he read.  And again . . .  "'The vessel is due
+back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not have
+long to wait.'"
+
+If, in the first instance, David had not been swept off his feet by the
+magnitude of the catastrophe, if he had not commenced the series of
+prevarications before the letter reached him, he might have adopted the
+only sane course and taken Bulmer fully into his confidence.  It was
+too late now.  Explanation was useless.  The only plea that occurred to
+him was more deadly than silence, since it was her knowledge of the
+contemplated crime that made Iris a stowaway.  He had never guessed how
+that knowledge was attained and the added mystery intensified his
+torture.
+
+Dickey rose from the table.  His movements showed his age that night.
+
+"I'll think it over, David," he said.  "There's more in this than meets
+the eye.  I'll just go home an' think it over.  Mebbe I'll call at your
+place in the mornin'."
+
+So here was Verity, awaiting Bulmer's visit as a criminal awaits a
+hangman.  There was no shred of hope in his mind that his one-time
+crony would raise a finger to save him from bankruptcy.  Some offenses
+are unforgivable, and high in the list ranks the folly of separating a
+wealthy old man from his promised bride.
+
+Now that a reprieve was seemingly impossible, he faced his misfortunes
+with a dour courage.  It had been a difficult and thankless task during
+the past month to stave off pressing creditors.  With Iris in Bootle
+and Bulmer her devoted slave, Verity would have weathered the gale with
+jaunty self-confidence.  But that element of strength was lacking; nay,
+more, he felt in his heart that it could never be replaced.  He was no
+longer the acute, blustering, effusive Verity, who in one summer's
+afternoon had secured a rich partner and forced an impecunious sailor
+to throw away a worn-out ship.  The insurance held good, of course, and
+there simply _must_ be some sort of tidings of the _Andromeda_ to hand
+before the end of September.  Yet things had gone wrong, desperately
+wrong, and he was quaking with the belief that there was worse in store.
+
+He began to read his letters.  They were mostly in the same vein, duns,
+more or less active.  His managing clerk entered.
+
+"There's an offer of 5s. 6d. Cardiff to Bilbao and Bilbao to the Tyne
+for the _Hellespont_.  It is better than nothing.  Shall we take it,
+sir?"
+
+The _Hellespont_ was the firm's other ship.  She, too, was old and
+running at a loss.
+
+"Yes.  Wot is it, coal or patent fuel?"
+
+"Coal, with a return freight of ore."
+
+"Wish it was dynamite, with fuses laid on."
+
+The clerk grinned knowingly.  Men grow callous when money tilts the
+scale against human lives.
+
+"There's no news of the _Andromeda_, and _her_ rate is all right," he
+said.
+
+David scowled at him.
+
+"D--n the rate!" he cried.  "I want to 'ear of the ship.  Wot the----"
+
+But his subordinate vanished.  David read a few more letters.  Some
+were from the families of such of the _Andromeda's_ crew as lived in
+South Shields, the Hartlepools, Whitby.  They asked as a great favor
+that a telegram might be sent when----
+
+"Oh, curse my luck!" groaned the man, quivering under the conviction
+that the _Andromeda_ was lost "by the act of God" as the charter-party
+puts it.  The belief unnerved him.  Those words have an ominous ring in
+the ears of evil-doers.  He could show a bold front to his fellowmen,
+but he squirmed under the dread conception of a supernatural vengeance.
+So, like every other malefactor, David railed against his "luck."
+Little did he guess the extraordinary turn that his "luck" was about to
+take.
+
+The office boy announced a visitor, evidently not the terrible Bulmer,
+since he said:
+
+"Gennelman to see yer, sir."
+
+"Oo is it?" growled the shipowner.
+
+"Gennelman from the noospaper, sir."
+
+"Can't be bothered."
+
+"'E sez hit's most himportant, sir."
+
+"Wot is?"
+
+"I dunno, sir."
+
+"Well, show 'im in.  I'll soon settle 'im."
+
+A quiet-mannered young man appeared.  He ignored David's sharp, "Now,
+wot can I do for you?" and drew up a chair, on which he seated himself,
+uninvited.
+
+"May I ask if you have received any private news of the _Andromeda_?"
+he began.
+
+"No."
+
+"In that case, you must prepare yourself for a statement that may give
+you a shock," said the journalist.
+
+David creaked round in his chair.  His face, not so red as of yore,
+paled distinctly.
+
+"Is she lost?" said he in a strangely subdued tone.
+
+"I--I fear she is.  But there is much more than an ordinary shipwreck
+at issue.  Several telegrams of the gravest import have reached us this
+morning.  Perhaps, before I ask you any questions, you ought to read
+them.  They are in type already, and I have brought you proofs.  Here
+is the first."
+
+David took from the interviewer's outstretched hand a long strip of
+white paper.  For an appreciable time his seething brain refused to
+comprehend the curiously black letters that grouped themselves into
+words on the limp sheet.  And, indeed, he was not to be blamed if he
+was dull of understanding, for this is what he read:
+
+
+  "REVOLUTION IN BRAZIL.
+
+  "SERIOUS POSITION.
+
+  "STARTLING ESCAPADE OF A BRITISH SHIP.
+
+"RIO DE JANEIRO, September 5th.  A situation of exceptional gravity has
+evidently arisen on the island of Fernando do Noronha, whence, it is
+said, ex-President De Sylva recently attempted to escape.  A battleship
+and two cruisers have been despatched thither under forced draught.  No
+public telegrams have been received from the island during the past
+week, and the authorities absolutely refuse any information as to
+earlier events, though the local press hints at some extraordinary
+developments not unconnected with the appearance off the island of a
+British steamship known as the _Andromeda_.
+
+"_Later_--De Sylva landed last night at the small port of Maceio in the
+province of Alagoas, a hundred miles south of Pernambuco.  It is
+currently reported that Fernando Noronha was captured by a gang of
+British freebooters.  De Sylva's return is unquestionable.  To-day he
+issued a proclamation, and his partisans have seized some portion of
+the railway.  Excitement here is at fever heat."
+
+
+Verity glared at the journalist.  He laughed, almost hysterically.
+
+"The _Andromeda_!" he gasped.  "Wot rot!  Wot silly rot!"
+
+"Better withhold your opinion until you have mastered the whole story,"
+was the unemotional comment.  "Here is a more detailed message.  It is
+printed exactly as cabled.  We have not added a syllable except the
+interpolation of such words as 'that' and 'the.'  You will find it
+somewhat convincing, I imagine."
+
+The shipowner grasped another printed slip.  This time he was able to
+read more lucidly:
+
+
+"PERNAMBUCO, September 4th.  Public interest in the abortive attempt to
+reinstate Dom Corria De Sylva as President was waning rapidly when it
+was fanned into fresh activity by news that reached this port to-day.
+It appears that on the 31st ulto. a daring effort was made to free De
+Sylva, who, with certain other ministers expelled by the successful
+revolution of two years ago, is a prisoner on the island of Fernando do
+Noronha.  Lloyd's agent on that island reports that the British steamer
+_Andromeda_, owned by David Verity & Co. of Liverpool, put into South
+Bay, on the southeast side of Fernando do Noronha, early on the morning
+of August 31st, and it is alleged that her mission was to take De Sylva
+and his companions on board.  The garrison, forewarned by the central
+government, and already on the _qui vive_ owing to the disappearance of
+their important prisoners from their usual quarters, opened fire on the
+_Andromeda_ as soon as she revealed her purpose by lowering a boat.
+
+"The steamer, being unarmed, made no attempt to defend herself, and was
+speedily disabled.  She sank, within five minutes, off the Grand-père
+rock, with all on board.  With reckless bravado, her commander ran up
+the vessel's code signals and house flag while she was actually going
+down, thus establishing her identity beyond a shadow of doubt.  A note
+of pathos is added to the tragedy by the undoubted presence of a lady
+on board--probably De Sylva's daughter, though it was believed here
+that the ex-President's family were in Paris.  Telegrams from the
+island are strictly censored, and the foregoing statement is
+unofficial, but your correspondent does not question its general
+accuracy.  Indeed, he has reason to credit a widespread rumor that the
+island is still in a very disturbed condition.  No one knows definitely
+whether or not De Sylva has been recaptured.  It is quite certain that
+he has not landed in Brazil, but the reticence of the authorities as to
+the state of affairs on Fernando Noronha leads to the assumption that
+he and a few stanch adherents are still in hiding in one of the many
+natural fastnesses with which the island abounds.
+
+"The British community on the littoral is deeply stirred by the drastic
+treatment received by the _Andromeda_.  It is pointed out that another
+ship, the _Andros-y-Mela_, believed to have been chartered by the
+insurgents, is under arrest at Bahia, and the similarity between the
+two names is regarded as singular, to say the least.  Were it not that
+Lloyd's agent, whose veracity cannot be questioned, has stated
+explicitly that the _Andromeda_ put in to South Bay--a point
+significantly far removed from the regular track of trading vessels--it
+might be urged that a terrible mistake had been made.  In any event,
+the whole matter must be strictly inquired into, and one of His
+Majesty's ships stationed in the South Atlantic should visit the island
+at the earliest date possible.  _Delayed in transmission_."
+
+
+Something buzzed inside Verity's head and stilled all sense of
+actuality.  He was unnaturally calm.  Though the weather was chilly for
+early September, great beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead.
+His eyes were dull; they lacked their wonted shiftiness.  He gazed at
+the reporter unblinkingly, as though thought itself refused to act.
+
+"Is that the lot?" he inquired mechanically.
+
+"Nearly all, at present.  These cablegrams reached us through London,
+and the agency took the earliest measures to substantiate their
+accuracy.  The Brazilian Embassy pooh-poohs the whole story, but
+Embassies invariably do that until the news is stale.  By their own
+showing, Ambassadors are singularly ill-informed men, especially in
+matters affecting their own countries.  Here, however, is a short
+telegram from Paris which is of minor interest."
+
+And Verity read again:
+
+
+"PARIS, September 6th.  The members of Dom Corria De Sylva's family,
+seen early this morning at the Hotel Continental, deny that any lady
+connected with the cause of Brazilian freedom took part in the
+attempted rescue of the ex-President.  They are much annoyed by the
+unfounded report, and hold strongly to the opinion that the revolution
+would now have been a _fait accompli_ had not a traitor revealed the
+destination of the _Andros-y-Mela_ and thus led to that vessel's
+detention at Bahia."
+
+
+The lady!  Iris Yorke!  At last David's supercharged mind was beginning
+to assimilate ideas.  He was conscious of a fierce pain in the region
+of his heart.  The buzzing in his head continued, and the journalist's
+voice came to him as through a dense screen.
+
+"You will observe that the former President's relatives tacitly admit
+that there was a plot on foot," the other was saying.  "It is important
+to note, too, that the long message from Pernambuco, marked 'delayed in
+transmission' seems to imply a prior telegram which was suppressed.  It
+alludes to a revolt of which nothing is known here.  Now, Mr. Verity, I
+want to ask you----"
+
+The door was flung open.  In rushed Dickey Bulmer with a speed
+strangely disproportionate to his years.  In his hands he held a
+crumpled newspaper.
+
+"You infernal blackguard, have you seen this?" he roared, and his
+attitude threatened instant assault on the dazed man looking up at him.
+The reporter moved out of the way.  Here, indeed, was "copy" of the
+right sort.  Bulmer held a position of much local importance.  That he
+should use such language to the owner of the _Andromeda_ promised
+developments "of the utmost public interest."
+
+David stood up.  His chair fell over with a crash.  He held on to the
+table to steady himself.  Even Bulmer, white with rage, could not fail
+to see that he was stunned.
+
+But Dickey was not minded to spare him on that account.
+
+"Answer me, you scoundrel!" he shouted, thrusting the paper almost into
+David's face.  "You are glib enough when it suits your purpose.  Were
+_you_ in this?  Is this the reason you didn't tell me Iris was on board
+till I forced the truth out of you last night?"
+
+The managing clerk came in.  Behind him, a couple of juniors and the
+office boy supplied reënforcements.  They all had the settled
+conviction that their employer was a rogue, but he paid them in no
+niggardly fashion, and they would not suffer anyone to attack him.
+
+This incursion from the external world had a restorative effect on
+Verity.  Being what is termed a self-made man, he had a fine sense of
+his own importance, and his subordinates' lack of respect forthwith
+overcame every other consideration.
+
+"Get out!" he growled, waving a hand toward the door.
+
+"But, sir--please, gentlemen----" stuttered the senior clerk.
+
+"Get out, I tell you!  D--n yer eyes, 'oo sent for any of you?"
+
+Undoubtedly David was recovering.  The discomfited clerks retired.
+Even Dickey Bulmer was quieted a little.  But he still shook the
+newspaper under David's nose.
+
+"Now!" he cried.  "Let's have it.  No more of your flamin' made-up
+tales.  Wot took you to shove the _Andromeda_ into a rat-trap of this
+sort?"
+
+David staggered away from the table.  He seemed to be laboring for
+breath.
+
+"'Arf a mo'.  No need to yowl at me like that," he protested.
+
+He fumbled with the lock of a corner cupboard, opened it, and drew
+forth a decanter and some glasses.  A tumbler crashed to the floor, and
+the slight accident was another factor in clearing his wits.  He swore
+volubly.
+
+"Same thing 'appened that Sunday afternoon," he said, apparently
+obvious of the other men's presence.  "My poor lass upset one, she did.
+Wish she'd ha' flung it at my 'ed. . . .  Did it say 'went down with
+all 'ands,' mister?" he demanded suddenly of the reporter.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Verity."
+
+"Is it true?"
+
+"I trust not, but Lloyd's agent--well, I needn't tell you that Lloyd's
+is reliable.  Was your niece on board?  Is she the lady mentioned in
+the cablegram?"
+
+Then Bulmer woke up to the fact that there was a stranger present.
+
+"'Ello!" he cried angrily.  "Wot are you doin' ere?  'Oo are you?  Be
+off, instantly."
+
+"I am not going until Mr. Verity hears what I have to ask him, and
+answers, or not, as he feels disposed," was the firm reply.
+
+"Leave 'im alone, Dickey.  It's all right.  Wot does it matter now 'oo
+knows all there is to know?  Just gimme a minnit."
+
+Verity poured out some brandy.  Man is but a creature of habit, and the
+hospitable Lancastrian does not drink alone when there is company.
+
+"'Ave a tiddly?" he inquired blandly.
+
+Both Bulmer and the journalist believed that David was losing his
+faculties.  Never did shipowner behave more queerly when faced by a
+disaster of like magnitude, involving, as did the _Andromeda's_ loss,
+not only political issues of prime importance, but also the death of a
+near relative.  They refused the proffered refreshment, not without
+some show of indignation.  Verity swallowed a large dose of neat
+spirit.  He thought it would revive him, so, of course, the effect was
+instantaneous.  The same quantity of prussic acid could not have killed
+him more rapidly than the brandy rallied his scattered forces, and, not
+being a physiologist, he gave the brandy all the credit.
+
+"Ah!" he said, smacking his lips with some of the old-time relish,
+"that puts new life into one.  An' now, let's get on with the knittin'.
+I was a bit rattled when this young party steers in an' whacks 'is
+cock-an'-bull yarn into me 'and.  'Oo ever 'eard of a respectable
+British ship mixin' 'erself up with a South American revolution?  The
+story is all moonshine on the face of it."
+
+"I think otherwise, Mr. Verity, and Mr. Bulmer, I take it, agrees with
+me," said the reporter.
+
+"Wot," blazed David, into whose mind had darted a notion that dazzled
+him by its daring, "d'ye mean to insiniwate that I lent my ship to this
+'ere Dom Wot's-'is-name?  D'ye sit there an' tell me that Jimmie Coke,
+a skipper who's bin in my employ for sixteen year, would carry on that
+sort of fool's business behind 'is owner's back?  Go into my clerk's
+office, young man, an' ax Andrews to show up a copy of the ship's
+manifest.  See w'en an 'ow she was insured.  Jot down the names of the
+freighters for this run, and skip round to their offices to verify.
+An' if that don't fill the bill, well, just interview yourself, an' say
+if you'd allow your niece, a bonnie lass like my Iris, to take a trip
+that might end in 'er bein' blown to bits.  It's crool, that's wot it
+is, reel crool."
+
+David was not simulating this contemptuous wrath.  He actually felt it.
+His harsh voice cracked when he spoke of Iris, and the excited words
+gushed out in a torrent.
+
+The reporter glanced at Bulmer, who was watching Verity with a tense
+expectancy that was not to be easily accounted for, since his manner
+and speech on entering the room had been so distinctly hostile.
+
+"The lady referred to was Miss Iris Yorke, then?"
+
+"'Oo else?  I've on'y one niece.  My trouble is that she went without
+my permission, in a way of speakin'.  'Ere, you'd better 'ave the fax.
+She was engaged to my friend, Mr. Bulmer, but, bein' a slip of a girl,
+an' fond o' romancin', she just put herself aboard the Andromeeda
+without sayin' 'with your leave' or 'by your leave.'  She wrote me a
+letter, w'ich sort of explains the affair.  D'you want to see it?"
+
+"If I may."
+
+"No," said Bulmer.
+
+"Yes," blustered Verity, fully alive now to the immense possibilities
+underlying the appearance in print of Iris's references to her
+forthcoming marriage.
+
+"An' I say 'no,' an' mean it," said the older man.  "Go slow, David, go
+slow.  I was not comin 'ere as your enemy when I found this paper bein'
+cried in the streets.  It med me mad for a while.  But I believe wot
+you've said, an' I'm not the man to want my business, or my future
+wife's I 'ope, to be chewed over by every Dick, Tom, an' 'Arry in
+Liverpool."
+
+The reincarnation of David was a wonderful spectacle, the most
+impressive incident the journalist had ever witnessed, did he but know
+its genesis.  The metamorphosis was physical as well as mental.  Verity
+burgeoned before his very eyes.
+
+"Of course, that makes a h-- a tremenjous difference," said the
+shipowner.  "You 'ave my word for it, an' that is enough for most men.
+Mr. Andrews 'll give you all the information you want.  I'll cable now
+to Rio an' Pernambewco, an' see if I can get any straight news from the
+shippin' 'ouses there.  I'll let you know if I 'ear anything, an' you
+might do the same by me."
+
+The reporter gave this promise readily.  He scented a possible scandal,
+and meant to keep in touch with Verity.  Meanwhile, he was in need of
+the facts which the managing clerk could supply, so he took himself off.
+
+Bulmer went to the window and looked out.  A drizzle of sleet was
+falling from a gray sky.  The atmosphere was heavy.  It was a day
+singularly appropriate to the evil tidings that had shocked him into a
+fury against the man who had so willfully deceived him.  David picked
+up the proof slips and reread them.  He compared them with the
+paragraphs in the newspaper brought by Bulmer, and thrown by him on the
+table after his first outburst of helpless wrath.  They were identical
+in wording, of course, but, somehow, their meaning was clearer in the
+printed page: and David, despite his uncouth diction, was a clever man.
+
+He wrinkled his forehead now in analysis of each line.  Soon he hit on
+something that puzzled him.
+
+"Dickey," he said.
+
+There was no answer.  The old man peering through the window seemed to
+have bent and whitened even since he came into the room.
+
+"Look 'ere, Dickey," went on David, "this dashed fairy-tale won't hold
+water.  _You_ know Coke.  Is 'e the kind o' man to go bumpin' round
+like a stage 'ero, an' hoisting Union Jacks as the ship sinks?  I ax
+you, is 'e?  It's nonsense, stuff an' nonsense.  An', if the Andromeeda
+was scrapped at Fernando Noronha, 'oo were the freebooters that
+collared the island, an' 'ow did this 'ere De Sylva get to Maceio?  Are
+you listenin'?"
+
+"Yes," said Bulmer, turning at last, and devouring Verity with his
+deep-set eyes.
+
+"Well, wot d'ye think of it?"
+
+"Did you send the ship to Fernando Noronha?"
+
+It is needless to place on record the formula of David's denial.  It
+was forcible, and served its purpose--that should suffice.
+
+"Under ordinary conditions she would 'ave passed the island about the
+31st?" continued Bulmer.
+
+"Yes.  Confound it, 'aven't I bin cablin' there every two days for a
+fortnight or more?  B'lieve me or not, Dickey, it cut me to the 'eart
+to keep you in the dark about Iris.  But I begun it, like an ijjit, an'
+kep' on with it."
+
+"To sweeten me on account of the new ships, I s'pose?"
+
+"Yes, that's it.  No more lyin' for me.  I'm sick of it."
+
+"For the same reason you wanted that letter published?"
+
+"Well--yes.  There!  You see I'm talkin' straight."
+
+"So am I.  If--if Iris is alive, the partnership goes on.  If--she's
+dead, it doesn't."
+
+"D'ye mean it?"
+
+"I always mean wot I say."
+
+The click of an indicator on the desk showed that Verity's private
+telephone had been switched on from the general office.  By sheer force
+of routine, David picked up a receiver and placed it to his ear.  The
+sub-editor of the newspaper whose representative had not been gone five
+minutes asked if he was speaking to Mr. Verity.
+
+"Yes," said David, "wot's up now?" and he motioned to Bulmer to use a
+second receiver.
+
+"A cablegram from Pernambuco states specifically that the captain and
+crew of the _Andromeda_ fought their way across the island of Fernando
+Noronha, rescued Dom De Sylva, seized a steam launch, attacked and
+captured the German steamship _Unser Fritz_, and landed the insurgent
+leader at Maceio.  The message goes on to say that the captain's name
+is Coke, and that he is accompanied by his daughter. . . .  Eh?  What
+did you say? . . .  Are you there?"
+
+"Yes, I'm 'ere, or I think I am," said David with a desperate calmness.
+"Is that all?"
+
+"All for the present."
+
+"It doesn't say that Coke is a ravin', tearin', 'owlin' lunatic, does
+it?"
+
+"No.  Is that your view?"
+
+Bulmer's hand gripped David's wrist.  Their eyes met.
+
+"I was thinkin' that the chap who writes these penny novelette wires
+might 'ave rounded up his yarn in good shape," said Verity aloud.
+
+"But there is not the slightest doubt that something of the kind has
+occurred," said the voice.
+
+"It's a put-up job!" roared David.  "Them bloomin' Portygees 'ave sunk
+my ship, an' they're whackin' in their flam now so as to score first
+blow.  A year-old baby 'ud see that if 'is father was a lawyer."
+
+The sub-editor laughed.
+
+"Well, I'll ring you up again when the next message comes through," he
+said.
+
+But to Bulmer, David said savagely:
+
+"Wot's bitten Coke?  'E must 'ave gone stark, starin' mad."
+
+"Iris is alive!" murmured Bulmer.
+
+"Nice mess she med of things w'en she slung 'er 'ook from Linden
+'Ouse," grunted her uncle.
+
+"I don't blame 'er.  She meant no 'arm.  She's on'y a bit of a lass,
+w'en all is said an' done.  Mebbe it's my fault, or yours, or the fault
+of both of us.  An' now, David, I'll tell you wot I 'ad in me mind in
+comin' 'ere this morning.  You're hard up.  You don't know where to
+turn for a penny.  If you're agreeable, I'll put a trustworthy man in
+this office an' give 'im full powers to pull your affairs straight.
+Mind you, I'm doin' this for Iris, not for you.  An' now that we know
+wot's 'appening in South America, you an' I will go out there and look
+into things.  A mail steamer will take us there in sixteen days, an'
+before we sail we can work the cables a bit so as to stop Iris from
+startin' for 'ome before we arrive.  The trip will do us good, an'
+we'll be away from the gossip of Bootle.  Are you game?  Well, gimme
+your 'and on it."
+
+[Illustration: "Well, gimme your 'and on it"]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE LURE OF GOLD
+
+"Philip, I want to tell you something."
+
+"Something pleasant?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then why tell me?"
+
+"Because, unhappily, it must be told.  I hope you will forgive me,
+though I shall never forgive myself.  Oh, my dear, my dear, why did we
+ever meet?  And what am I to say?  I--well, I have promised to marry
+another man."
+
+"Disgraceful!" said Philip.
+
+Though Iris's faltered confession might fairly be regarded as
+astounding, Philip was unmoved.  The German captain had given him a
+cigar, and he was examining it with a suspicion that was pardonable
+after the first few whiffs.
+
+"Philip dear, this is quite serious," said Iris, momentarily
+withdrawing her wistful gaze from the far-away line where sapphire sea
+and amber sky met in harmony.  Northeastern Brazil is a favored clime.
+Bad weather is there a mere link, as it were, between unbroken weeks of
+brilliant sunshine, when nature lolls in the warmth and stirs herself
+only at night under the moon and the stars.  That dingy trader, the
+_Unser Fritz_, ostensibly carrying wool and guano from the Argentine to
+Hamburg, was now swinging west at less than half speed over the long
+rollers which alone bore testimony to the recent gale.  Already a deep
+tint of crimson haze over the western horizon was eloquent, in nature's
+speech, of land ahead.  At her present pace, the _Unser Fritz_ would
+enter the harbor at Pernambuco on the following morning.
+
+Iris, her troubled face resting on her hands, her elbows propped on the
+rails of the poop on the port side, looked at Philip with an intense
+sadness that was seemingly lost on him.  His doubts concerning the
+cigar had grown into a certainty.  He cast it into the sea.
+
+"I really mean what I say," she continued in a low voice that vibrated
+with emotion, for her obvious distress was enhanced by his evident
+belief that she was jesting.  "I have given my word--written
+it--entered into a most solemn obligation.  Somehow, the prospect of
+reaching a civilized place to-morrow induces a more ordered state of
+mind than has been possible since--since the _Andromeda_ was lost."
+
+"Who is he?" demanded Hozier darkly.  "Coke is married.  So is Watts.
+Dom Corria has other fish to fry than to dream of committing bigamy.
+Of course, I am well aware that you have been flirting outrageously
+with San Benavides----"
+
+"Please don't make my duty harder for me," pleaded Iris.  "Before I met
+you, before we spoke to each other that first day at Liverpool, I had
+promised to marry Mr. Bulmer, an old friend of my uncle's----"
+
+"Oh,--he? . . .  I am sorry for Mr. Bulmer, but it can't be done,"
+interrupted Hozier.
+
+"Philip, you do not understand.  I--I cared for nobody then . . . and
+my uncle said he was in danger of bankruptcy . . . and Mr. Bulmer
+undertook to help him if I would consent. . . ."
+
+"Yes," agreed Philip, with an air of pleasant detachment, "I see.  You
+are in a first-rate fix.  I was always prepared for that.  Coke told me
+about Bulmer--warned me off, so to speak.  I forgot his claims at odd
+times, just for a minute or so, but he is a real bugbear--a sort of
+matrimonial bogey-man.  If all goes well, and we enter Pernambuco
+without being fired at, you will be handed over to the British Consul,
+and he will send a rousing telegram about you to England.  Bulmer, of
+course, will cause a rare stir at home.  Who wouldn't?  No wonder you
+are scared!  It seems to me that there is only one safe line of action
+left open."
+
+Iris did not respond to his raillery.  She was despondent, nervous,
+uncertain of her own strength, afraid of the hurricane of publicity
+that would shortly swoop down on her.
+
+"I wish you would realize how I feel in this matter," she said, with a
+persistence that was at least creditable to her honesty of purpose.  "A
+woman's word should be held as sacred as a man's, Philip."
+
+He turned and met her eyes.  There was a tender smile on his lips.
+
+"So you really believe you will be compelled to marry Mr. Bulmer?" he
+cried.
+
+"Oh, don't be horrid!" she almost sobbed.  "I cuc--cuc--can't help it."
+
+"I have given some thought to the problem myself," he said, for, in
+truth, he was beginning to be alarmed by her tenacity, though
+determined not to let her perceive his changed mood.  "Curiously
+enough, I was thinking more of your dilemma than of the signals when we
+were overhauled by the _Sao Geronimo_ this morning.  Odd, isn't it, how
+things pop into one's mind at the most unexpected moments?  While I was
+coding our explanation that we were putting into Pernambuco for
+repairs, and that no steam yacht had been sighted between here and the
+River Plate, I was really trying to imagine what the cruiser's people
+would have said if I had told them the actual truth."
+
+His apparent gravity drew the girl's thoughts for an instant from
+contemplating her own unhappiness.
+
+"How could you have done that?" she asked.  "We are going there to suit
+Senhor De Sylva's ends.  We have suffered so much already for his sake
+that we could hardly betray him now."
+
+Hozier spread wide his hands with a fine affectation of amazement.
+
+"I wasn't talking about De Sylva," he cried.  "My remarks were strictly
+confined to the question of your marriage.  I know you far too well,
+Iris, to permit you to go back to Bootle to be lectured and browbeaten
+by your uncle.  I have never seen him, but, from all accounts, he is a
+rather remarkable person.  He likes to have his own way, irrespective
+of other folks' feelings.  I am a good guesser, Iris.  I have a pretty
+fair notion why Coke meant to leave our poor ship's bones on a South
+American reef.  I appreciate exactly how well it would serve Mr. David
+Verity's interests if his niece married a wealthy old party like
+Bulmer.  By the way how old is Bulmer?"
+
+"Nearly seventy."
+
+Even Iris herself smiled then, though her tremulous mirth threatened to
+dissolve in tears.
+
+"Ah, that's a pity," said Hozier.
+
+"It is very unkind of you to treat me in this manner," she protested.
+
+"But I am trying to help you.  I say it is a pity that Bulmer should be
+a patriarch, because his only hope of marrying you is that I shall die
+first.  Even then he must be prepared to espouse my widow.  By the way,
+is it disrespectful to describe him as a patriarch?  Isn't there some
+proverb about three score years and ten?"
+
+"Philip, if only you would appreciate my dreadful position----"
+
+"I do.  It ought to be ended.  The first parson we meet shall be
+commandeered.  Don't you see, dear, we really must get married at
+Pernambuco?  That is what I wanted to signal to the cruiser: 'The
+_Unser Fritz_ is taking a happy couple to church.'  Wouldn't that have
+been a surprise?"
+
+Iris clenched her little hands in despair.  Why did he not understand
+her misery?  Though she was unwavering in her resolution to keep faith
+with the man who had twitted her with taking all and giving nothing in
+return, she could not wholly restrain the tumult in her veins.  Married
+in Pernambuco!  Ah, if only that were possible!  Yet she did not flinch
+from the lover-like scrutiny with which Philip now favored her.
+
+"I am sure we would be happy together," she said, with a pathetic
+confidence that tempted him strongly to take her in his arms and kiss
+away her fears.  "But we must be brave, Philip dear, brave in the
+peaceful hours as in those which call for another sort of courage.
+Last night we lived in a different world.  We looked at death, you and
+I together, not once but many times, and you, at least, kept him at
+bay.  But that is past.  To-day we are going back to the commonplace.
+We must forget what happened in the land of dreams.  I will never love
+any man but you, Philip; yet--I cannot marry you."
+
+"You will marry me--in Pernambuco."
+
+"I will not because I may not.  Oh, spare me any more of this!  I
+cannot bear it.  Have pity, dear!"
+
+"Iris, let us at least look at the position calmly.  Do you really
+think that fate's own decree should be set aside merely to keep David
+Verity out of the Bankruptcy Court?"
+
+"I have given my promise, and those two men are certain I will keep it."
+
+"Ah, they shall release you.  What then?"
+
+"You do not know my uncle, or Mr. Bulmer.  Money is their god.  They
+would tell you that money can control fate.  We, you and I, might
+despise their creed, but how am I to shirk the claims of gratitude?  I
+owe everything to my uncle.  He rescued my mother and me from dire
+poverty.  He gave us freely of his abundance.  Would you have me fail
+him now that he seeks my aid?  Ah, me!  If only I had never come on
+this mad voyage!  But it is too late to think of that now.  Perhaps--if
+I had not promised--I might steel my heart against him--but, Philip,
+you would never think highly of me again if I were so ready to rend the
+hand that fed me.  We have had our hour, dear.  Its memory will never
+leave me.  I shall think of you, dream of you, when, it may be, some
+other girl--oh, no, I do not mean that!  Philip, don't be angry with me
+to-day.  You are wringing my heart!"
+
+It was in Hozier's mind to scoff in no measured terms at the absurd
+theory that he should renounce his oft-won bride because a pair of
+elderly gentlemen in Bootle had made a bargain in which she was staked
+against so many bags of gold.  But pity for her suffering joined forces
+with a fine certainty that fortune would not play such a scurvy trick
+as to rob him of his divinity after leading him through an Inferno to
+the very gate of Paradise.  For that is how he regarded the perils of
+Fernando Noronha.  He was young, and the ethics of youth cling to
+romance.  It seemed only right and just that he should have been proved
+worthy of Iris ere he gained the heaven of her love.  There might be
+portals yet unseen, with guardian furies waiting to entrap him, and he
+would brave them all for her dear sake.  But his very soul rebelled
+against the notion that he had become her chosen knight merely to
+gratify the unholy ardor of some decrepit millionaire.  He laughed
+savagely at the fantasy, and his protest burst into words strange on
+his lips.
+
+"I shall never give you up to any other man," he said.  "I have won you
+by the sword, and, please God, I shall keep you against all claimants.
+Twenty-two men sailed out of Liverpool on board the Andromeda, and it
+was given to me among the twenty-two that I should pluck you from
+darkness into light.  I had only seen you that day on the wharf, yet I
+was thinking of you constantly, little dreaming that you were within a
+few yards of me all the time.  I was planning some means of meeting you
+again when our surly-tempered skipper bade me burst in the door that
+kept you from me.  And that is what I have been doing ever since,
+Iris--breaking down barriers, smashing them, whether they were flesh
+and blood or nature's own obstacles, so that I might not lose you.
+Give you up!  Not while I live!  Why, you yourself dragged me away from
+certain death when I was lying unconscious on the _Andromeda's_ deck.
+A second time, you saved not me alone but the ten others who are left
+out of the twenty-two, by bringing us back to Grand-père in the hour
+that our escape seemed to be assured had we put out to sea.  We are
+more than quits, dear heart, when we strike a balance of mutual
+service.  We are bound by a tie of comradeship that is denied to most.
+And who shall sever it?  The man who gains three times the worth of his
+ship by reason of the very dangers we have shared!  To state such a mad
+proposition is to answer it.  Who is he that he should sunder those
+whom God has joined together?  And what other man and woman now
+breathing can lay better claim than we to have been joined by the
+Almighty?"
+
+The strange exigencies of their lives during the past two days had
+ordained that this should be Philip's first avowal of his feelings.
+Under the stress of overpowering impulse he had clasped Iris to his
+heart when they were parting on the island.  In obedience to a stronger
+law than any hitherto revealed to her innocent consciousness the girl
+had flown to his arms when he came to the hut.  And that was all their
+love-making, two blissful moments of delirium wrenched from a time of a
+gaunt tragedy, and followed by a few hours of self-negation.  Yet they
+sufficed--to the man--and the woman is never too ready to count the
+cost when her heart declares its passion.
+
+But the morrow was not to be denied.  Its bitter awakening had come.
+In the very agony of a sublime withdrawal Iris realized what manner of
+man this was whom she had determined to thrust aside so that she might
+keep her troth.  She dared not look at him.  She could not compel her
+quivering lips to frame a word of excuse or reiterated resolve.  With a
+heart-breaking cry of sheer anguish she fled from him, running away
+along the deck with the uncertain steps of some sorely stricken
+creature of the wild.
+
+He did not try to restrain her.  Heedless of the perplexed scowl with
+which Coke was watching him from the bridge, he looked after her until
+she vanished in the cabin which had been vacated for her use by the
+chief engineer of the vessel.  Even her manifest distress gave him a
+sense of riotous joy that was hardly distinguishable from the keenest
+spiritual suffering.
+
+"Give you up!" he muttered again.  "No, Iris, not if Satan brought
+every dead Verity to aid the living one in his demand."
+
+Coke, to whom tact was anathema, chose that unhappy instant to summon
+him to take charge of the ship.  The German master and crew had not
+caused trouble to their conquerors after the first short struggle.
+They washed their hands of responsibility, professed to be satisfied
+with the written indemnity and promise of reward given by De Sylva, and
+otherwise placed the resources of the vessel entirely at his disposal.
+A more peaceable set of men never existed.  Though they numbered
+sixteen, three more than the usurpers, it was quite certain that the
+thought of further resistance never entered their minds.  If anything,
+they hailed the adventure with decorous hilarity.  It formed a welcome
+break in the monotony of their drab lives.  Of course, they were
+utterly incredulous as to the ability of a scarecrow like Dom Corria to
+fulfil his financial pledges.  Therein they erred.  He was really a
+very rich man, having followed the illustrious example set by
+generations of South American Presidents in accumulating a fine
+collection of gilt-edged scrip during his tenure of office, which said
+scrip was safely lodged in London, Paris, and New York.  But the world
+always refuses to associate rags with affluence, and these worthy
+Teutons regarded De Sylva and Coke as the leaders of a gang of
+dangerous lunatics who should be humored in every possible way until a
+port was reached.
+
+It was precisely that question of a port which had engaged Coke in
+earnest consultation with De Sylva and San Benavides on the bridge
+while Iris and Hozier were lacerating each other's feelings on the poop.
+
+Apparently, the point was settled when Hozier joined the triumvirate.
+Coke glanced at the compass, and placed the engine-room telegraph at
+"Full Speed Ahead," for the _Unser Fritz_ had once been a British ship,
+and still retained her English appliances.
+
+"Keep 'er edgin' south a bit," said he to Hozier.  "There's no knowin'
+w'en that crimson cruiser will show up again, but we must try and steal
+a knot or two afore sundown."
+
+The order roused Hozier from his stupor of wrathful bewilderment.
+
+"Why south?" he asked.  "If anything, Pernambuco lies north of our
+present course."
+
+"We're givin' Pernambuco the go-by.  It's Maceio for us, quick as we
+can get there."
+
+Hozier was in no humor for conciliatory methods.  He turned on his
+heel, and walked straight to where De Sylva was leaning against the
+rails.
+
+"Captain Coke tells me that we are not making for Pernambuco," he said,
+meeting the older man's penetrating gaze with a glance as firm and
+self-contained.
+
+"That is what we have arranged," said Dom Corria.
+
+"It does not seem to have occurred to you that there is one person on
+board this ship whose interests are vastly more important than yours,
+senhor."
+
+"Meaning Miss Yorke?" asked the other, who did not require to look
+twice at this stern-visaged man to grasp the futility of any words but
+the plainest.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She will be safer at Maceio than at Pernambuco.  Our only danger at
+either place will be encountered at the actual moment of landing.  At
+Maceio there is practically no risk of finding a warship in the harbor.
+That is why we are going there."
+
+"And not because you are more likely to find adherents there?"
+
+"It is a much smaller town than Pernambuco, and my strength lies
+outside the large cities, I admit.  But there can be no question as to
+our wisdom in preferring Maceio, even where the young lady's well-being
+is concerned."
+
+"I think differently.  At Maceio there are few, if any, Europeans.  At
+Pernambuco the large English-speaking community will protect her, no
+matter what President is in power.  I must ask you to reconsider your
+plan.  Land Miss Yorke and me at Pernambuco, and then betake yourself
+and those who follow you where you will."
+
+Coke jerked himself into the dispute.
+
+"'Ere, wot's wrong now?" he demanded angrily.  "Since w'en 'as a second
+officer begun to fix the ship's course?"
+
+"I am not your second officer, nor are you my commander," said Philip.
+"At present we are fellow-pirates, or, at best, running the gravest
+risk of being regarded as pirates by any court of law.  I don't care a
+cent personally what port we make, but I do care most emphatically for
+Miss Yorke's safety."
+
+"We've argied the pros an' cons, an' it's to be Maceio," growled Coke.
+
+Dom Corria's precise tones broke in on what threatened to develop into
+a serious dispute.
+
+"You would have been asked to join in the discussion, if, apparently,
+you were not better engaged at the moment, Mr. Hozier," he said.  "I
+assure you, on my honor, that there are many reasons in favor of Maceio
+even from the exclusive point of view of Miss Yorke's immediate future.
+She will be well cared for.  I promise to make that my first
+consideration.  The army is mainly for me, and Senhor San Benavides's
+regiment is stationed at Maceio.  The navy, on the other hand, supports
+Dom Miguel Barraca, who supplanted me, and we shall surely meet a
+cruiser or gunboat at Pernambuco.  You see, therefore, that common
+prudence----"
+
+"I see that, whether willing or not, we are to be made the tools of
+your ambition," interrupted Hozier curtly.  "It is also fairly evident
+that I am the only man of the _Andromeda's_ company whom you have not
+bribed to obey you.  Well, be warned now by me.  If circumstances fail
+to justify your change of route, I shall make it my business to settle
+at least one revolution in Brazil by cracking your skull."
+
+San Benavides, hearing the names of the two ports, understood exactly
+why the young Englishman was making such a strenuous protest.  He moved
+nearer, laying an ostentatious hand on the sword that clanked
+everlastingly at his heels.  He had never been taught, it seemed, that
+a man who can use his fists commands a readier weapon than a sword in
+its scabbard.  Hozier eyed him.  There was no love lost between them.
+For a fraction of a second San Benavides was in a position of real
+peril.
+
+Then Dom Corria said coldly:
+
+"No interference, I pray you, Senhor Adjudante.  Kindly withdraw."
+
+His tone was eminently official.  San Benavides saluted and stepped
+back.  The dark scar on De Sylva's forehead had grown a shade lighter,
+but there was no other visible sign of anger in his face, and his
+luminous eyes peered steadily into Hozier's.
+
+"Let me understand!" he said.  "You hold my life as forfeit if any
+mischance befalls Miss Yorke?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I accept that.  Of course, you no longer challenge my direction of
+affairs?"
+
+"I am no match for you in argument, senhor, but I do want you to
+believe that I shall keep my part of the compact."
+
+Coke, familiar with De Sylva's resources as a debater, and by no means
+unwilling to see Hozier "taken down a peg," as he phrased it; eager,
+too, to witness the Brazilian officer's discomfiture if the second mate
+"handed it to him," thought it was time to assert himself.
+
+"I'm goin' to 'ave a nap," he announced.  "Either you or Watts must
+take 'old.  W'ich is it to be?"
+
+"No need to ask Mr. Hozier any such question," said the suave Dom
+Corria.  "You can trust him implicitly.  He is with us now--to the
+death.  Captain San Benavides, a word with you."
+
+"South a bit," repeated the skipper.  "Call me at two bells in the
+second dog."
+
+He was turning to leave the bridge with the Brazilians when a cheery
+voice came from a gangway beneath.
+
+"Yah, yah, mine frent--that's the proper lubricant.  I wouldn't give
+you tuppence a dozen for your bloomin' lager.  Well, just a freshener.
+Thanks.  Ik danky shun!"
+
+"You spik Tcherman vare goot," was the reply.
+
+"Talk a little of all sorts.  Used to sing a Jarman song once.  What
+was that you was a-hummin' in your cabin?  Nice chune.  I've a musical
+ear meself."
+
+Someone sang a verse in a subdued baritone, tremulous with sentiment.
+The melody was haunting, the words almost pathetic under the conditions
+of life on board the disheveled _Unser Fritz_.  They told of Vienna,
+the city beloved of its sons.
+
+  Es gibt nur eine Kaiser Stadt,
+  Es gibt nur eine Wien.
+
+
+"Shake, me boy!" cried the enraptured Watts to the ship's captain.  "I
+do'n' know wot it's all about, but it's reel fine.  Something to do
+with a gal, I expect.  Well, 'ere's one of the same kidney:
+
+  I know a maiden fair to see,
+      Take care!
+  She can both false and friendly be,
+      Beware, beware!
+      Trust her not,
+  She is fooling thee!"
+
+
+Mr. Watts was both charmed and surprised when the friendly skipper
+joined in the concluding lines in his own language.  But his pleasure
+was short-lived.  Coke's inflamed visage glowered into the mess room.
+
+"Sink me if you ain't a daisy!" he roared, pouncing on a three-quarters
+filled bottle of rum.  "D'you fancy we're goin' to land you at Maceio
+cryin' drunk?  No, sir, not this time.  Over it goes, an' if you ain't
+dam careful, over you go after it!"
+
+Watts could have wept without the artificial stimulus of the rum.  To
+see good liquor slung into the sea in that fashion--well, it was a sin,
+that's wot it was!  But Coke's furious eye quelled him; and revel and
+song ceased.
+
+Above, on the bridge, Hozier smiled sourly at the squall which had so
+suddenly beset the fair argosy of the convivial-minded Watts.  He tried
+to invest the incident with an excess of humor.  Any excuse would serve
+to still certain disquieting doubts that were springing into alarming
+activity.  Had he gone the best way to work in allaying Iris's
+conscience-stricken qualms?  Was he justified in adopting such a bold
+line with De Sylva?  Could it be possible--no, he refused to harbor any
+mean thought of Iris.  She loved him, he was sure; his love for her was
+at once a torment and an excruciating bliss, and both of these wearing
+sensations sadly detracted from the efficiency of the officer of the
+watch.  So our distracted Philip pulled himself up sharply, paced back
+and forth between port and starboard, and surveyed ship, binnacle, and
+horizon with alert vigilance.
+
+On the fore-deck groups of sailors and firemen belonging to both
+vessels were fraternizing.  There could be little room for speculation
+as to the subject of their broken talk.  It was of De Sylva, of
+Brazil's new dictator, of the gold he would control when he became
+President again.  The slow-moving Teutonic mind was beginning to
+assimilate the notion that there was money in this escapade.  That the
+tatterdemalion then closeted with the _Unser Fritz's_ captain could
+obtain a certified check for a million sterling, and twenty-five times
+as many millions of francs, and even then remain a man of means, was
+unbelievable; but if he regained power, that was different.  _Ende gut,
+alles gut_.  There might be pickings in it.
+
+Soon after sunset Iris reappeared.  She walked on the after deck with
+San Benavides, and seemed to be listening with great attention to
+something he was telling her.  Hozier was often compelled to look that
+way in order to make certain that the _Sao Geronimo_ was not
+overhauling the ship in one of her circling flights over the wide
+channel.  He wondered what in the world San Benavides was saying that
+his chatter should be so interesting, and he acknowledged with a pang
+that Iris was deliberately avoiding his own occasional glances in her
+direction.
+
+There is no saying what would have happened had he known that the
+Brazilian was relating the scene that took place on the bridge,
+suppressing its prime motive, and twisting it greatly to Hozier's
+detriment, though with an adroit touch that deprived Iris of any power
+to resent his words.  Indeed, she read her own meaning into Philip's
+anxiety to reach Pernambuco, whereas San Benavides was striving to
+instill the belief that she would find excellent friends at Maceio.
+She was far too loyal-hearted to suspect Philip of a hidden purpose in
+urging that the voyage should end in one port rather than another.  But
+she could not forget that he said repeatedly they would be married in
+Pernambuco.  Indeed, the promise had a glamour of its own, even though
+it could never be fulfilled.  More than once her cheeks glowed with a
+rush of color that San Benavides attributed to his own delightful
+personality, and, when she paled again, his voice sank to a deeply
+sympathetic note.
+
+And here came Watts, rejuvenated, having imbibed many pints of the
+despised lager, and humming gaily:
+
+      Beware, Beware!
+      Trust her not!
+  She is foo-oo-ooling thee!
+
+
+Confound the fellow.  Why could he not chant the piratical doggerel
+that Coke abhorred?  That, at least, would have been more appropriate
+to present surroundings?  But would it?  Ah, Philip felt a twinge then.
+"Touché!" chortled some unseen imp who plied a venomous rapier.  Thank
+goodness, a sailor was standing by the ship's bell, with his hand on a
+bit of cord tied to the clapper.  It would soon be seven o'clock.  Even
+the companionship of the uncouth skipper was preferable to this
+brooding solitariness.
+
+When Hozier was relieved, and summoned to a meal in the saloon with
+Norrie and some of the ship's own officers, Iris was nowhere visible.
+He went straight to her cabin, and knocked.
+
+"Who is it?" she asked.
+
+"I, Philip.  Will you be on deck in a quarter of an hour?"
+
+"No."
+
+"But this time _I_ want to tell _you_ something."
+
+"Philip, dear, I am weary.  I must rest--and--I dare not meet you."
+
+"Dare not?"
+
+"I am afraid of myself.  Please leave me."
+
+He caught the sob in her voice, and it unmanned him; he stalked off,
+raging.  He remembered how the fiend, in Gounod's incomparable opera,
+whispered in the lover's ear: "Thou fool, wait for night and the moon!"
+and he was wroth with himself for the memory.  While off duty he kept
+strict watch and ward over the gangway in which Iris's cabin was
+situated.  It was useless; she remained hidden.
+
+The _Unser Fritz_ was now heading southwest, and "reeling off her ten
+knots an hour like clockwork," as Norrie put it.  The Recife, that
+enormous barrier reef which blockades hundreds of miles of the
+Brazilian coast, caused no anxiety to Coke.  He was well acquainted
+with these waters, and he held on stoutly until the occulting light of
+Maceio showed low over the sea straight ahead.  It was then after
+midnight, and the land was still ten miles distant, but the ship
+promptly resumed her role of lame duck, lest a prowling gunboat met and
+interrogated her.
+
+As Coke had told Iris she might expect to be ashore about two o'clock,
+she waited until half-past one ere coming on deck.  Despite her
+unalterable decision to abide by the hideous compact entered into with
+her uncle and Bulmer, her first thought now was to find Hozier.  Though
+the sky was radiant with stars, a slight haze on the surface of the sea
+shrouded the ship's decks and passages in an uncanny darkness.  Coke's
+orders forbade the display of any lights whatsoever, except those in
+the engine-room and the three essential lamps carried externally.  So
+the _Unser Fritz_ was gloomy, and the plash of the sea against her worn
+plates had an ominous sound, while the glittering white eye of the
+lighthouse winked evilly across the black plain in front.
+
+In a word Iris was thoroughly wretched, and not a little disturbed by
+the near prospect of landing in a foreign country, which would probably
+be plunged into civil war by the mere advent of De Sylva.  It need
+hardly be said that, under these circumstances, Hozier was the one man
+in whose company she would feel reasonably safe.  But she could not see
+him anywhere.  Coke and Watts, with the Brazilians and a couple of
+Germans, were on the bridge, but Hozier was not to be found.
+
+At last she hailed one of the _Andromeda's_ men whom she met in a
+gangway.
+
+"Mr. Hozier, miss?" said he.  "Oh, he's forrard, right up in the bows,
+keepin' a lookout.  This is a ticklish place to enter without a pilot,
+an' we've passed two already."
+
+This information added to her distress.  She ought not to go to him.
+Full well she knew that her presence might distract him from an
+all-important task.  So she sat forlornly on the fore-hatch, waiting
+there until he might leave his post, reviewing all the bizarre
+procession of events since she climbed an elm-tree in the garden of
+Linden House on a Sunday afternoon now so remote that it seemed to be
+the very beginning of life.  The adventures to which that elm-tree
+conducted her were oddly reminiscent of the story of Jack and the
+Beanstalk.  For once, the true had outrivaled the fabulous.
+
+The steamer crept on lazily, and Iris fancied the hour must be nearer
+five o'clock than two when she heard Hozier's voice ring out clearly:
+
+"Buoy on the port bow!"
+
+There was a movement among the dim figures on the bridge.  A minute
+later Hozier cried again:
+
+"Buoy on the starboard bow!"
+
+She understood then that they were in a marked channel.  Already the
+road was narrowing.  Soon they would be ashore.  At last Hozier came.
+He saw her as he jumped down from the forecastle deck.
+
+"Why are you here, Iris?" was all he said.  She looked so bowed, so
+humbled, that he could not find it in his heart to reproach her for
+having avoided him earlier.
+
+"I wanted to be near you," she whispered.  "I--I am frightened, Philip.
+I am terrified by the unknown.  Somehow, on the rock our dangers were
+measurable.  Here, we shall soon be swallowed up among a whole lot of
+people."
+
+They heard Coke's gruff order to the watch to clear the falls of the
+jolly-boat.  The _Unser Fritz_ was going dead slow.  On the starboard
+side were the lights of a large town, but the opposite shore was somber
+and vague.
+
+"Are we going to land at once, in a small boat?" said Iris timidly.
+
+"I fancy there is a new move on foot.  A gunboat is moored half a mile
+down stream.  You missed her because your back was turned.  She has
+steam up, and could slip her cables in a minute.  They saw her from the
+bridge, of course, but I did not report her, as there was a chance that
+my hail might be heard, and we came in so confidently that we are
+looked on as a local trader.  Come, let us buy a programme."
+
+He took her by the arm with that masterful gentleness that is so
+comforting to a woman when danger is rife.  Even his jesting allusion
+to their theatrical arrival in port was cheering.  They reached the
+bridge.  Some sailors were lowering a boat as quietly as possible.
+
+Dom Corria approached with outstretched hand.
+
+"Good-by, Miss Yorke," he said.  "I am leaving you for a few hours, not
+longer.  When next we meet I ought to have a sure grip of the
+Presidential ladder, and I shall climb quickly.  Won't you wish me
+luck?"
+
+"I wish you all good fortune, Dom Corria," said Iris.  "May your plans
+succeed without bloodshed!"
+
+"Ah, this is South America, remember.  Our conflicts are usually short
+and fierce.  _Au revoir_, Mr. Hozier.  By daybreak we shall be better
+friends."
+
+San Benavides also bade them farewell, with an easy grace not wholly
+devoid of melodramatic pathos.  The dandy and the man of rags climbed
+down a rope ladder, the boat fell away from the ship's side, and the
+night took them.
+
+"What did he mean by saying you would be 'better friends'?" whispered
+the girl.  "Have you quarreled?"
+
+"We had a small dispute as to the wisdom of landing you here," said
+Philip.  "Perhaps I was wrong.  He is a clever man, and he surely knows
+his own country."
+
+"Mr. Hozier!" cried Coke.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Is all clear forrard to let go anchor?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Give her thirty.  You go and see to it, will you?"
+
+Hozier made off at a run.
+
+Iris recalled the last time she heard similar words.  She shuddered.
+Would that placid foreshore blaze out into a roar of artillery, and the
+worn-out _Unser Fritz_, like the worn-out _Andromeda_, stagger and
+lurch into a watery grave.
+
+But the only noise that jarred the peaceful night was the rattle of the
+cable and winch.  The ship fell away a few feet, and was held.  There
+was no moving light on the river.  Not even a police boat or Customs
+launch had put off.  Maceio was asleep; it was quite unprepared for the
+honor of a Presidential visit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE NEW ERA
+
+A swaggering officer and a man habited like a beggar landed unobserved
+at a coal wharf, moored a ship's boat to a bolt, and passed swiftly
+through a silent town till they reached the closed gates of an infantry
+barrack perched on a hill that rose steeply above the clustering roofs
+of Maceio.
+
+Though the seeming mendicant limped slightly, his superior stature
+enabled him to keep pace with the officer.  The pair neither lagged nor
+hesitated.  The officer knocked loudly on a small door inset in the big
+gates.  After some delay it was opened.  A sentry challenged.
+
+"Capitão San Benavides," announced the officer, and the man stood to
+attention.
+
+"Enter, my friend," said San Benavides to his ragged companion.  The
+latter stepped within; the wicket was locked, and the click of the bolt
+was suggestive of the rattle of the dice with which Dom Corria De Sylva
+was throwing a main with fortune.  Perhaps some thought of the kind
+occurred to him, but he was calm as if he were so poor that he had
+naught more to lose.
+
+"Who is the officer of the guard?" San Benavides asked the soldier.
+
+"Senhor Tenente [Lieutenant] Regis de Pereira, senhor capitão."
+
+"Tell him, with my compliments, that I shall be glad to meet him at the
+colonel's quarters in fifteen minutes."
+
+The queerly-assorted pair moved off across the barrack square.  The
+sentry looked after them.
+
+"My excellent captain seems to have been brawling," he grinned.  "But
+what of the _mendigo_?"
+
+What, indeed?  A most pertinent question for Brazil, and one that would
+be loudly answered.
+
+The colonel's house was in darkness, yet San Benavides rapped
+imperatively.  An upper window was raised.  A voice was heard, using
+profane language.  A head appeared.  Its owner cried, "Who is
+it?"--with additions.
+
+"San Benavides."
+
+"Christo!  And the other?"
+
+"One whom you expect."
+
+The head popped in.  Soon there was a light on the ground floor.  The
+door opened.  A very stout man, barefooted, who had struggled into a
+pair of abnormally tight riding-breeches, faced them.
+
+"Can it be possible?" he exclaimed, striking an attitude.
+
+Dom Corria spoke not a word.  He knew the value of effect, and could
+bide his time.  The three passed into a lighted apartment.  De Sylva
+placed himself under a chandelier, and took off a frayed straw hat
+which he had borrowed from someone on board the _Unser Fritz_.  The
+colonel, a grotesque figure in his present _deshabillé_, bowed low
+before him.
+
+"My President!--I salute you," he murmured.
+
+"Thank you, General," said Dom Corria, smiling graciously.  "I knew I
+could depend on you.  How soon can you muster the regiment?"
+
+"In half an hour, Excellency."
+
+"See that there is plenty of ammunition for the machine guns.  What of
+the artillery?"
+
+"The three batteries stationed here are with us heart and soul."
+
+"Colonel San Benavides, as chief of the staff, is acquainted with every
+detail.  You, General, will assume command of the Army of Liberation.
+Some trunks were sent to you from Paris, I believe?"
+
+"They are in the room prepared for your Excellency."
+
+"Let me go there at once and change my clothing.  I must appear before
+the troops as their President, not as a jail-bird.  For the moment I
+leave everything to you and San Benavides.  Let Senhor Pondillo be
+summoned.  He will attend to the civil side of affairs.  You have my
+unqualified approval of the military scheme drawn up by you and my
+other friends.  There is one thing--a gunboat lies in the harbor.  Is
+she the _Andorinha_?"
+
+The newly-promoted general smote his huge stomach with both
+hands--"beating the drum," he called it--and the rat-tat signified
+instant readiness for action.
+
+"The guns will soon scare that bird," he exclaimed.  As _Andorinha_
+means "swallow" in English there was some point to the remark.  Nor was
+he making a vain boast.  The most astounding feature of every
+revolution in a South American republic is the alacrity with which the
+army will fire on the navy, _et vice versâ_.  The two services seem to
+be everlastingly at feud.  If politicians fail to engineer a quarrel,
+the soldiers and sailors will indulge in one on their own account.
+
+It was so now at Maceio.  Dawn was about to peep up over the sea when
+twelve guns lumbered through the narrow streets, waking many startled
+citizens.  A few daring souls, who guessed what had happened, rushed
+off on horseback or bicycle to remote telegraph offices.  These
+adventurers were too late.  Every railway station and post-office
+within twenty miles was already held by troops.  Revolts are conducted
+scientifically in that region.  Their stage management is perfect, and
+the cumbrous methods of effete civilizations might well take note of
+the speed, thoroughness, and efficiency with which a change of
+government is effected.
+
+For instance, what could be more admirable than the scaring of the bird
+by General Russo?  He drew up his three batteries on the wharf opposite
+the unsuspecting _Andorinha_, and endeavored to plant twelve shells in
+the locality of her engine-room without the least hesitation.  There
+was no thought of demanding her surrender, or any quixotic nonsense of
+that sort.  In the first place, no man would act as herald, since he
+would be shot or stabbed the instant his errand became known; in the
+second, as Hozier had explained to Iris, the gunboat could slip her
+cable very quickly, and Russo's artillerists might miss a moving object.
+
+As it was, every gun scored, though the elevation was rather high.  The
+shells made a sad mess of the superstructure, but left the engines
+intact.  The sailors, on their part, knew exactly what had happened.
+Every man who escaped death or serious injury from the bursting
+missiles ran to his post.  A wire hawser and mooring rope were severed
+with axes, the screw revolved, and the _Andorinha_ was in motion.
+Though winged, she still could fly.  The second salvo of projectiles
+was less damaging; again the gunners failed to reach the warship's
+vitals.  Her commander got his own armament into action, and managed to
+demolish a warehouse and a grain elevator.  Then he made off down the
+coast toward Rio de Janeiro.
+
+The sudden uproar stirred Maceio from roof to basement.  Its
+inhabitants poured into the Plaza.  Every man vied with his neighbor in
+yelling: "The revolution is here!  _Viva Dom Corria_!  _Abajo São
+Paulo_!"
+
+That last cry explained a good deal.  The State of São Paulo had long
+maintained a "corner" in Brazilian Presidents.  De Sylva, a native of
+Alagoas, was the first to break down the monopoly.  Hence the cabal
+against him; hence, too, the readiness of Maceio, together with many of
+the smaller ports and the whole of the vast interior, to espouse his
+cause.
+
+For the purposes of this story, which is mainly concerned with the
+lives and fortunes of a few insignificant people unknown to history, it
+is not necessary to follow in detail the trumpetings, proclamations,
+carousals, and arrests that followed Dom Corria's first success.  It is
+a truism that in events of international importance the very names of
+the chief actors ofttimes go unrecorded.  Future generations will ask,
+perhaps:--Who blew up the _Maine_?  Who persuaded the Tsar to break his
+word anent Port Arthur?  Who told Paul Kruger that the Continent of
+Europe would support the Boers against Great Britain?   Such instances
+could be multiplied indefinitely, and the rule held good now in Brazil.
+
+If any polite Pernambucano, Maceio-ite, or merchant of Bahia were
+informed that President De Sylva's raid was alone rendered possible by
+the help of a truculent British master-mariner and a dozen or so of his
+hard-bitten crew, he (the said Brasileiro) might be skeptical, or, at
+best, indifferent.  But let the name of some puppet politician hailing
+from São Paulo be mentioned, and his eyes would flash with angry
+recognition; yet the _Andromeda's_ small contingent achieved more than
+a whole army of conspirators.
+
+The one incident, then, of a political nature, in which the victors of
+the tussle on Fernando Noronha were publicly concerned, was the outcome
+of a message cabled by Dom Corria while the smoke of Russo's cannon
+still clung about the quay.
+
+It was written in German, addressed to a Hamburg shipping firm, and ran
+as follows: "Have sold _Unser Fritz_ to Senhor Pondillo of this port as
+from September 1st, for 175,000 marks.  If approved, cable
+confirmation, and draw on Paris branch Deutsche Bank at sight.  Franz
+Schmidt, care German Consul, Maceio."
+
+This harmless commercial item was read by many officials hostile to De
+Sylva, yet it evoked no comment.  Its first real effect was observable
+in the counting-house of the Hamburg owners.  There it was believed
+that Captain Schmidt had either become a lunatic himself or was in
+touch with a rich one.  Schmidt was so well known to them that they
+acted on the latter hypothesis.  They cabled him their hearty
+commendation, "drew" on the Paris bank by the next post, and awaited
+developments.  To their profound amazement, the money was paid.  As
+they had obtained 8,750 pounds for a vessel worth about one-quarter of
+the sum, they had good reason to be satisfied.  It mattered not a jot
+to them that the sale was made "as from September 1st," or any other
+date.  They signed the desired quittance, cabled Schmidt again to ask
+if Senhor Pondillo was in need of other ships of the _Unser Fritz_
+class, and the members of the firm indulged that evening in the best
+dinner that the tip-top restaurant of Hamburg could supply.
+
+They were puzzled next day by certain statements in the newspapers, and
+were called on to explain to a number of journalists that the ship had
+left their ownership.  She was at Maceio.  Where was Maceio?  Somewhere
+in South America.
+
+"_Es ist nicht von Bedeutung_," said the senior partner to his
+associates.  "Schmidt will write full particulars; when all is said and
+done, we have the money."
+
+Yet it did matter very greatly, as shall be seen.  Here, again, was an
+instance of an humble individual becoming a cog in the wheel of world
+politics.  Within less than a month Schmidt was vituperated by half the
+chancelleries of Europe.  A newspaper war raged over him.  He became
+the object of an Emperor's Jovian wrath.  "What's the matter with
+Schmidt?  He's--all--right!" thundered the whole press of the United
+States.  And all because he had made a good bargain at a critical
+moment!
+
+But no one on board the _Unser Fritz_ was vexed by aught save present
+tribulations when De Sylva and his _aide_ quitted the ship.  Be sure
+that not a soul thought of sleep.  Every man, and the one woman whom
+chance had thrown in their midst, remained on deck and watched the
+slumbering town.  It was only a small place.  The _Andorinha_ lay at
+one end of the harbor, the _Unser Fritz_ at the other.  They were
+barely half a mile apart, and Maceio climbed the sloping shore between
+the two points.
+
+Hozier, of course, had forgiven Iris for her aloofness, and Iris, with
+that delightful inconsistency which ranks high among the many charms of
+her sex, found that "Philip dear," though she might not marry him, was
+her only possible companion.  He, having acquired an experience
+previously lacking, took care to fall in with her mood.  She, weary of
+a painful self-repression, cheated the frowning gods of "just this one
+night."  So they looked at the twinkling lights, spoke in whispers lest
+they should miss any tokens of disturbance on shore, elbowed each other
+comfortably on the rails of the bridge, and uttered no word of love or
+future purpose.
+
+They were discussing nothing more important than the sufferings of
+Watts--whom Coke would not allow to go out of his sight--when a
+lightning blaze leaped from the somber shadows of some buildings on the
+quay lower down the river.  Again, and many times again, the sudden
+jets of flame started out across the black water.  Iris, or Hozier, for
+that matter, had never seen a field-piece fired by night, but before
+the girl could do other than grip Philip's arm in a spasm of fear, the
+thunder of the artillery rolled across the harbor, and the worn plates
+of the _Unser Fritz_ quivered under the mere concussion.
+
+"By jove, they're at it!" cried Philip.
+
+Iris felt the thrill that shook him.  She could not see his face, but
+she knew that his blue eyes were shining like bright steel.  She was
+horrified at the thought of red war being so near, yet she was proud of
+her lover.  At these mortal crises, the woman demands courage in the
+man.
+
+"Oh!" she gasped, and clung to him more tightly.
+
+Under such circumstances it was only to be expected that his arm would
+clasp her round the waist; Disraeli's famous epigram was coined for
+diplomacy, not for love-making.
+
+Hozier strained his eyes through the gloom to try and discover the
+effect of the cannonade on the gunboat.  He was quickly alive to the
+significance of the answering broadside.  Then the black hull grew dim
+and vanished.  His sailor's sympathies went with the escaping ship.
+
+"She has got away!  I am jolly glad of it," he cried.  "It was a dirty
+trick to open fire on her in that fashion.  Just how they served the
+_Andromeda_, the hounds, only we had never a gun to tickle them up in
+return."
+
+"Do you think that many of the poor creatures have been killed?" asked
+Iris tremulously.  The din of ordnance and bursting shells had ceased
+as suddenly as it began.  Lights appeared in nearly every house.
+Shouting men were running along the neighboring wharf.  Maceio, never a
+heavy sleeper in bulk, dreamed for a second of earthquakes, leaped out
+of bed, and ran into the streets in the negligent costume which the
+Italians describe by the delightful word, _confidenza_.
+
+"I don't suppose so," Hozier reassured her.  "If the artillery had made
+good practice at that short range the gunboat must have sunk at her
+moorings.  Her men naturally couldn't miss the town.  There was a rare
+old rattle among the crockery behind the soldiers.  Did you hear it?  I
+wonder what went over?"
+
+He was as excited as a schoolboy, almost jubilant.  Poor Iris!  Though
+she was now a veteran in scenes of death and disaster, she realized
+that fate had erred in choosing her as a heroine.
+
+Coke and Watts drew near.
+
+"Dom Wot's-'is-name wasn't long in gettin' busy," chuckled Coke.  "Gev'
+her a dose of the _Andromeda's_ physic, eh?  I'm sorry the blighters
+managed to 'ook it."
+
+Though he had just uttered an opinion directly contrary to his
+captain's, Hozier deemed it wise to be non-committal.
+
+"The guns must have been laid badly," he said.
+
+"Mebbe, an' wot's more, d--n 'em, they knew there was something in
+front that could shoot back."
+
+So Coke was at least impartial.  He cared not a jot how the Brazilians
+slaughtered each other so long as De Sylva established the new regime
+speedily.
+
+"I never was a fightin' man meself," murmured Watts weakly.  "That sort
+of thing gives me a sinkin' sensation in me innards."
+
+"Wot you want is a drink, me boy," said Coke.
+
+Watts brightened.  He drew a deep breath.
+
+"I reelly believe that's wot's wrong with me," he said.
+
+"Then I'll just ax the cook to 'urry up with the corfee," guffawed the
+unfeeling skipper.  "We'll all be the better for a snack an' somethink
+'ot."
+
+Iris managed to choke down an hysterical laugh.  Coke was incorrigible,
+yet she was conscious of a growing appreciation of his crude chivalry.
+He boasted truly that he feared neither man nor devil.  His chief
+defect lay in being born several centuries too late.  Had he flourished
+during the Middle Ages, Coke would have carved out a kingdom.
+
+Even while the men were thus callously discussing the tragedy that had
+been enacted before their eyes, the miracle of the dawn was
+transforming night into day.  In the tropics there is no hesitancy
+about sunrise.  The splendid imagery of Genesis is literally exact.
+"Let there be light; and there was light . . . and God divided the
+light from the darkness."  Long before the _Andorinha_ had crept round
+the southern headland of the Macayo estuary she became visible again.
+
+About six o'clock a grand review was held in the Plaza, or chief
+square.  Dom Corria, a resplendent personage on horseback, made a fine
+speech.  He was vociferously applauded, by both troops and populace.
+General Russo, also mounted, assured him that Brazil was pining for
+him.  In effect, when he was firmly established in the Presidency, the
+people would be allowed to vote for him.
+
+"We have borne two years of misrule," vociferated the
+commander-in-chief, "but it has vanished before the fiery breath of our
+guns.  We hail your Excellency as our liberator.  Long live Dom Corria!
+Down with----"
+
+The fierce "Vivas" of the mob, combined with the general's weight,
+proved too much for his charger, which plunged violently.  Russo was
+held on accidentally by his spurs.  There was a lively interlude until
+an orderly seized the bridle, and the general was able to disengage the
+rowels from the animal's ribs.  When tranquillity was restored, the
+soldiers marched off to their quarters, and Colonel San Benavides
+boarded the _Unser Fritz_.  He invited Iris, Schmidt, Coke, and Hozier
+to breakfast with the President at the principal hotel.
+
+Watts was not included in the list of guests.  Being indignant, he
+expressed himself freely.
+
+"Nice thing!" he said to Norrie.  "We're not good enough to be axed.
+It was a bit of all right w'en we 'elped 'im out of quod, but now 'e's
+a bloomin' toff we're low-down sailormen--that's wot we are."
+
+"Man, ye're fair daft," growled the Scot.  "It's as plain as the neb on
+yer face that he canna dae wi' a', so he just picked the twa skippers
+and the lassie; he kent weel she wadna stir an inch withoot Hozier."
+
+Norrie was right, as it happened, but Watts added another grudge to his
+score against De Sylva.
+
+Now, though dynasties totter and empires crash, the first thing a woman
+thinks of when bidden to a public gathering is her attire.  Iris
+declared most emphatically that to expect her to go ashore and meet
+certain military and civic dignitaries while she was wearing a costume
+originally purchased for mountaineering, which had endured the rough
+usage of the past two days, was "for to laugh."  She was speaking
+French, and that was the literal phrase she used.  The courteous San
+Benavides smiled away her protest.  His Excellency had foreseen the
+difficulty.  Those who knew Dom Corria best would not credit that he
+should forget anything.  The Senhora Pondillo awaited Iris at the hotel
+with a supply of new clothing.  Captain Schmidt, of course, could
+depend on his own wardrobe, but Captain Coke and the Senhor Hozier
+would find a tradesman in their rooms who had guaranteed to equip them
+suitably.  Moreover, the same outfitter would visit the ship during the
+morning and make good the lost raiment and boots of the other officers
+and men of the _Andromeda_.  San Benavides spoke like the ambassador of
+a prince, and, in the sequel, there was no stint of deeds to give
+effect to his promises.
+
+On the way to the hotel Iris saw a large building labeled "Casa do
+Correio e Telegraphia."  It was not surprising that she had not thought
+earlier of the necessity of cabling to Liverpool.  She blushed, and
+looked involuntarily at Hozier.
+
+"I must send a message to my uncle," she said.
+
+Were Philip a professed spiritualist, the spectral shapes of David
+Verity and Dickey Bulmer could not have been more effectually
+"projected" into his astral plane at Maceio than they were at that
+instant.  He had not set eyes on either of the men, but the girl's
+words conjured them into being, and the vision was vastly disagreeable.
+
+San Benavides, of course, was anxious to oblige Iris in this as in
+every other respect.  He procured the requisite form, told her the
+cost, which led to a condensed version of the original draft, smoothed
+away the slight hindrance of foreign money tendered in payment, and
+arranged the due delivery of a reply.  Perhaps he smiled when he read
+what she had written.  The words were comprehensible even to one who
+did not understand English:
+
+"_Andromeda_ lost.  Arrived here safely.  Address, Yorke, Maceio."
+
+There was a space at the foot of the form on which it was necessary to
+subscribe her name and local address.  So she wrote, "Iris Yorke,
+steamship _Unser Fritz_, Maceio harbor."  Hozier was standing by her
+side as she printed the words legibly.  She looked up at him with a
+curiously tense expression that he did not fathom immediately.  They
+were in the busy main street again ere its meaning occurred to him.
+The cable committed her irrevocably.  She felt that she was signing her
+own condemnation!
+
+Among the four people, therefore, who entered the Hotel Grande in the
+Rua do Sul there were two whose feelings were the reverse of cheerful.
+But convention is stronger than the primal impulses--sometimes it
+triumphs over death itself--and convention was all-powerful now.  It
+led Iris away captive in the train of the smiling and voluble Senhora
+Pondillo, and it immersed Hozier in a tangle of fearsome words which
+turned out to be the stock in trade of a clothier.  The mere male of
+Maceio decks himself with gay plumage.  Philip was hard put to it
+before he secured some garments which did not irresistibly recall the
+heroes of certain musical comedies popular in England.
+
+Coke experienced worse vicissitudes.  Even the variety and richness of
+a master mariner's vocabulary was taxed to its utmost resources when he
+was coaxed into "trying on" a short jacket apparently intended for a
+toreador.  Such minor troubles, however, were overcome in time.  A
+razor and a hot bath were by no means the least important items of the
+rejuvenating process, and when the two men entered the salon where Dom
+Corria was holding an impromptu reception they looked like a couple of
+coffee-planters from the Argentine.  Schmidt was there already.  For
+some reason, the new President seemed to be so fond of the _Unser
+Fritz's_ commander that he refused to be parted from him.  It was not
+until long afterward that Hozier discovered the reason of this mushroom
+friendship.  The German consul was in the room.
+
+The appearance of Iris caused something akin to a sensation.  The Dona
+Pondillo could not create English clothes, nor bad copies of French,
+but her own daughters dressed in the height of local fashion, and Dom
+Corria's earnest request had made them generous.  The dark-eyed,
+olive-complexioned women of Alagoas are often exceedingly beautiful,
+but few of those present had ever seen a brown-haired, brown-eyed,
+fair-faced Englishwoman.  Iris was remarkably good-looking, even among
+the pretty girls of her own county of Lancashire.  Her large, limpid
+eyes, well-molded nose, and perfectly formed mouth were the dominant
+features of a face that had all the charm of youth and health.  Her
+smooth skin, brown with exposure to sun and air, glowed into a rich
+crimson when she found herself in the midst of so many strangers.  The
+slightly delicate semblance induced by the hardships and loss of rest
+which fell to her lot since the _Andromeda_ went to pieces on the
+Grand-père rock in no wise detracted from her appearance.  She wore the
+elegant costume of a Maceio belle with ease and distinction.  If she
+was flurried by the undisguised murmur of admiration that greeted her,
+she did not show it beyond the first rush of color.
+
+Dom Corria, dragging Schmidt with him, hurried to meet her.  Surprise
+at his gala attire helped to conquer her natural timidity, for the
+President was gorgeous in blue and gold.
+
+"My good wishes are soon changed into congratulations, Senhor," she
+said.
+
+"Ah, my dear young lady, I am overjoyed that you should be here to
+witness my success," he cried.  Then, as if he had waited for this
+moment, he turned to the assembled company and delivered an eloquent
+panegyric of the _Andromeda's_ crew and their _deusa deliciosa_--for
+that is what he called Iris--a delightful goddess.  He had made many
+speeches already that day, but none was more heartfelt than this.  His
+eulogy was unstinted.  Luckily for Iris, she was so conscious of the
+attention she attracted that she kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on the
+carpet.  Otherwise, having a well-developed sense of humor, she must
+have laughed outright had she seen Coke's face.
+
+He, of course, understood no word that was said.  But De Sylva's
+animated gestures and flashing eyes were enough.  Ever and anon, the
+excitable citizens of Maceio would turn and gaze at one or other of the
+three, while loud cries of "Bravo!" punctuated the President's oratory.
+When Coke's turn came for these demonstrations, he tried to grin, but
+was only able to scowl.  For once in his stormy life he was nonplused.
+His brick-red countenance glowed with heat and embarrassment.  At the
+close of the speech he muttered to Hozier:
+
+"Wish I'd ha' known wot sort of beano I was comin' to.  Dam if I ain't
+meltin'."
+
+This ordeal ended, déjeuner was served.  The President took in Iris and
+the Dona Pondillo.  They were the only ladies present.  The three
+sailors, some staff officers, and a few local celebrities, made up the
+rest of the company.
+
+Hozier, though by no means indifferent to the good fare provided, was
+wondering how many hours would elapse before Iris's cablegram reached
+Verity's office, when some words caught his ear that drove all other
+considerations from his mind.
+
+"I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, there is not the slightest
+chance of your message reaching England to-day, Miss Yorke," the
+President was saying.
+
+"But why not?" she asked, with an astonishment that was not wholly the
+outcome of regret.
+
+"The cable does not land here, and the transmitting stations will be
+closely watched, now that my arrival in Brazil is known.  Even the
+simplest form of words will be twisted into a political significance.
+No, I think it best to be quite candid.  Until I control Pernambuco,
+which should be within a week or ten days, you may rest assured that no
+private cablegrams will be forwarded."
+
+"Oh, dear, I fully expected a reply to-day," she said, and now that she
+realized the effect of a further period of anxiety on the Bootle
+partnership she was genuinely dismayed.
+
+"You may be sure it will not come," said Dom Corria.  "Indeed I may as
+well take this opportunity of explaining to you--and to my other
+English friends"--with the interpolated sentence his glance dwelt
+quietly on Hozier and Coke--"the exact position locally.  You see,
+Maceio is a small place, and easily approached from the sea.  A hostile
+fleet could knock it to pieces in half an hour, and it would be a poor
+reward for my supporters' loyalty if my presence subjected them to a
+bombardment.  I have no strong defenses or heavy guns to defy attack,
+and my troops are not more than a thousand men, all told.  It is
+obvious that I must make for the interior.  There, I gather strength as
+I advance, the warships cannot pursue, and I can choose my own
+positions to meet the half-hearted forces that Dom Miguel will collect
+to oppose me.  In fact, I and every armed man in Maceio march
+up-country this afternoon."
+
+Iris, by this time, was thoroughly frightened, and Hozier, who read
+more in De Sylva's words than was possible in her case, was watching
+the speaker's calm face with a fixity that might have disconcerted many
+men.  Dom Corria seemed to be unaware of either the girl's distress or
+Philip's white anger.
+
+"You naturally ask how I propose to safeguard the companions of my
+flight from Fernando Noronha," he went on.  "I answer at once--by
+taking them with me.  The Senhora Pondillo and her family will
+accompany her husband to my _quinta_ at Las Flores.  A special train
+will take all of us to the nearest railway station this afternoon.
+Thence my estate is but a day's march.  You and my other friends from
+both ships will be quite safe and happy there until order is restored.
+You must come.  The men's lives, at any rate, would not be worth an
+hour's purchase if my opponent's forces found them here, and I feel
+certain that one or more cruisers will arrive off Maceio to-night.  For
+you, this excursion will be quite a pleasant experience, and you can
+absolutely rely on my promise to send news of your safety to England at
+the very first opportunity."
+
+Iris could say nothing under the shock of this intelligence.  She
+looked at Philip, and their eyes met.  They both remembered the glance
+they had exchanged at the post-office.  Preoccupied by their own
+thoughts, neither of them had noticed the smile San Benavides indulged
+in on that occasion, nor did they pay heed to the fact that he was
+smiling again now, apparently at some story told him by General Russo.
+But San Benavides was sharp-witted.  He needed no interpreter to make
+clear the cause of the chill that had fallen on the President's end of
+the table.
+
+"He has told them," he thought, perhaps.  And, if further surmise were
+hazarded as to his views, they might well prove to be concerned with
+the wonderful things that can happen within a week or ten
+days--especially when things are happening at the rate taken by events
+just then in Brazil.
+
+Of course, as a philosopher, San Benavides was right; it was in the
+role of prophet that he came to grief, this being the pre-ordained fate
+of all false prophets.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+CARMELA
+
+Among the many words borrowed by the Brazilians from their
+Spanish-speaking neighbors, that for "to-morrow" is perhaps the most
+popular.  The Spaniard's _Mañana_ is so elastic that it covers any
+period of time between the next twenty-four hours and the indefinite
+future.  When, therefore, Dom Sylva spoke of controlling Pernambuco
+before the month of September was barely half sped, he was either too
+sanguine, or too literal in his translation of easy-going Portuguese
+into vigorous English.
+
+His _quinta_, or country house, was situated on the upper watershed of
+the river Moxoto.  There he raised his standard, thither flocked rebels
+galore, and in that direction, with due caution, President Barraca
+pushed columns of troops by road and rail from Bahia, from Pernambuco,
+and from Maceio itself.  For Barraca held the sea, and the wealthy and
+enterprising south was strongly opposed to war, while Dom Corria
+trusted to the mountains and drew his partisans from the less energetic
+north.  This bald statement has an unconvincing sound in the ears of
+races which dwell north of the equator, but it must be remembered that
+Brazil, in more respects than one, is the land of topsy-turveydom.
+Were it not that the mass of the people was heartily sick of a corrupt
+regime, De Sylva would have been dead or in irons on his way back to
+Fernando Noronha well within the time allotted for the consolidation of
+his rule.  As it was, minor insurrections were breaking out in the
+southern provinces, the reigning President could trust only in the
+navy, and the conservatism of commerce and society, as represented by
+the great landowners of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Minas Geraes,
+alone stifled the upgrowth of an overwhelming national movement in Dom
+Corria's favor.
+
+In a word, De Sylva commanded public sympathy but small resources;
+Barraca was unpopular but controlled the navy and part of the army.
+Given such conditions--with the added absurdity that the troops on both
+sides were most unwilling to face long-range rifle fire but would
+cheerfully hack each other to mince-meat with knives--and a tedious,
+indeterminate campaign is the certain outcome.  De Sylva had said that
+local conflicts were usually "short and fierce."  Applied to such
+upheavals as had taken place in the capital during recent years, the
+phrase was strictly accurate.  He himself had been bundled out of
+office between Mass and Vespers on a memorable Sunday.  But a convict
+on a remote island cannot organize such a perfect example of a
+successful revolt.  He had done much in gaining a good foothold; the
+rest must be left to time and chance.
+
+A few indecisive but sanguinary engagements were fought in the
+neighborhood of Pesqueira, a town in the hills about one hundred miles
+from the seaboard.  These proved that General Russo was a valiant
+fighter but a poor tactician--and that was all.  He was opposed by a
+commander of little courage but singular skill in strategy.  To restore
+the balance, Dom Corria took the field in person, and Dom Miguel
+Barraca hastened from Rio de Janeiro to witness the crushing of his
+arch-enemy.
+
+The position was complicated by the arrival at Pernambuco of a German
+squadron bearing a telegraphic cartel from the Emperor.  A German ship
+had been seized on the high seas.  Why?  And by whom?  And how could
+anybody dare?  Then Brazil quivered, for every South American knows in
+his heart that the great navy of Germany is being created not so much
+to destroy England as to dispute the proud doctrine of the United
+States that no European power shall ever again be allowed to seize
+territory on the American continent.
+
+So there were strenuous days and anxious nights at Las Flores, where
+President De Sylva sought to equip and discipline his levies, and at
+Carugru, where President Barraca called on all the gods to witness that
+De Sylva was a double-dyed traitor.
+
+Under such circumstances it is not surprising that a grand display of
+money and audacity, backed by sundry distant roars of the British lion,
+should enable two elderly Britons and a young Brazilian lady to pass
+through the lines of the Exercito Nacional, as Barraca had christened
+his following, in opposition to De Sylva's army of Liberation.  Lest
+too many people should become interested, the adventure was essayed on
+the night of October 2d.  Early next day the travelers and their guides
+reached the rebel outposts.  The young lady, who seemed to be at home
+in this wild country, at once urged her horse into a pace wholly beyond
+the equestrian powers of her staid companions.  They protested vainly.
+She waved a farewell hand, cantered over several miles of a rough road,
+and dashed up to the Liberationist headquarters about eight o'clock.
+
+There was no hesitancy about her movements.  She drew rein in approved
+Gaucho style, bringing her mount to a dead stop from a gallop.
+
+"Where is the President?" she asked breathlessly.
+
+"There, senhora," said an orderly, pointing to a marquee, open on every
+side, wherein De Sylva sat in conference with his staff.
+
+So many officers and mounted soldiers were coming and going, so great
+was the bustle of preparation for some important movement then in
+train, that no one specially noted her arrival.  She dismounted, and
+drew the reins across the horse's head ere she tied him to a tree.  She
+saw a tall young man emerge from the tent, jump on a charger held by a
+soldier, and ride off at a fast pace toward the house of Las Flores,
+which stood in a large garden on the slope of a neighboring hill.  His
+appearance seemed to puzzle her momentarily.  His attire was that of
+Brazil, but neither his manner nor horsemanship was typical of the
+Brasileiro.  In walking, he moved with an air of purposeful
+concentration that differed singularly from the languorous stroll of
+the average Brazilian officer, while his seat in the saddle, though
+confident enough, could not be mistaken for that of a man who never
+walks a yard if there is an animal to bestride.
+
+The new arrival was, however, at once too weary and too excited to give
+further heed to one who was an utter stranger.  She pushed her way
+through knots of smoking loungers, entered the tent, and uttered a
+little scream of delight when the President, who was writing at a big
+table, happened to glance at her.  De Sylva rose hastily, with an
+amazed look on his usually unemotional face; forthwith the girl flung
+herself into his arms.
+
+"Father!"
+
+"Carmela!"
+
+San Benavides, whose back was turned, heard the joyous cries of the
+reunited father and daughter.  They were locked in each other's
+embrace, and the eyes of every man present were drawn to a pathetic and
+unexpected meeting.  For that reason, and because none gave a thought
+to him, the pallor that changed the bronze of his forehead and cheeks
+into a particularly unhealthy-looking tint of olive green passed
+unnoticed.  He swallowed something.  It must have been a curse, for it
+seemed to taste bitter.  But he managed to recover some shred of
+self-control ere the Senhora De Sylva was able to answer her father's
+first eager questions; then, with a charming timidity, she found breath
+to say:
+
+"And what of Salvador--is he not here?"
+
+Yes, Salvador was there--by her side--striving most desperately to look
+lover-like.  They clasped hands.  Brazilian etiquette forbade a more
+demonstrative greeting, and Carmela attributed Salvador's manifest
+sallowness to the hardships of campaigning no less than the shock of
+her sudden appearance.
+
+But the business of red war gave little scope for the many confidences
+that a girl who had journeyed more than four thousand miles for this
+reunion might naturally exchange with a father and a lover.  Some
+important move was toward, and the President and his chief-of-staff had
+no time to spare.
+
+"You have come to bring me luck, Carmela meu," said De Sylva, stroking
+his daughter's hair affectionately.  "To-day we make our first real
+advance.  Salvador and I are going to the front now, almost this
+instant.  But there will be no fighting--an affair of outposts at the
+best--and when everything is in order we shall return here to sleep.
+Expect us, then, soon after sunset.  Meanwhile, at the _quinta_ you
+will find the young English lady of whose presence you are aware.  Give
+her your friendship.  She is worthy of it."
+
+"Adeos, senhora!" echoed San Benavides, bringing his heels together
+with a click, and saluting.  He gathered a number of papers from the
+table with nervous haste, and at once began to issue instructions to
+several officers.  De Sylva renewed the signing of documents.  Russo
+and he conversed in low tones.  A buzz of talk broke out in the tent.
+Carmela felt that she had no part in this activity, that her mere
+presence was a positive hindrance to the work in hand.  A trifle
+disappointed, yet not without a thrill of high resolve to create for
+herself an indispensable share in the movement of which her father was
+the central figure, she went out, unhitched her tired horse, and walked
+to the house.
+
+In Brazil, a _quinta_, or farm, may range from a palace to a hovel.
+Dom Corria was rich; consequently Las Flores attained the higher level.
+It was a straggling, roomy structure, planned for comfort and
+hospitality rather than display, and the gardens, to whose beauty and
+extent was due the Spanish name, used to be famous throughout the
+province.  Carmela had not seen the place during five years; she
+expected to find changes, but was hardly prepared for the ravages made
+by neglect, aided by unchecked tropical growth, as the outcome of her
+father's two years in prison.  The flowers were gone, the rarer shrubs
+choked by rank weeds, the trees disfigured by rampant climbers.  But,
+in front of the long, deep veranda, even the attention of a month had
+restored much of its beauty to a widespread lawn.  Here, at that early
+hour, the air was cool and the shade abundant; indeed, so embossed in
+towering trees was the wide greensward, that it seemed to flow abruptly
+into the veranda without ever a path or garden gate to break the solid
+walls of foliage.
+
+Filled with tumultuous memories, her heart all throbbing at the
+prospect of her father's fortunes being restored, the Senhora De Sylva
+was entering a gate that led to the left front of the house, when the
+young man came out whom she had seen leaving the headquarters tent.
+Again he rode like one in a hurry, and she noted that he emerged from a
+side path which gave access to the lawn.  He gave her a sharp glance as
+he passed.  She received an impression of a strong face, with
+stern-looking, bright, steel-blue eyes, a mouth tensely set, an aspect
+at once confident yet self-contained.  She was sure now he was not a
+Brazilian, and he differed most materially from the mental picture of
+Captain James Coke created by the many conversations in which he had
+figured during her long voyage from Southampton in company with David
+Verity and Dickey Bulmer.
+
+So Carmela wondered now who he could be, nor was her wonder lessened
+when she peered through the screen of trees, and saw a girl, whom she
+recognized instantly as Iris, furtively dabbing her tear-stained face
+with a handkerchief.
+
+Unhappily, the President's daughter was not attractive in appearance.
+She had fine eyes, and she moved with the natural elegance of her race,
+but her features were somewhat angular for one of pure-blooded
+Portuguese descent, and a too well-defined chin was more effectual as
+an index of character than as an element of personal charm.  Close
+acquaintance with the cosmopolitan society of Paris and London had
+familiarized her with many types of European and American beauty, and
+her surprise that such an uncommonly good-looking girl should be the
+niece of David Verity was not unmingled with pique at finding her
+already installed in remote Las Flores.
+
+The veranda seemed to be a hive of feminine industry.  The Dona
+Pondillo and her daughters, together with the female relatives of
+several noted men among the insurgents, were cutting and stitching most
+industriously.  Iris Yorke's advice, perhaps her assistance, was
+evidently in demand.  Assuming that the young man who rode thither so
+rapidly had gone to see her, she could not have been absent from the
+sewing party more than five minutes, yet half a dozen ladies were
+clamoring for her already.  The truth was that many of them had never
+plied a needle before in their lives.  They had to be taught
+everything.  One peasant woman would have accomplished more real work
+than any five of the Librationist _grandes dames_.
+
+Despite her firm chin, Carmela De Sylva did not contemn the
+meretricious aid of dress.  Iris looked fresh and cool in soft muslin,
+whereas the newcomer was travel-stained and disheveled.  The pack-mules
+were lagging on the road, but a wash and general tidying of
+dust-covered garments would help the President's daughter to regain the
+assurance, now sadly lacking, which would be necessary ere she won her
+rightful place in a community largely composed of strangers.  As she
+led her horse back into the main avenue, she was sorry that her father
+or Salvador could not spare even the few minutes that would have
+sufficed for an introduction.  At any rate, she would probably find an
+old servant at the back of the house--some family retainer whose
+welcome would charm away this displeasing sense of intrusion.
+
+On the way to the stables she heard a man singing.  The words were in
+English.  They were also quaint, for they dealt with life from a point
+of view which differed widely from that presented by Dom Corria's
+_finca_.
+
+  "Oh, it's fine to be a sailor" [sang Watts],
+      "an' to cross the ragin' main,
+      From Hooghly bar to New Orleens to roam,
+  But I 'ope that my old woman will put me on the chain
+      Next time I want to quit my 'umble 'ome."
+
+
+Possibly the verse was an original effort, because there followed a
+marked change in tune and meter.
+
+"'Mid pleasures an' palaces----'" he began, when Senhora De Sylva came
+upon him as he sat on a fence, pipe in hand, with his back braced
+comfortably against a magnificent rosewood tree.  He stopped, grinned
+sheepishly, and, not recognizing the lady, tried to cover his confusion
+by lighting the pipe.
+
+"Are you one of the _Andromeda's_ men?" asked Carmela, speaking in the
+clear and accurate English used by her father.
+
+It was well for Watts that the tree prevented him from falling
+backwards.  He was quite sober, but cheerful withal, as he had nothing
+to do but sleep, smoke, eat, and drink the light wine of the district,
+of which his only complaint was that "one might mop up a barrel of it
+an' get no forrarder."  Nevertheless, he received a positive shock when
+addressed in his own language by a young woman who was obviously of
+Brazil.  He stared at her so hard that he forgot the steady progress of
+the slow-burning tand-stikkor match recently ignited.  Its sulphurous
+flame reached his fingers and reminded him.
+
+"My godfather!" he howled, springing from the rail, and recovering his
+wits instantly.  "Beg pardon, mum, but you took me aback all standin'
+as the saying is.  Christopher, didn't that match wake me up!"
+
+"I am afraid it is my fault," said Carmela, who could look sympathetic
+where Iris would want to laugh.  "I have just arrived here, and
+everybody seems to be so full of troubles that I am glad to hear you
+singing."
+
+"Oh, that's just hummin', mum.  If you're fond of music you ought to
+'ear Schmidt, Captain Schmidt of the _Unser Fritz_----"
+
+Carmela struck an attitude.
+
+"Wot, d'ye know 'im?" asked Watts.
+
+"No, it is something--rather important.  I must go back to my father.
+Ah, I ought to explain.  I am the Senhora De Sylva, Dom Corria's
+daughter."
+
+"Are you really, mum,--miss?" exclaimed Watts, highly interested.  "'Ow
+in the world did ye manage to come up from the coast?  Accordin' to all
+accounts----"
+
+"Yes, what were you going to say?" for the man hesitated.
+
+"Well, some of our chaps will 'ave it that we're runnin' close-hauled
+on a lee shore."
+
+Carmela knit her brows.  The Watts idioms were not those of her
+governess.
+
+"We had no great difficulty in passing through Dom Barraca's lines, if
+that is what you mean," she said.  "Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer had
+obtained special permits, but in my case----"
+
+"Mr. 'oo, did you say, miss?" demanded Watts, whose lower jaw actually
+dropped from sheer amazement.
+
+"Mr. Verity, the owner of the _Andromeda_.  You are one of the crew, I
+suppose?"
+
+"I'm the chief officer.  Watts is my name, miss.  But d'you mean to
+tell me that ole David Verity 'as come 'ere--to Brazil--to this rotten
+. . .  Sorry, miss, but you gev' me a turn, you did.  An' Dickey
+Bulmer--is _'e_ 'ere too?"
+
+"Yes, or he soon will be here.  I rode on in advance of the others."
+
+"Well--there--if that don't beat cock-fightin'!" cried Watts.  "Wot'll
+Coke say?  W'y, 'e'll 'ave a fit.  An' Miss Iris!  She's to marry ole
+Dickey.  Fancy 'im turnin' up!  There'll be the deuce an' all to pay,
+now, wot between 'im an' Hozier an' the dashin' colonel."
+
+The horse, trying to nibble some grass at Carmela's feet, suddenly
+threw his head up, for the cruel South American bit had tightened under
+a jerk of the reins.
+
+"Who is Mr. Hozier?" asked the girl calmly.
+
+"He is, or was, our second mate, but since the colonel an' 'e got to
+loggerheads 'e took an' raised a corps of scouts.  Some of our fellows
+joined, but not me.  Killin' other folks don't agree with me a little
+bit.  I don't mind a shine in a snug or a friendly scrap over an extry
+drink, but w'en it comes to them long knives----"
+
+"And the colonel--what is _his_ name?" broke in Carmela, turning to
+loosen the surcingle.  She could control her voice but not her eyes,
+and she did not wish to startle this open-mouthed gossip.
+
+"San Benavides, miss.  Captain 'e was on Fernando Noronha; 'e took a
+mighty quick jump after we kem ashore.  But I ax your pardon for
+ramblin' on in this silly way.  Won't you go inside?  There's a useful
+ole party there, name of Maria----"
+
+"Ah, Maria--dear, good Maria--she at least will not have forgotten me,"
+sobbed Carmela in her own tongue, and Watts afterwards informed Coke
+that although the inhabitants of China were noted for their peculiar
+ways, when it came to a show-down in that qualification, the average
+woman could beat any Chinky ever born.  Had he but known more, Watts
+was also in a position to state that he had squared accounts with the
+scornful President.
+
+For the Senhora De Sylva might have been seized with mortal illness if
+judged solely by the manner in which she staggered into her father's
+house, threw her arms around the neck of an elderly woman whom she
+petrified by her appearance, and almost fainted--not quite, but on the
+verge, much nearer than such a strong-minded young lady would have
+thought possible an hour earlier.
+
+Maria screamed loudly.  Tongue-tied at first, she was badly scared when
+Carmela collapsed on her ample bosom.  Restoratives and endearments
+followed.  Carmela asked to be taken to a room where she might wash and
+shake the dust from her hair and clothes.  Maria considered ways and
+means.  Every room in the big house was crowded.
+
+"Who is in my own apartment?" demanded Carmela.
+
+Even before the answer was forthcoming she guessed the truth.  The
+Senhora Ingleza, of course.  Those fine eyes of hers flashed
+dangerously.
+
+"What, then?  Does this woman come here and take all?" she cried.
+
+"Ah, _pequinina_, do not be angry," said Maria.  "Who save the good God
+could tell that you would come from Paris to-day?  And the Senhora
+Ingleza will be glad to give place to you.  She is so kind, so
+unselfish.  All the men adore her."
+
+"So I hear," murmured Carmela, trying to still the passion that
+throbbed in her heart, since she was aware that neither Maria nor any
+other among the old domestics at Las Flores knew of her engagement, and
+pride was now coming to her aid.
+
+"She will have no word to say to any of them," gabbled Maria.  "There
+is a young Englishman--well, it is no affair of mine, but I am told she
+loves him, yet is promised to another, an old man, too.  _Santa Mãe_!
+That would not suit me if I were her age!"
+
+This home-coming of Carmela was quite an important event in its way.
+At first sight it bore the semblance of a mere disillusionment such as
+any girl might experience under like circumstances.  She had been taken
+from Las Flores to occupy a palace at Rio de Janeiro, and was driven
+from the palace to the hotel life of the Continent.  During two years
+she had not seen either father or lover; and lovers of the San
+Benavides ilk are apt to console themselves during these prolonged
+intervals.  Yet Carmela's shattered romance was the pivot on which
+rested the future of Brazil.
+
+Had she gone straight to Iris on leaving her father, and made known the
+astounding tidings that Verity and Bulmer were riding up the Moxoto
+Valley barely three miles away, Iris would surely have devised some
+means of acquainting Philip Hozier with the fact.  In that event,
+assuming that he awaited their arrival, the first march of an extended
+reconnaissance which he thought desirable would necessarily be
+postponed.  And then--well, the recent history of Brazil would have to
+be re-written, since there cannot be the slightest doubt that Dom
+Corria De Sylva would never have occupied the Presidential chair a
+second time.
+
+It would be idle now to inquire too closely into the springs of
+Philip's resolve to take service under a foreign flag.  Perhaps the
+irksome state of affairs at Las Flores, where there was no mean between
+loafing and soldiering, was intolerable to a spirited youngster.
+Perhaps San Benavides, constantly riding in from the front, irritated
+him beyond endurance by his superior airs.  Or it may be that a growing
+belief in Iris's determination to sacrifice herself by redeeming her
+bond made him careless as to what happened in the near future.  The
+outcome of one or all of these influences was that he sought, and was
+readily given, a commission in the Army of Liberation.  Like all
+sailors, he preferred the mounted arm, and De Sylva, having the highest
+opinion of his thoroughness, actually appointed him to command a branch
+of the Intelligence Department.
+
+Philip, trained to pin his faith in maps and charts, came to the
+conclusion that Las Flores could be attacked from the rear, which lay
+to the northwest.  The Brazilians laughed at the notion.  Where were
+the troops to come from?  Barraca must bring all his men by sea.  There
+were none stationed in those wild mountains.
+
+"Better go and make sure," quoth Philip.
+
+He ascertained the President's intentions as to the next twenty-four
+hours, assembled his little body of scouts, saw to their forage and
+equipment, took leave of Iris, and hurried off.
+
+When two stout and elderly fellow-countrymen of his climbed the last
+mile of the rough valley beneath the Las Flores slope, Philip and his
+troop were a league or more beyond the Moxoto's watershed.
+
+Meanwhile, Carmela De Sylva proved that her resolute chin was not
+deceptive as a guide to temperament.  The Dona Pondillo deemed her a
+spirit when she appeared on the veranda, but Carmela's impetuous kiss
+soon disabused the worthy dame of her error.
+
+Iris, wondering why the lively chatter of her Brazilian friends was so
+suddenly stilled, to be succeeded by a hubbub of excited words as the
+older ladies present gathered around the new-comer, asked one of the
+Pondillo girls what had happened.
+
+"It is Carmela, the President's daughter," giggled the other.  "Mother
+says she is engaged to San Benavides.  What fun!  But where has she
+come from?  When last I heard of her she was in Paris."
+
+A month of close companionship with people who spoke Portuguese all day
+long, and often far into the night, had familiarized Iris with many of
+the common phrases.  Thus, she gathered one fact as to Carmela, and
+more than suspected another.  For a reason that every woman will
+understand, she felt a subtle thrill of fear.  If San Benavides were
+really Carmela's accepted lover, then, indeed, Iris had good cause for
+foreboding.  Though the Brazilian had never directly avowed his
+passion, since he knew quite well that she would refuse to listen, she
+could not be blind to his infatuation.  Only the threat of her dire
+displeasure had restrained Hozier from an open quarrel with him.  Her
+position, difficult enough already, would become intolerable if De
+Sylva's daughter became jealous, and she had no doubt whatsoever that
+San Benavides would seek to propitiate the woman he loved by callously
+telling the woman he had promised to marry that his affections were
+bestowed elsewhere.
+
+Her heart sank when she discovered this new maelstrom in her sea of
+troubles; but here was Carmela herself speaking to her, and in English:
+
+"So you are Iris Yorke!" the girl was saying.  "I have heard so much of
+you, yet you are so utterly different from what I imagined."
+
+"You have heard of _me_?" repeated Iris, and surprise helped her to
+smile with something of her wonted self-possession.
+
+"Yes, on board the steamer.  We sailed from Southampton, and had little
+else to talk of during the voyage.  But, of course, you cannot
+understand.  Among my fellow-passengers were your uncle and Mr. Bulmer."
+
+Iris had long relinquished any hope of communicating with Bootle until
+the present deadlock in the operations of the two armies was a thing of
+the past.  Completely mystified now by Carmela's glib reference to the
+two men whose names were so often in her thoughts though seldom on her
+lips, she could only gaze at the Senhora De Sylva in silent
+bewilderment.
+
+Carmela, feeling that she was gaining ground rapidly, affected a note
+of polite regret.
+
+"Please forgive me for being so abrupt.  Perhaps I ought to have
+prepared you.  But it is quite true.  Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer came
+with me from Europe.  We all reached Pernambuco the day before
+yesterday.  Indeed, if it were not for them, and the assistance they
+gave me, I would not be here now.  No one recognized me, fortunately,
+and--I hope you will not be vexed--I passed as Mr. Verity's niece.  In
+fact, I took your place for the time."
+
+A notable feature of the De Sylva utterance was its clearness.
+Carmela's concluding words could not possibly be mistaken for anything
+else.  Their meaning, on the other hand, was capable of varying shades
+of significance; but Iris was far too amazed to seek depths beneath
+their literalness.
+
+"If Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer are in Brazil----" she began tremulously,
+but Carmela broke in with a shrill laugh.
+
+"There is no 'if.'  Look below there, near my father's tent!  They have
+arrived.  They are asking for you.  Come, let us meet them!  I must see
+my father before he departs."
+
+Iris's swimming eyes could not discern the figures to which Carmela was
+pointing.  But this strange girl's triumphant tone rang like a knell in
+her heart.  She was not thinking now of the complications that might
+arise between San Benavides and his discarded flame.  She only knew
+that, by some miracle, her uncle had come to bring her home, and with
+him was the man to whom she was plighted, while Philip, only half an
+hour ago, had told her he would not see her again until the following
+evening.
+
+So this was the end of her dream.  Bitter-sweet it had been, and long
+drawn out, but forthwith she must awake to the gray actualities of life.
+
+She felt Carmela dragging her onward, irresistibly, vindictively.  She
+saw, as through a mist, David Verity's fiery-hued face, and heard his
+harsh accents.  Yes, there was no mistake.  Here was Bootle transported
+to Brazil, Linden House to Las Flores!
+
+"By gum, lass," he was bellowing, with a touch of real sentiment in his
+voice, "you've given us a rare dance afore we caught up wi' you.  But
+'ere you are, bright as a cherry, an' 'ere is Dickey an' meself come to
+fetch you.  Dash my wig, there's life in the old dogs yet, or we'd
+never ha' bin able to ride forty mile through this God-forgotten
+country.  An' damme if that isn't Coke, red as a lobster.  Jimmie, me
+boy, put it there!  Man, but you're a dashed long way from port!"
+
+Happily, Iris was too stunned to betray herself.  She extended a hand
+to the sun-browned, white-haired old man standing by her uncle's side.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Bulmer," she said simply.  And, in that
+hour of searing agony, she meant it, for it is easier to look back on
+suffering than to await it, and she had been living in dread of this
+meeting for many a weary day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT
+
+Two thousand five hundred years ago the prophet Jeremiah expressed
+incredulity as to the power of an Ethiopian to change his skin or a
+leopard his spots.  The march of the centuries has fully justified the
+seer's historic doubt, so it makes but slight demand on the critical
+faculties to assume that two years' residence in Europe had not cooled
+the hot southern blood flowing in Carmela's veins.
+
+She had hated Iris before she set eyes on her; she hated her now that she
+had seen her rare beauty; she gloated on the suffering inflicted by the
+presence of the faded old man who claimed her as his bride.  Though it
+was of the utmost importance that she should hasten to her father, she
+returned to Las Flores in her rival's company, their arms linked in
+seeming friendship, and the Brazilian girl's ears alert to treasure every
+word that told of Bulmer's wooing.
+
+Therein she greatly miscalculated the true gentility of one whom his
+cronies described as "a rough diamond."  Bulmer realized that Iris was
+overwrought.  Vague but sensational items in newspapers had prepared him
+in some measure for the story of her wanderings since last they met in
+quiet, old-fashioned Bootle.  He felt that she was altered, that their
+ways in life had deviated with a sharpness that was not to be brought
+back into parallel grooves simply because he had traveled many thousands
+of miles to find her.
+
+So Dickey contented himself by listening to Coke's Homeric account of the
+_Andromeda's_ wrecking, and if he interposed an occasional question, and
+thus drew the girl's sweet voice into the talk, it was invariably germane
+to the strange history of the ship and her human freight.
+
+Coke's narrative was picturesque and lurid.  At times, he called himself
+to order; at times, both Iris and Carmela affected not to have heard him.
+But Carmela's interest never flagged.  Nor did Bulmer's.  As the yarn
+progressed--for Watts and Schmidt and Norrie had joined them, and the
+whole party was seated in an inner room where an impromptu meal was
+provided--both the woman of Brazil and the man of Lancashire seized on
+the same unspoken _motif_.  Every incident centered in the striking
+personality of Philip Hozier.  From the instant the second shell struck
+the winch, and laid him apparently dead on the forecastle, to the very
+hour of this coming together at Las Flores, Hozier held the stage.  It
+was he who took Iris on his shoulders and brought her to safety through
+the spume of the wrathful sea, he who carried her to the hut, he who
+crossed Fernando Noronha alone to protect her.
+
+Coke was impartial.  He would have minimized his own singular bravery in
+running up the ship's signals had not Iris given him a breathing-space
+while she enthralled the others with her description.  Otherwise, Coke
+skipped no line of his epic.
+
+"You'll rec'lect," he wheezed, in a voice that rasped like a file,
+"you'll rec'lect, Mr. Verity, as I said to you that Hozier was good
+enough to take charge of the bridge of a battleship.  By--well, any 'ow,
+if I'd said the Channel Fleet I shouldn't 'ave bin talkin' through me
+'at.  Look at 'im now.  'E's the on'y reel live man Dom Wot's-'is-name
+'as got.  Sink me! if it wasn't for the folks at 'ome, an' the fac' that
+the _Andromeeda's_ skipper ought to keep clear of politics in this
+crimson country, I'd 'ave a cut in at the game meself."
+
+It might be hoped that Carmela's mood would soften when she discovered
+her rival's hapless love, but that would be expecting something which her
+bursting southern heart could not give.  A volcano pours forth lava, not
+water.  It scorches, not heals.  Iris, willing or not, had sapped her
+Salvador's allegiance.  Carmela wanted to see those curved lips writhing
+in pain, those brown eyes dimmed, that smooth brow wrung with the grief
+that knows no remedy.
+
+A fierce joy leaped up in her when Verity spoke of an early departure.
+
+"You see, Iris," he explained, "these Brazilian bucks may be months in
+settlin' their differences.  Dickey an' me, 'elped a lot by our Consul,
+squeezed a pass out of the President--beg pardon, miss, but 'e is
+President, in Pernambuco, at all events," he said in an apologetic
+"aside" to Carmela--"an' the sooner we make tracks for ole England the
+better it'll be for all of us.  Wot do you say to an early start
+to-morrow?  We'd be off to-night, on'y I'm feared my rheumaticky bones
+wouldn't stand the racket."
+
+The color ebbed from Iris's face, but she said at once:
+
+"I shall be ready, uncle dear.  I promised Dom Corria to look after the
+hospital appliances that are so much needed by the poor soldiers, but the
+Senhora De Sylva will attend to that much more effectually than I."
+
+"Good!  Then that's settled."
+
+David pursed out his thick lips with a sigh of relief.  Though he had
+watched the spoken record of the _Andromeda_ and her company for craftier
+hints than was suspected by his fellow travelers, he was not deaf to
+Coke's appreciation of Hozier.  The silence of his niece on that same
+topic was alarming, but the position could not be so bad if she was
+willing to leave for the coast without seeing him again.  No secret was
+made of Philip's errand into the interior.  The homeward-bound cavalcade
+would be at Pesqueira ere he returned to the _finca_.
+
+Carmela, of course, did not believe in a woman's complacency in such a
+vital matter.  She was ever prepared to spring, to strike, to wrench
+their plans to suit her own ends; but, contrive as she might, she could
+not succeed in leaving Iris alone with Bulmer.  Full of device, she was
+foiled at each turn.  The day wore, the sun went down, the starlit sky
+made beautiful a parched earth, but never a word in privacy did Iris
+exchange with her husband-to-be.  Carmela's malice was not hidden from
+her, but she despised it.  There was some ease for her tortured brain in
+defeating it.  If the Senhora De Sylva had only understood how thoroughly
+the Englishwoman loathed her petty jealousy, it was possible that the few
+remaining hours of their enforced intimacy might have been rendered less
+irksome.
+
+But, by this time, fate had gathered the slackened strings of their
+destinies.  Thenceforth they became her puppets.  Permitted for a little
+while to play the tragi-comedy of life according to their own
+inclinations, now the stern edict had gone forth that they were to act
+their allotted parts in one of those fascinating if blood-stained dramas
+that the history of nations so often puts on the stage.  The future is
+the most cunning of playwrights.  No man may tell what the next scene
+shall be.  And no man, nor any woman, could guess the mad revel of hate
+and war that would rage that night around the placid homestead of Las
+Flores.
+
+Behind the veranda was a huge ballroom, converted, by the exigencies of
+the campaign, into a dining hall for the many inmates of the _finca_.
+The Brazilian ladies, the sailors, some sick or wounded officers who were
+not confined to bed, even the household servants, took their meals there
+in common.  Supper was served soon after nine o'clock.  When cigars and
+cigarettes were lighted, and the company broke up into laughing,
+gossiping, noisy groups, the place looked more like a popular Continental
+cafe than a room in a private mansion.
+
+Though De Sylva, General Russo, San Benavides, and some score of members
+of the President's staff who usually dined at the _finca_, were now
+absent, there was no lack of lively chatter.  A very Babel of tongues
+mixed in amity.  The prevalent note was one of cheery animation.  Carmela
+exerted herself to win popularity, and a President's daughter need not
+put forth very strenuous efforts in that direction to be acclaimed by
+most.
+
+Iris was listening, with real interest, to Verity's description of the
+finding of Macfarlane in the _Andromeda's_ boat by a Cardiff-bound
+collier three days after he had drifted away from Fernando Noronha.
+
+"The yarn kem to us through the Consul at Pernambuco," he said.
+"Evidently, from wot you tell me, it's all right.  Poor ole Mac 'ad a bad
+time afore 'e was picked up, but 'e was alive, an' I'm jolly glad of it,
+for 'e'll be a first-rate witness w'en this business comes up in court."
+
+"Wot court?" demanded Coke sharply.
+
+"The court that settles our claim, of course," retorted Verity, with a
+quick ferret look at his fellow-conspirator.
+
+"There'll be no claim.  The President means to stump up in style.  You
+take my tip, an' shut up about courts," said Coke.
+
+"It'll cost Brazil a tidy penny," remarked Bulmer thoughtfully.  "Nobody
+would ever imagine wot bags of gold an' parcels of di'monds sailors an'
+firemen carry around in their kit-bags till a ship is lost an' a
+Gover'ment 'as to pay."
+
+Watts deemed this an exquisite joke.  He laughed loudly.
+
+"That reminds me," he cried.  "W'en the _Gem of the Sea_ turned turtle on
+the James an' Mary----"
+
+A _criado_, a nondescript man-servant attached to the household, stooped
+over Iris and whispered something.  She gathered that she was wanted in
+the _patèo_, or court-yard, which, owing to the construction of the
+house, stood on one side instead of in front, where the lawn usurped its
+usual position.
+
+"Who is it?" she asked.
+
+The voice sank even lower.
+
+"Colonel San Benavides, Senhora."
+
+She had gathered sufficient of Brazilian ways to understand that the man
+had been bribed to convey this request to her without attracting
+attention.
+
+"Tell him to wait," she said, hoping to gain a moment wherein to decide
+how best to act.
+
+"It is urgent, Senhora--_ao mesmo tempo_, the colonel said."
+
+"Go!  That is my answer."
+
+The man's unwillingness to obey showed how imperative were his
+instructions.  She rose, and the _criado_ hurried out, satisfied that she
+would follow.  But Iris had no wish to meet San Benavides.  If she were
+seen with him in the dark _patèo_ at this late hour, fuel would be added
+to the fire of Carmela's foolish spite.  She was aware of Carmela's
+covert glance watching her from the other end of the long room.  What was
+to be done?  Why not send Carmela in her stead?  They were almost of the
+same height, and dressed somewhat alike in flowered muslin.  It would be
+an amusing mistake, though annoying, perhaps, to San Benavides; at any
+rate, Carmela would not object, and Iris was fully resolved not to keep
+the tryst in person.
+
+She walked straight to her enemy.
+
+"Colonel San Benavides awaits you in the _patèo_," she said in English.
+
+"Awaits _me_!"
+
+There was no mistaking the gleam in those jet-black eyes.  The smoldering
+fire flamed into furnace heat at the implied indignity of such a mandate
+being delivered by Iris.
+
+"I suppose so," said Iris carelessly.  "A servant brought the message.
+He came to me in the first instance, but I am just going to my room to
+pack my few belongings.  We leave here at daybreak, you know."
+
+Carmela tried to smile.
+
+"I shall be sorry to lose you," she said, "though I admit it will be
+pleasant to occupy my own room again."
+
+Then Iris was genuinely distressed.
+
+"I had not the least notion----" she began, but Carmela nodded and made
+off, saying as she went:
+
+"What matter--for one night?"
+
+So, at last, she would learn the truth.  Salvador was out there, alone.
+She would soon judge him.  If he were innocent, she would know.  If he
+had merely been made the sport of a designing woman, she was ready to
+forgive.  In a more amiable mood than she had displayed at any moment
+since her arrival at Las FIores, Carmela hastened along a dark corridor,
+crossed a bare hall, passed through a porch, and searched the shadows of
+the patèo for the form of her one-time lover.
+
+A voice whispered, in French:
+
+"Come quickly, Senhora, I pray you!"
+
+It startled her to find San Benavides talking French, until it occurred
+to her that Iris and he must converse in that language or hardly at all.
+The thought was disquieting.  The volcano stirred again.
+
+"Senhora, je vous prie!" again pleaded the man, who was on horseback
+under the trees.
+
+She did not hesitate, but ran to him.  Without a word of explanation, he
+bent sideways, caught her in his arms, drew her up until she was seated
+on the holsters strapped to a gaucho saddle, and wheeled his horse into a
+gallop.  Filled with a grim determination, she uttered no protest.  Not a
+syllable crossed her lips lest he should strive to amend his woeful
+blunder.  She noticed that they were not going toward the camp, but
+circling round the enclosed land in the direction of the hills.  Though
+the night was dark, the stars gave light enough for the horse to move
+freely.  Carmela's head was bent.  A gauze-like mantilla covered her
+black hair, and, strange though it may seem, one woman's small waist and
+slim figure can be amazingly like the same physical attributes in another
+woman.
+
+But San Benavides wondered why the cold Ingleza had surrendered so
+silently.  He expected at least a scream, a struggle, an impassioned
+demand to be released.  He was prepared for anything save a dumb
+acceptance of this extraordinary raid.
+
+So he began to explain.
+
+"One word, Senhora!" he muttered.  "You must think me mad.  I am not.
+All is lost!  Our army is defeated!  In an hour Las Flores will be in
+flames!"
+
+The girl quivered in his arms.  A moaning cry came from her.
+
+"It is true, I swear it!" he vowed.  "I mean you no ill.  I fought till
+the end, and my good horse alone carried me in advance of the routed
+troops.  Dom Corria may reach the _finca_ alive, but, even so, he and the
+rest will be killed.  I refused to escape without you.  Believe me or
+not, you are dearer than life itself.  In the confusion we two may not be
+missed.  Trust yourself wholly to me, I beseech you!"
+
+He spoke jerkily, in the labored phrase of a man who has to pick and
+choose the readiest words in an unfamiliar language.
+
+Carmela, with a sudden movement, raised her face to his, and threw aside
+her veil.
+
+"Salvador!" she said.
+
+His eyes glared into hers.  His frenzied clutch at the reins pulled the
+horse on to its haunches.
+
+"My God! . . .  Carmela!" he almost shrieked.
+
+"Yes.  So you are running away, Salvador--running away with the English
+miss--deserting my father in the hour of his need!  But she will die with
+the others, you say.  Well, then--join her!"
+
+During that quick twist on the horse's withers, she had plucked a
+revolver from a holster.  She meant to shatter that false face of his
+utterly, to blast him as with lightning . . . but the lock snapped
+harmlessly, for San Benavides had, indeed, borne himself gallantly in the
+fray.  He struck at her now in a whirl of fury.  She winced, but with
+catamount activity drew back her arm and hit him on the temple with the
+heavy weapon.  He collapsed limply, reeled from off the saddle, and they
+fell together.  The frightened horse, finding himself at liberty,
+galloped to the camp, where already there was an unusual commotion.
+
+Carmela flung herself on the man's body.  She was capable of extremes
+either of grief or passion.
+
+"Salvador, my love! my love!" she screamed.  "What have I done?  Speak to
+me, Salvador!  It is I, Carmela!  Oh, Mary Mother, come to my aid!  I
+have killed him, killed my Salvador!"
+
+He looked very white and peaceful as he lay there in the gloom.  She
+could not see whether his lips moved.  She was too distraught to note if
+his heart was beating.  It seemed incredible that she, a weak woman,
+should have crushed the life out of that lithe and active frame with one
+blow.  Then a dark stain appeared on the white skin.  Her hands, her
+lips, were covered with blood.  She tasted it.  The whole earth reeked of
+it.  It scorched her as with vitriol.  She rose and ran blindly.  The
+darkness appalled her.  No matter now what fate befell, she must have
+light, the sound of human voices. . . .  And she sobbed piteously as she
+ran:
+
+"Salvador!  Oh, God in heaven, my Salvador!"
+
+It is not the crime, but the conscience, that scourges erring humanity.
+Carmela needed some such flogging.  It was just as well that her fright
+at the horrible touch of blood was not balanced by the saner knowledge
+that a ruptured vein was nature's own remedy for a man jarred into
+insensibility.  Long before Carmela reached the _finca_, San Benavides
+stirred, groaned, squirmed convulsively, and raised himself on hands and
+knees.  He turned, and sat down, feeling his head.
+
+"The spit-fire!" he muttered.  "The she-devil!  And that other!  Would
+that I could wring _her_ neck!"
+
+A sputtering of rifles crackled in the valley.  There was a blurred
+clamor of voices.  He looked at the sky, at the black summits of the
+hills.  He stood up, and his inseparable sword clanked on the stony
+ground.
+
+"Ah, well," he growled, "I have done with women.  They have had the best
+of my life.  What is left I give to Brazil."
+
+So he, too, made for Las Flores, but slowly, for he was quite exhausted,
+and his limbs were stiff with the rigors of a wild day in the saddle.
+
+Carmela went back to a household that paid scant heed to her screaming.
+Dom Corria was there, bare-headed, his gorgeous uniform sword-slashed and
+blood-bespattered.  General Russo, too, was beating his capacious chest
+and shouting:
+
+"God's bones, let us make a fight of it!"
+
+A sprinkling of soldiers, all dismounted cavalry or gunners, a few
+disheveled officers, had accompanied De Sylva in his flight.  With
+reckless bravery, he and Russo had tried to rally the troops camped at
+headquarters.  It was a hopeless effort.  Half-breeds can never produce a
+military caste.  They may fight valiantly in the line of battle--they
+will not face the unknown, the terrible, the harpies that come at night,
+borne on the hurricane wings of panic.  Unhappily, De Sylva and his
+bodyguard were the messengers of their own disaster.  The cowardly genius
+at Pesqueira had planned a surprise.  He would not lead it, of course,
+but in Dom Miguel Barraca he found an eager substitute.  It was a coup of
+the Napoleonic order; an infantry attack along the entire front of the
+Liberationist position cloaked the launching against the center of a
+formidable body of cavalry.  The project was to thrust this lance into
+the rebel position, probe it thoroughly, as a surgeon explores a gunshot
+wound, and extract the offender in the guise of Dom Corria.
+
+The scheme had proved eminently successful.  The Liberationists were
+crumpled up, and here was Dom Corria making his last stand.
+
+He deserved better luck, for he was magnificent in failure.  Calm as
+ever, he tried to be shot or captured when the reserves in camp failed
+him.  Russo and the rest dragged him onward by main force.
+
+"They want me only," he urged.  "My death will end a useless struggle.  I
+shall die a little later, when many more of my friends are killed.  Why
+not die now?"
+
+They would not listen.
+
+"It is night!" they cried.  "The enemy's horses are spent.  A determined
+stand may give us another chance."
+
+But it was a forlorn hope.  As San Benavides lurched into the _patèo_,
+the horses of the first pursuing detachment strained up the slope between
+house and encampment.
+
+Carmela, all her fire gone, the pallid ghost of the vengeful woman who
+would have shattered her lover's skull were the revolver loaded, was the
+first to see him.  She actually crouched in terror.  Her tongue was
+parched.  If she uttered some low cry, none heard her.
+
+Dom Corria, striving to dispose his meager garrison as best he could, met
+his trusted lieutenant.  His face lit with joy.
+
+"Ah, my poor Salvador!" he cried.  "I thought we had lost you at the
+ford!"
+
+"No," said San Benavides.  "I ran away!"
+
+Even in his dire extremity, De Sylva smiled.
+
+"Would that others had run like you, my Salvador!" he said.  "Then we
+should have been in Pernambuco to-morrow."
+
+The Brazilian looked around.  His eye dwelt heedlessly on the cowering
+Carmela.  He was searching for Iris, who had been compelled by Coke and
+Bulmer and her uncle to take shelter behind the score of sailors who
+still remained at Las Flores.
+
+"It is true, nevertheless," he said laconically.  "I knew the game was
+lost, so I came here to try and save a lady."
+
+"Ah--our Carmela?  You thought of her?"
+
+"No!"
+
+Then the spell passed from Carmela.  She literally threw herself on her
+lover.
+
+"Yes, it is true!" she shrieked.  "He came to save me, but I preferred to
+die here--with you, father--and with him."
+
+Dom Corria did not understand these fire-works, but he had no time for
+thought.  Bullets were crashing through the closed Venetians.  Light they
+must have, or the defense would become an orgy of self-destruction, yet
+light was their most dangerous foe when men were shooting from the somber
+depths of the trees.
+
+The assailants were steadily closing around the house.  Their rifles
+covered every door and window.  Each minute brought up fresh bands in
+tens and twenties.  At last, Barraca himself arrived.  Some members of
+his staff made a hasty survey of the situation.  There were some three
+hundred men available, and, in all probability, Dom Corria could not
+muster one-sixth of that number.  It was a crisis that called for vigor.
+The cavalry lance was twenty miles from its base, and there was no
+knowing what accident might reunite the scattered Liberationists.  One
+column, at least, of the Nationalists had failed to keep its rendezvous,
+or this last desperate stand at Las Flores would have proved a sheer
+impossibility.
+
+So the house must be rushed, no matter what the cost.  This was a war of
+leaders.  Let Dom Corria fall, and his most enthusiastic supporters would
+pay Dom Miguel's taxes without further parley.  A scheme of concerted
+action was hastily arranged.  Simultaneously, five detachments swarmed
+against the chosen points of assault.  One crossed the _patèo_ to the
+porch, another made for the stable entrance, a third attacked the garden
+door, a fourth assailed the servants' quarters, and the fifth, strongest
+of all, and inspired by Dom Miguel's presence, battered in the shutters
+and tore away the piled up furniture of the ballroom.
+
+The Nationalist leader's final order was terse.
+
+"Spare the women; shoot every rebel; do not touch the foreigners unless
+they resist!"
+
+With yells of "Abajo De Sylva!" "Morto por revoltados!" the assailants
+closed in.  Neither side owned magazine rifles, so the fight was with
+machetes, swords, and bayonets when the first furious hail of lead had
+spent itself.  No man thought of quarter, nor ceased to stab and thrust
+until he fell.  Not even then did some of the half-savage combatants
+desist, and a many a thigh was gashed and boot-protected leg cut to the
+bone by those murderous hatchet knives wielded by hands which would soon
+stiffen in death.
+
+When three hundred desperadoes meet fifty of like caliber in a
+hand-to-hand conflict--when the three hundred mean to end the business,
+and the fifty know that they must die--fighting for choice, but die in
+any event--the resultant encounter will surely be both fierce and brief.
+And never was fratricidal strife more sanguinary than during the earliest
+onset within the walls.  Each inch of corridor, each plank of the
+ballroom floor, was contested with insane ferocity.  This was not
+warfare.  It savored of the carnage of the jungle.  Its sounds were those
+of wild beasts.  It smelled of the shambles.
+
+By one of those queer chances which sometimes decide the hazard between
+life and death, the window nearest that end of the room where the sailors
+strove to protect a few shrieking women had not been broken in.  Here,
+then, was a tiny bay of refuge; from it the men of the _Andromeda_ and
+the _Unser Fritz_, Bulmer, Verity, Iris, and such of the Brazilian ladies
+as had not fled to the upper rooms at the initial volley, looked out on
+an amazing butchery.  De Sylva, no longer young, and never a robust man,
+had been dragged from mortal peril many times by his devoted adherents.
+Carmela had snatched a machete from the fingers of a dying soldier, and
+was fighting like one possessed of a fiend.
+
+Once, when a combined rush drove the defenders nearly on top of the
+non-combatants, Iris would have striven to draw the half-demented girl
+into the little haven with the other women.
+
+But Coke thrust her back, shouting:
+
+"Leave 'er alone.  She'll set about you if you touch her!"
+
+Dickey Bulmer, too, who was displaying a fortitude hardly to be expected
+in a man of his years and habits, thought that interference was useless.
+
+"Let 'er do what she can," he said.  "She doesn't know wot is 'appenin'
+now.  If she was on'y watchin' she'd be a ravin' lunatic.  God 'elp us
+all, we've got ourselves into a nice mess!"
+
+Somehow, the old man's Lancashire drawl, with its broad vowels and
+misplaced aspirates, exercised a singularly soothing effect on Iris's
+tensely-strung nerves.  It seemed to remove her from that murder-filled
+arena.  It was redolent of home, of quiet streets, of orderly crowds
+thronging to the New Brighton sands, of the sober, industrious,
+God-fearing folk who filled the churches and chapels at each service on a
+Sunday.  These men and women of Brazil were her brothers and sisters in
+the great comity of nations, yet Heaven knows they did not figure in such
+guise during that hour of intense emotions.
+
+But if Dickey Bulmer's simple words exalted him into the kingdom of the
+heroic, David Verity occupied a lower plane.  Prayers and curses
+alternated on his lips.  He was stupefied with fear.  He had never seen
+the lust of slaying in men's eyes, and it mesmerized him.  Many of the
+sailors wanted to join in on behalf of their friends.  It needed all
+Coke's vehemence to restrain them.  "Keep out of it, you swabs," he would
+growl.  "It's your on'y chanst.  This isn't our shindy.  Let 'em rip an'
+be hanged to 'em!"  Yet he was manifestly uneasy, and he kept a wary eye
+on De Sylva, whom he appraised at a personal value of five thousand
+pounds "an pickin's."
+
+A tall, distinguished-looking man, wearing a brilliant uniform, his
+breast decorated with many orders, now appeared on the scene.  He shouted
+something, and the attacking force redoubled their efforts.  He raised a
+revolver, and took deliberate aim at Dom Corria.  Coke saw him, and his
+bulldog pluck combined with avarice to overcome his common sense.
+Without thought of the consequences, he sprang into the swaying mob and
+pulled De Sylva aside.  A bullet smashed into the wall behind them.
+
+"Look out, mister!" he bellowed.  "'Ere's a blighter 'oo wants to finish
+you quick!"
+
+De Sylva's glance sought his adversary.  He produced a revolver which
+hitherto had remained hidden in a pocket.  Perhaps its bullets were not
+meant for an enemy.  He fired at the tall man.  A violent swerve of the
+two irregular ranks of soldiers screened each from the other.  An opening
+offered, and the man who had singled out Dom Corria for his special
+vengeance fired again.  The bullet struck Coke in the breast.  The
+valiant little skipper staggered, and sank to the floor.  His fiery eyes
+gazed up into Verity's.
+
+"Damme if I ain't hulled!" he roared, his voice loud and harsh as if he
+were giving some command from the bridge in a gale of wind.
+
+David dropped to his knees.
+
+"For Gawd's sake, Jimmie!" he moaned.
+
+"Yes, I've got it.  Sarve me dam well right, too!  No business to go
+ag'in me own pore old ship.  Look 'ere, Verity, I'm done for!  If you get
+away from this rotten muss, see to my missus an' the girls.  If you
+don't--d--n you----"
+
+"Fire!" shouted a strong English voice from without.  A withering volley
+crashed through the open windows.  Full twenty of the assailants fell,
+Dom Miguel de Barraca among them.  There was an instant of terrible
+silence, as between the shocks of an earthquake.
+
+[Illustration: A withering volley crashed through the window]
+
+"Now, come on!" shouted the same voice, and Philip Hozier rushed into the
+ballroom, followed by his scouts and a horde of Brazilian regulars.  No
+one not actually an eye-witness of that thrilling spectacle would believe
+that a fight waged with such determined malevolence could stop so
+suddenly as did that fray in Las Flores.  It was true, now as ever, that
+men of a mixed race cannot withstand the unforeseen.  Dom Miguel fallen,
+and his cohort decimated by the leaden storm that tore in at them from an
+unexpected quarter, the rest fled without another blow.  They raced madly
+for their horses, to find that every tethered group was in the hands of
+this new contingent.  Then the darkness swallowed them.  Dom Miguel's
+cavalry was disbanded.
+
+At once the medley within died down.  Men had no words as yet to meet
+this astounding development.  Dom Corria went to where his rival lay.
+Dom Miguel was dying.  His eyes met De Sylva's in a strange look of
+recognition.  He tried to speak, but choked and died.
+
+Then the living President stooped over the dead one.  He murmured
+something.  Those near thought afterward that he said:
+
+"Is it worth it?  Who knows!"
+
+But he was surely President now; seldom have power and place been more
+hardly won.
+
+His quiet glance sought Philip.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Hozier," he said.  "All Brazil is your debtor.  As for
+me, I can never repay you.  I owe you my life, the lives of my daughter
+and of many of my friends, and the success of my cause."
+
+Philip heard him as in a dream.  He was looking at Iris.  Her eyes were
+shining, her lips parted, yet she did not come to him.  By her side was
+standing a white-haired old man, an Englishman, a stranger.  Bending over
+Coke, and wringing his hands in incoherent sorrow, was another elderly
+Briton.  A fear that Philip had never before known gripped his
+heartstrings now.  He was pale and stern, and his forehead was seamed
+with foreboding.
+
+"Who is that with Miss Yorke?" he said to Dom Corria.
+
+The President had a rare knack of answering a straight question in a
+straight way.
+
+"A Mr. Bulmer, I am told," he said.
+
+There was a pause.  General Russo, carved from head to foot, but so stout
+withal that his enemies' weapons had reached no vital part, approached.
+He thumped his huge stomach.
+
+"We must rally our men," he said.  "If we collect even five thousand
+to-night----"
+
+"Yes," said De Sylva, "I will come.  Before I go, Mr. Hozier, let me
+repeat that I and Brazil are grateful."
+
+"May the devil take both you and Brazil!" was Philip's most ungracious
+reply, and he turned and strode out into the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES
+
+Before the exciting story so rudely interrupted is resumed, it may be
+well to set down in their sequence the queer workings of fortune which
+led to Philip's timely reappearance at Las FIores.
+
+His troop of scouts consisted of twenty-eight men.  Five were sailors
+and firemen from the _Andromeda_; three were Germans from the _Unser
+Fritz_.  But the whole eight were ex-soldiers, and one man-at-arms
+trained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product.
+The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, and
+acquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of a
+hundred miles.  They would fight anybody if well led, and here it may
+be observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, he
+said, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!"
+these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction.  The language
+difficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of one
+of the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly by
+signs, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader.
+
+He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, and
+they were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closed
+with any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations.
+
+About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sent
+off a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions to
+arrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day.  Instantly the
+twenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted.
+From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fully
+a thousand men.  The situation was critical.  It called for prompt
+handling.  Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselves
+among the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four rifles
+indulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded with
+men and animals.
+
+Nothing more was needed.  It has been noted already that the Brazilians
+disliked long-range shooting.  There was a stampede.  The scouts
+occupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely to
+report the presence of the column, when they fell in with the first
+batch of fugitives from the valley.  Forthwith, Philip became a general
+and each scout an officer.  They reasoned and whacked the runaways into
+obedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough to
+fight if told what was expected of them--and the rest was a matter of
+simple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in the
+escalade of a snow fort.  But it was a near thing.  Five minutes later,
+and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself.
+
+And now, as to the night, and the next day.
+
+Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus.
+Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and the
+news spread like wild fire.  Before morning, the Liberationists were
+ten thousand strong.  Before night closed the roads again, the
+Pesqueira genius wrote to Dom Corria under a flag of truce, and pointed
+out that he served the _President_, not any crank who said he was
+President, but the honored individual in whom the people of Brazil
+placed their trust.  Dom Corria replied in felicitous terms, and, as
+the newspapers say, the incident ended.  The navy sulked for a while,
+because they held that Russo's treatment of the _Andorinha_ was not
+cricket, or baseball, or whatsoever game appeals most to the Brazilian
+sportsman.  It was not even professional football, they said; but an
+acrimonious discussion was closed by a strong hint from the Treasury
+that pay-day might be postponed indefinitely if too much were made of a
+regrettable accident to the guns of the Maceio artillery.
+
+Meanwhile, Dom Corria, the man who did not forget, was puzzled by two
+circumstances not of national importance.  San Benavides, never a
+demonstrative lover where Carmela was concerned, was a changed man.  He
+was severely wounded during the fight, and Carmela nursed him
+assiduously, but there could be no doubt that he was under her thumb,
+and would remain there.  The indications were subtle but unmistakable.
+Carmela even announced the date of their marriage.
+
+Dom Corria remembered, of course, what San Benavides and his daughter
+had said when they all met in the ballroom.  It seemed to him that
+Salvador was telling the truth and that Carmela was fibbing on that
+occasion.  But he let well enough alone.  It was good for Salvador that
+he should obey Carmela.  He blessed them, and remarked that a really
+"smart" wedding would be just the thing to inaugurate the new reign at
+Rio de Janeiro.
+
+He was far more perplexed by the untimely wrath of Philip Hozier.  He
+thought of it for at least five minutes next morning.  Then he sought
+Dickey Bulmer, who had just quitted Coke's bedroom, and was examining
+the rare shrubs that bordered the lawn.
+
+"What news of that brave man?" asked Dom Corria, and his deep voice
+vibrated with real feeling.
+
+"First-rate, sir," said Dickey.  "The bullet is extracted, and the
+doctor says 'e'll soon be all right.  Leastways, that's wot Iris tells
+me.  I can't talk Portuguese meself, an' pore old Jimmie's langwidge
+ain't fit to be repeated."
+
+The President laughed.
+
+"He is what you call a bundle of contradictions, eh?--a rough fellow
+with the heart of a bull.  But he saved my life, and that naturally
+counts for a good deal with me.  And how is your niece after last
+night's terrible experience?"
+
+"My niece?  D'ye mean Iris?" demanded Bulmer, obviously somewhat
+annoyed.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She's not my niece; she's----"
+
+"Your grand-daughter, then?"
+
+"No, sir.  That young lady 'as done me the honor of promisin' to be my
+wife."
+
+"Oh!" said Dom Corria, fixing his brilliant eyes on Bulmer's vexed face.
+
+"There's no 'Oh' about it," growled Dickey.  "It was all cut an' dried
+weeks ago, an' she 'asn't rued of 'er bargain yet, as far as I can make
+out."
+
+"You mean that the marriage was arranged before the _Andromeda_
+sailed?" said Dom Corria gently.
+
+"W'y, of course.  It couldn't very well be fixed after, could it?"
+
+"No--not as between you and her.  I can vouch for that.  Forgive me,
+Mr. Bulmer--I have a daughter of marriageable age, you know, and I
+speak as a parent--do you think that it is a wise thing for a man of
+your years to marry a girl of twenty?"
+
+"If I didn't, I wouldn't do it."
+
+"But may it not be selfish?"
+
+Then downright Lancashire took hold of the argument.
+
+"Look 'ere, wot are you drivin' at?" demanded Dickey, now in a white
+heat of anger.  He had yet to learn that the President preferred a
+straight-forward way of talking.
+
+"I want you to forego this marriage," he said.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because that charming girl loves another man, but feels that she is
+bound to you.  I understand the position at last.  Mr. Bulmer, you
+cannot wish to break her heart and drive that fine young fellow, Philip
+Hozier, to despair.  Come, now!  Let you and me reason this thing
+together.  Possibly, when she agreed to marry you she did not know what
+love is.  She is high-minded, an idealist, the soul of honor.  What
+other woman would have consented to be separated from her friends on
+Fernando Noronha merely because it increased their meager chances of
+safety?  How few women, loving a man like Philip Hozier, who is assured
+of a splendid reward for his services to this State, would resolutely
+deny the claims of her own heart in order to keep her word?"
+
+Bulmer had never heard anyone speak with the crystal directness of Dom
+Corria.  Each word chipped away some part of the fence which he had
+deliberately erected around his own intelligence.  Certain facts had
+found crevices in the barrier already; Dom Corria broke down whole
+sections.  But he was a hard man, and stubborn.  Throughout his long
+life he had not been of yielding habit, and his heart was set on Iris.
+
+"You are mighty sure that she is wrapped up in this young spark," he
+growled.
+
+"Were I not, I would not have interfered.  Take my advice.  First, ask
+yourself an honest question.  Then ask the girl.  She will answer.  I
+promise you that."
+
+"I'm a rich man," persisted Dickey.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Nobody forced 'er, one way or the other."
+
+"Possibly.  One wonders, though, why she hid herself on the
+_Andromeda_."
+
+"It's true, I tell you.  David said----"
+
+"Who is David?"
+
+"Her uncle."
+
+"In England, I take it, if a man wishes to marry a girl he does not woo
+her uncle.  Of course, these customs vary.  Here, in Brazil----"
+
+Then Bulmer said something about Brazil that was not to be expected
+from one of his staid demeanor.  In fact, he regarded Brazil as the
+cause of the whole trouble, and his opinion concerning that marvelous
+land coincided with Hozier's.  He turned and walked away, looking a
+trifle older, a trifle more bent, perhaps, than when he came out of the
+house.
+
+An hour later, Dom Corria and Carmela met in a corridor.  They were
+discussing arrangements for a speedy move to the capital when Iris ran
+into them.  Her face was flushed, and she had been crying.  Much to
+Carmela's amazement, the English girl clasped her round the neck and
+kissed her.
+
+"Tell your father, my dear, that he has been very good to me," she
+whispered; then her face grew scarlet again, and she hurried away.
+
+"Excellent!" said the President.  "That old man is a gentleman.  His
+friend is not.  Yet they are very much alike in other respects.  Odd
+thing!  Carmela _cara_, can you spare a few minutes from your invalid?"
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Go, then, and find that young Englishman, Philip Hozier.  Tell him
+that the engagement between Miss Yorke and Mr. Bulmer is broken off."
+
+Carmela's black eyes sparkled.  That wayward blood of hers surged in
+her veins, but Dom Corria's calm glance dwelt on her, and the spasm
+passed.
+
+"Yes, father," she said dutifully.
+
+He stroked his chin as he went out to pronounce a funeral oration on
+those who had fallen during the fight.
+
+"I think," said he reflectively, "I think that Carmela dislikes that
+girl.  I wonder why?"
+
+Philip had never, to his knowledge, seen the Senhora De Sylva.  Watts
+spoke of her, remarking that she was "a reel pleasant young lady, a bit
+flighty, p'raps, but, then, 'oo could tell wot any gal would do one
+minnit from the next?"  And that was all.
+
+It was, therefore, something more than a surprise when the
+sallow-faced, willowy girl, black-haired, black-eyed, and most demure
+of manner, whom he remembered to have met in the gateway of Las Flores
+early on the previous day, came to his tent and asked for him.
+
+She introduced herself, and Philip was most polite.
+
+"My father sent me----" she began.
+
+"I ought to have waited on the President," he said, seeing that she
+hesitated, "but several of my men are wounded, and we have so few
+doctors."
+
+She smiled, and Carmela could redeem much of her plainness of feature
+by the singular charm of her smile.
+
+"Dom Corria is a good doctor himself," she said.
+
+"His skill will be much appreciated in Brazil at the present moment,"
+said he, rather bewildered.
+
+"He mends broken hearts," she persisted.
+
+"Ah, a healer, indeed!" but he frowned a little.
+
+"He is in demand to-day.  He asked me to tell you of one most
+successful operation.  The--er--the engagement between Miss Iris
+Yorke--is that the name?--and Mr.--Mr.--dear me----"
+
+"Bulmer," scowled Philip, a block of ice in the warm air of Brazil.
+
+"Yes, that is it--well--it is ended.  She is free--for a little while."
+
+There was a curious bleaching of Philip's weather-tanned face.  It
+touched a chord in Carmela's impulsive nature.
+
+"It is all right," she nodded.  "You can go to her."
+
+She left him there, more shaken than he had ever been by thunderous sea
+or screaming bullet.
+
+"They are cold, these English," she communed, as she passed up the
+slope to the house.  "It takes something to rouse them.  What would he
+have said were he in Salvador's place last night!"
+
+It did not occur to her that Philip could not possibly have been in
+Salvador's place, since God has made as many varieties of men as of
+berries, whereof some are wholesome and some poisonous, yet they all
+have their uses.  And she might have modified her opinion of his
+coldness had she seen the manner of his meeting with Iris.
+
+Visiting the sick is one of the Christian virtues, so Philip visited
+Coke.  Iris had just finished writing a letter, partly dictated, and
+much altered in style, to Mrs. James Coke, Sea View, Ocean Road,
+Birkenhead, when a gentle tap brought her to the door.  She opened it.
+Her wrist was seized, and she was drawn into the corridor.  She had no
+option in the matter.  The tall young man who held her wrist proceeded
+to squeeze the breath out of her, but she was growing so accustomed to
+deeds of violence that she did not even scream.
+
+"There is a British chaplain at Pernambuco," was Philip's incoherent
+remark.
+
+"I must ask my uncle," she gasped.
+
+"No.  Leave that to me.  No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to me
+where you are concerned, Iris."
+
+"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear.  He was always good to me,
+and--and--I have grown a wee bit afraid of you."
+
+"Afraid!"
+
+"Yes.  You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and I
+looked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the
+_Andromeda_."
+
+"I was a boy then, Iris.  I am a man now.  I have fought, and loved,
+and suffered.  And what of you, dear heart?  We went through the
+furnace hand in hand.  What of the girl who has come forth a woman?"
+
+There was an open window at the end of the passage.  Watts had bought,
+or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine.  Schmidt and he were in a
+shaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them:
+
+  "It is always fair weather
+  When good fellows meet together . . ."
+
+
+But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door which
+Iris had left ajar.
+
+"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab.  D--n your eyes, if you come courtin' my
+nurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all.  Wot the----"
+
+"Come in, dear," said Iris.  "The doctor says he is not to excite
+himself.  And he will be so glad to see you.  He has been asking for
+you all day."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+At Pernambuco, his excellency the President of the Republic of Brazil
+was waited on by Admiral Prince Heinrich von Schnitzenhausen, who was
+attended by an imposing armed guard.  After compliments, the admiral
+stated that his Imperial master wished to be informed as to the truth
+or otherwise of a circumstantial statement made by the German Consul at
+Maceio, and confirmed by functionaries at Pernambuco, that on a certain
+date, to wit, September the 2d, he, Dom Corria De Sylva, aided and
+abetted by a number of filibusters, did unlawfully seize and
+sequestrate the steamship _Unser Fritz_, the said steamship being the
+property of German subjects and flying the German flag.
+
+Though the admiral's sentence was much longer than its English
+translation, it only contained a dozen words.  Its sound was fearsome
+in consequence, and its effect ought to have been portentous.  But Dom
+Corria was unmoved.
+
+"There is some mistake," said he.
+
+"Exactly," said the admiral,
+"an-error-the-most-serious-and-not-easily-rectifiable."
+
+"On your part," continued Dom Corria.  "The vessel you name is the
+property of my friend and colleague Dom Alfonso Pondillo, of Maceio.
+He purchased and paid for her on September 1st.  Here is the receipt of
+the former owners, given to the Deutsche Bank in Paris, and handed to
+Senhor Pondillo's agents.  You will observe the date of the
+transaction."
+
+The admiral read.  He read again.
+
+"Ach Gott!" he cried angrily.  "There are some
+never-to-be-depended-upon fools in the world, and especially in
+Hamburg."
+
+"Everywhere," agreed Dom Corria blandly.  Carmela's memory was not
+quite of the hereditary order.  She had forgotten, for three whole
+days, that the letter containing the receipt was in her pocket.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+When Coke was pronounced fit for comfortable travel, David Verity and
+Dickey Bulmer conveyed him home.  They took with them drafts on a
+London bank for amounts that satisfied every sort of claim for the
+sinking of the _Andromeda_.  Judged by the compensation given to the
+vessel's survivors, there could be no doubt that the dependants of the
+men who lost their lives would be well provided for.  Even Watts vowed
+that the President had behaved reel 'andsome, and, as a token of
+regeneration, swore that never another drop o' sperrits would cross his
+lips.  Wines and beers, of course, were light refreshments of a
+different order.  Schmidt, too, sublimely heedless of the diplomatic
+storm he had caused, seemed to be contented.  He taught Watts "_Es gibt
+nur eine Kaiser Stadt_," and Watts taught him the famous chanty of the
+_Alice_ brig and her marooned crew.  But the latter effusion was
+rehearsed far from Coke's deck-chair, because the captain of the mail
+steamer said that although he liked Coke personally, some of the lady
+passengers might complain.
+
+At odd moments David and Dickey Bulmer discussed the partnership.  The
+young people would be home in two months, and then Philip was to come
+into the business.
+
+"We're growing old, David," said Dickey.  "I've got plenty of money,
+an' you'll 'ave a tidy bit now, but there's one thing neether of us can
+buy, and that's youth."
+
+"I don't want to be young again," said David, "but I'd like to go back
+just a year or so--no more.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well, there's bin times w'en--w'en I'd 'ave acted different.  Wot do
+you say, Jimmie?"
+
+Coke, thus appealed to, glowered at his employer.
+
+"Say!" he growled.  "I say nothink.  I know you, David."
+
+Philip and Iris attended Carmela's wedding during their honeymoon.  The
+cathedral at Rio de Janeiro was packed, and Iris was quite
+inconspicuous among the many richly-attired ladies who graced the
+ceremony by their presence.  Nevertheless, Colonel Salvador San
+Benavides favored her with a peculiar smile as he led his bride down
+the central aisle.
+
+She laughed, blushed, and looked at her husband.
+
+"Yes, I saw him," he whispered.  "But I never feared him.  It was you
+that made me sit up.  By the way, old girl, let us cut out the
+reception.  I want to call at the bank, and at a shop in the Rua
+Grande.  You will be interested."
+
+Well, being a good and loving wife, she was interested deeply.  Ten
+thousand pounds was Dom Corria's financial estimate of the services
+rendered by Philip, and Iris was absolutely dumfounded by the total in
+milreis.  But her voice came back when Philip took her to a jeweler's,
+and the man produced a gold cross on which blazed four glorious
+diamonds.  Dom Corria had given her a necklace many times more
+valuable; but this----
+
+"For remembrance!" said Philip.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear!" she murmured, and her eyes grew moist.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL ***
+
+***** This file should be named 19539-8.txt or 19539-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/5/3/19539/
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+
diff --git a/19539-8.zip b/19539-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5efc13f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-8.zip
diff --git a/19539-h.zip b/19539-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fd7a71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-h.zip
diff --git a/19539-h/19539-h.htm b/19539-h/19539-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21edf5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-h/19539-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,13757 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<HTML>
+<HEAD>
+
+<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+
+<TITLE>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy
+</TITLE>
+
+<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
+BODY { color: Black;
+       background: White;
+       margin-right: 10%;
+       margin-left: 10%;
+       font-size: medium;
+       font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;
+       text-align: justify }
+
+P {text-indent: 4% }
+
+P.noindent {text-indent: 0% }
+
+P.poem {text-indent: 0%;
+        margin-left: 10%;
+        font-size: small }
+
+P.letter {font-size: small ;
+          margin-left: 15% ;
+          margin-right: 15% }
+
+p.dedication {text-indent: 0%;
+              margin-left: 15%;
+              text-align: justify }
+
+P.published {font-size: small ;
+             text-indent: 0% ;
+             margin-left: 15% }
+
+p.finis { text-align: center }
+
+
+
+
+</STYLE>
+
+</HEAD>
+
+<BODY>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Stowaway Girl
+
+Author: Louis Tracy
+
+Illustrator: Nesbit Benson
+
+Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19539]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist" BORDER="2" WIDTH="387" HEIGHT="552">
+<H3>
+[Frontispiece: Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist]
+</H3>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+THE STOWAWAY GIRL
+</H1>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+By
+</H3>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+LOUIS TRACY
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+AUTHOR OF
+<BR>
+THE WINGS OF THE MORNING, SON OF THE IMMORTALS, <BR>
+CYNTHIA'S CHAUFFEUR, THE MESSAGE, THE SILENT BARRIER, ETC.
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+<BR>
+NESBIT BENSON
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+NEW YORK
+<BR>
+GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP
+<BR>
+PUBLISHERS
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+Copyright, 1909, 1912,
+<BR>
+By EDWARD J. CLODE
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CONTENTS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<CENTER>
+
+<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap01">THE "ANDROMEDA"</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap02">WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap03">WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap04">SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA"</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap05">THE REFUGEES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap06">BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap07">CROSS PURPOSES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap08">THE RIGOR OF THE GAME</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap09">WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap10">ON THE HIGH SEAS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap11">A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap12">THE LURE OF GOLD</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap13">THE NEW ERA</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap14">CARMELA</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap15">SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap16">WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+</TABLE>
+
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-front">
+Hosier tightened a protective arm around her waist&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. <I>Frontispiece</I>
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-050">
+"Is that the Southern Cross?"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-172">
+"How did I come here?"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-238">
+"Well, gimme your 'and on it"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-326">
+A withering volley crashed through the window
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+THE STOWAWAY
+</H1>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER I
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE "ANDROMEDA"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Marry Mr. Bulmer!  That horrid old man!  Uncle, what <I>are</I> you saying?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl sprang to her feet as if she were some timid creature of the
+wild aroused from sylvan broodings by knowledge of imminent danger.  In
+her terror, she upset the three wineglasses that formed part of the
+display beside each <I>couvert</I> on the luncheon table.  One, rose-tinted
+and ornate, crashed to the floor, and the noise seemed to irritate the
+owner of Linden House more than his niece's shrill terror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No need to bust up our best set of 'ock glasses just because I 'appen
+to mention owd Dickey Bulmer," he growled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The color startled so suddenly out of the girl's face began to return.
+Her eyes lost their dilation of fear.  Somehow, the comment on the
+broken glass seemed to deprive "owd Dickey Bulmer's" personality of its
+real menace.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm sorry," she said, and stooped to pick up the fragments scattered
+over the carpet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Leave that alone," came the sharp order.  "So long as I've the brass
+to pay for 'em, there's plenty more where that kem from, an' in any
+case, it's the 'ousemaid's job.  Leave it alone, I tell you!  An' sit
+down.  It's 'igh time you an' me 'ad a straight talk, an' I can't do
+wi' folk bouncin' about like an injia-rubber ball when I've got things
+to say to 'em."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stretched a fat hand toward a mahogany cigar-box, affected to choose
+a cigar with deliberative crackling, hacked at the selection with a
+fruit knife, and dropped the severed end into an unused finger-bowl;
+then he struck a match, and puffed furiously until a rim of white ash
+tipped the brown.  This achieved, he helped himself to the port.
+Though he carefully avoided glancing at his companion, he knew quite
+well that she had drawn a chair to the opposite end of the table, and
+was looking at him intently; her chin was propped on her clenched
+hands; the skin on her white forehead was puckered into nervous lines;
+her lips, pressed close, had lost their Cupid's bow that seemed ever
+ready to bend into a smile.  Meanwhile, the man who had caused these
+signs of distress gulped down some of the wine, held the glass up to
+the light as a tribute to the excellence of its contents, darted his
+tongue several times in and out between his teeth, smacked his lips,
+replaced the cigar in his mouth, and leaned back in his chair until it
+creaked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris Yorke was accustomed to this ritual; she gave it the unobservant
+tolerance good breeding extends to the commonplace.  But to-day, for
+the first time during the two years that had sped so happily since she
+came back to Linden House from a Brussels <I>pension</I>, she found herself,
+even in her present trouble, wondering how it was possible that David
+Verity could be her mother's brother.  This coarse-mannered hog of a
+man, brother to the sweet-voiced, tender-hearted gentlewoman whose
+gracious wraith was left undimmed in the girl's memory by the lapse of
+years&mdash;it would be unbelievable if it were not true!  He was so gross,
+so tubby, so manifestly over-fed, whereas her mother had ever been
+elegant and <I>bien soignée</I>.  But he had shown kindness to her in his
+domineering way.  He was not quite so illiterate as his accent and his
+general air of uncouthness seemed to imply.  In his speech, the broad
+vowels of the Lancashire dialect were grafted on to the clipped
+staccato of a Cockney.  He would scoff at anyone who told him that
+knives and forks had precise uses, or that table-napkins were not meant
+to be tucked under the chin.  In England, especially in the provinces,
+some men of affairs cultivate these minor defects, deeming them tokens
+of bluff honesty, the hall-marks of the self-made; and David Verity
+thought, perhaps, that his pretty, well-spoken niece might be trusted
+to maintain the social level of his household without any special
+effort on his part.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shocked, almost, at the disloyalty of her thoughts, Iris tried to close
+the rift that had opened so unexpectedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was stupid of me to take you seriously," she said.  "You cannot
+really mean that Mr. Bulmer wishes to marry me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Verity screwed up his features into an amiable grin.  He pressed the
+tips of his fingers together until the joints bent backward.  When he
+spoke, the cigar waggled with each syllable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I meant it right enough, my lass," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, uncle dear&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stop a bit.  Listen to me first, an' say your say when I've finished.
+Like everybody else, you think I'm a rich man.  David Verity, Esquire,
+ship-owner, of Linden House an' Exchange Buildings&mdash;it looks all right,
+don't it&mdash;like one of them furrin apples with rosy peel an' a maggot
+inside.  You're the first I've told about the maggot.  Fact is, I'm
+broke.  Ship-ownin' is rotten nowadays, unless you've lots of capital.
+I've lost mine.  Unless I get help, an' a thumpin' big slice of it, my
+name figures in the <I>Gazette</I>.  I want fifty thousand pounds, an' oo's
+goin' to give it to me?  Not the public.  They're fed up on shippin'.
+They're not so silly as they used to be.  I put it to owd Dickey
+yesterday, an' 'e said you couldn't raise money in Liverpool to-day to
+build a ferry-boat.  But 'e said summat else.  If you wed 'im, 'e makes
+you a partner in the firm of Verity, Bulmer an' Co.  See?  Wot's wrong
+with that?  I've done everything for you up to date; now it's your
+turn.  Simple, isn't it?  P'raps I ought to have explained things
+differently, but it didn't occur to me you'd hobject to bein' the wife
+of a millionaire, even if 'e is a doddrin' owd idiot to talk of
+marryin' agin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, uncle!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a wail of despair, the girl sank back and covered her face with
+her hands.  Now that she believed the incredible, she could utter no
+protest.  The sacrifice demanded was too great.  In that bitter moment
+she would have welcomed poverty, prayed even for death, as the
+alternative to marriage with the man to whom she was being sold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Verity leaned over the table again and finished the glass of port.
+This time there was no lip-smacking, or other aping of the connoisseur.
+He was angry, almost alarmed.  Resistance, even of this passive sort,
+raised the savage in him.  Hitherto, Iris had been ready to obey his
+slightest whim.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's no use cryin' 'Oh, uncle,' an' kicking up a fuss," he snapped
+viciously.  "Where would you 'ave bin, I'd like to know, if it wasn't
+for me?  In the gutter&mdash;that's where your precious fool of a father
+left your mother an' you.  You're the best dressed, an' best lookin',
+an' best eddicated girl i' Bootle to-day&mdash;thanks to me.  When your
+mother kem 'ere ten year ago, an' said her lit'rary gent of a 'usband
+was dead, neither of you 'ad 'ad a square meal for weeks&mdash;remember
+that, will you?  It isn't my fault you've got to marry Bulmer.  It's
+just a bit of infernal bad luck&mdash;the same for both of us, if it comes
+to that.  An' why shouldn't you 'ave some of the sours after I've given
+you all the sweets?  You'll 'ave money to burn; I'm not axin' you to
+give up some nice young feller for 'im.  If you play your cards well,
+you can 'ave all the fun you want&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl staggered to her feet.  She could endure the man's coarseness
+but not his innuendoes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will do what you ask," she murmured, though there was a pitiful
+quivering at the corners of her mouth that bespoke an agony beyond the
+relief of tears.  "But please don't say any more, and never again
+allude to my dear father in that way, or I may&mdash;I may forget what I owe
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was unconscious of the contempt in her eyes, the scornful ring in
+her voice, and Verity had the good sense to restrain the wrath that
+bubbled up in him until the door closed, and he was alone.  He grabbed
+the decanter and refilled his glass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nice thing!" he growled.  "I offer 'er a fortune an' a bald-'eaded owd
+devil for a 'usband, 'oo ought to die in a year or two an' leave 'er
+everything; yet she ain't satisfied.  D&mdash;n 'er eyes, if I'd keep 'er as
+scullery-maid she'd 'ave different notions."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the taste of the wine, however, came the consoling reflection that
+Iris as a scullery-maid might not tickle the fancy of the dotard who
+had undertaken to provide fifty thousand pounds for the new
+partnership.  And she had promised&mdash;that was everything.  His lack of
+diplomacy was obvious even to himself, but he had won where a man of
+finer temperament might have failed.  Now, he must rush the wedding.
+Dickey Bulmer's Lancashire canniness might stipulate for cash on
+delivery as the essence of the marriage contract.  Not a penny would
+the old miser part with until he was sure of the girl.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So David Verity, having much to occupy his mind, lingered over the
+second glass of port, for this was a Sunday dinner, served at mid-day.
+At last he closed his eyes for his customary nap; but sleep was not to
+be wooed just then; instead of dozing, he felt exceedingly wide awake.
+Indeed, certain disquieting calculations were running through his
+brain, and he yielded forthwith to their insistence.  Taking a small
+notebook from his pocket, he jotted down an array of figures.  He was
+so absorbed in their analysis that he did not see Iris walk listlessly
+across the lawn that spread its summer greenery in front of the
+dining-room windows.  And that was an ill thing for David.  The sight
+of the girl at that instant meant a great deal to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He did happen to look out, a second too late.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even then, he might have caught a glimpse of Iris's pink muslin skirt
+disappearing behind a clump of rhododendrons, were not his shifty eyes
+screwed up in calculation&mdash;or perchance, the gods blinded him in behalf
+of one who was named after Juno's bright messenger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that's it," he was thinking.  "I must wheedle Dickey into the
+bank to-morrow.  A word from 'im, an' they'll all grovel, d&mdash;n 'em!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The door opened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Captain Coke to see you, sir," said a servant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Send 'im in; bring 'im in 'ere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The memorandum book disappeared; Verity's hearty greeting was that of a
+man who had not a care in the world.  His visitor's description was
+writ large on him by the sea.  No one could possibly mistake Captain
+Coke for any other species of captain than that of master mariner.  He
+was built on the lines of a capstan, short and squat and powerful.
+Though the weather was hot, he wore a suit of thick navy-blue serge
+that would have served his needs within the Arctic Circle.  It clung
+tightly to his rounded contours; there was a purple line on his red
+brows that marked the exceeding tightness of the bowler hat he was
+carrying; and the shining protuberances on his black boots showed that
+they were tight, too.  It was manifestly out of the question that he
+should be able to walk any distance.  Though he had driven in a cab to
+the shipowner's house, he was already breathless with exertion, and he
+rolled so heavily in his gait that his shoulders hit both sides of the
+doorway while entering the room.  Yet he was nimble withal, a man
+capable of swift and sure movement within a limited area, therein
+resembling a bull, or a hippopotamus.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hospitable Verity pushed forward the mahogany box and the decanter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Glad to see you, Jimmie, my boy.  Sit yourself down.  'Ave a cigar an'
+a glass o' port.  I didn't expect you quite so soon, but you're just as
+welcome now as later."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Coke placed his hat on top of a malacca cane, and balanced both
+against the back of a chair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll take a smoke but no wine, thankee, Mr. Verity," said he.  "I kem
+along now' 'coss I want to be aboard afore it's dark.  We're moored in
+an awkward place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor owd <I>Andromeeda</I>!  Just 'er usual luck, eh, Jimmie?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, she ain't wot you might call one of fortune's fav'rits, but
+she's afloat, an' that's more'n you can say for a good many
+daisy-cutters I've known."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Verity chuckled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Some ships are worth less afloat than ashore, an' she's one of 'em,"
+he grinned.  "You want a match.  'Ere you are!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Whether Coke was wishful to deny or admit the <I>Andromeda's</I>
+shortcomings&mdash;even the ship herself might have protested against the
+horror of a long "e" in the penultimate syllable of her name&mdash;the other
+man's rapid proffer of a light stopped him.  He puffed away in silence;
+there was an awkward pause; for once in his career, Verity regretted
+his cultivated trick of covering up a significant phrase by quickly
+adding some comment on a totally different subject.  But the sailor
+smoked on, stolidly heedless of a sudden lapse in the conversation, and
+the shipowner was compelled to start afresh.  He was far too shrewd to
+go straight back to the topic burked by his own error.  His
+sledge-hammer methods might be crude to the verge of brutality where
+Iris was concerned, but they were capable of nice adjustment in the
+case of wary old sea-dogs of the Coke type.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's stuffy in 'ere with the two of us smokin'&mdash;let's stroll into the
+garden," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke was agreeable.  He liked gardens; they were a change from the
+purple sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's the on'y bit of green stuff you seem to be fond of, Mr. Verity,"
+he went on.  "You keep us crool short of vegetables."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David's little eyes twinkled.  Here was another opening; it would not
+be his fault if it led again up a <I>cul-de-sac</I>.  He threw wide the
+window, and they crossed the lawn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Vegetables!" he cried.  "Wish I could stock you from my place, an' I'd
+stuff you with 'em.  I can grow 'em 'ere for next to nothing, but they
+cost a heap o' money in furrin ports, an' <I>your</I> crimson wave-catcher
+doesn't earn money&mdash;she eats it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even that's one better'n her skipper, 'oo doesn't do neether,"
+commented Coke gloomily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His employer seemed to find much humor in the remark.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gad, we both look starved!" he guffawed.  "To 'ear us, you'd think we
+was booked for the workhus or till you ran a tape round the contoor,
+eh?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Coke was not to be cheered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can see as far into a stone wall as 'ere a one an' there a one," he
+said, "an' there's no use blinkin' the fax.  The <I>Andromeda</I> was a good
+ship in 'er day, but that day is gone.  You ought to 'ave sold 'er to
+the Dutchmen five years ago, Mr. Verity.  Times were better then, an'
+now you'd 'ave a fine steel ship instead of a box of scrap iron."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were passing the rhododendrons, and Verity's quick eyes noted that
+a summer-house beneath the shade of two venerable elms was unoccupied.
+The structure consisted of a rustic roof carried on half a dozen
+uprights; it had a wooden floor, and held a table and some basket
+chairs.  The roof and supports were laden with climbing roses, a
+Virginian creeper, and a passion flower.  The day being Sunday, there
+were no gardeners in the adjoining shrubbery or rose garden, and anyone
+seated in the summer-house could see on all sides.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Drop anchor in 'ere, Coke," said Verity.  "It's cool an' breezy, an'
+we can 'ave a quiet confab without bein' bothered.  Now, I reelly sent
+for you to-day to tell you I mean to better the supplies this
+trip&mdash;Yes, honest Injun!"&mdash;for the <I>Andromeda's</I> skipper had clutched
+the cigar out of his mouth with the expression of a man who vows to
+heaven that he cannot believe his ears&mdash;"I'm goin' to bung in an extry
+'undred to-morrow in the way of stores.  Funny, isn't it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Funny!  It's a meracle!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though not altogether gratified by this whole-hearted agreement with
+his own views, Verity was too anxious to keep his hearer on the present
+tack to resent any implied slur on his earlier efforts as a caterer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's nothing to wot I'd do if I could afford it," he added graciously.
+"But, as you said, let's look at the fax.  Wot chance 'as an iron ship,
+built twenty years ago, at a cost of sixteen pound a ton, ag'in a steel
+ship of to-day, at seven pound a ton, with twiced the cargo space, an'
+three feet less draught?  W'y no earthly.  We're dished every way.  We
+cost more to run; we can't jump 'arf the bars; we can't carry 'arf the
+stuff; we pay double insurance; an' we're axed to find interest on
+more'n double the capital.  As you say, Jimmie, wot bloomin' chanst
+'ave we?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke smoked silently; he had said none of these things, but when the
+shipowner's glance suddenly dwelt on him, he nodded.  Silent
+acquiescence on his part, however, was not what Verity wanted.  He,
+too, knew when to hold his tongue.  After a long interval, during which
+a robin piped a merry roundelay from the depths of a neighboring pink
+hawthorn, Coke dug out a question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Premium gone up, then?" he inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's on a twelve-month rate.  It runs out in September.  If you're
+lucky, an' fill up with nitrate soon, you may be 'ome again.  If not,
+I'll 'ave to whack up a special quotation.  After that, there'll be no
+insurance.  The <I>Andromeeda</I> goes for wot she'll fetch."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another pause; then Coke broached a new phase.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Meanin' that I lose the two thousand pounds I put in 'er to get my
+berth?" he said huskily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An' wot about me?  <I>I</I> lose eight times as much.  Just think of it!
+Sixteen thousand pounds would give me a fair balance to go on wi' i'
+these hard times, an' your two thou' would make the skipper's job in my
+new ship a certainty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke's brick-red face darkened.  He breathed hard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot new ship?" he demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Verity smiled knowingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a secret, Jimmie, but I must stretch a point for a pal's sake.
+Dickey Bulmer's goin' to marry my niece, an' 'e 'as pledged himself to
+double the capital of the firm.  Now I've let the cat out of the bag.
+I'm sorry, ole man&mdash;pon me soul, I am&mdash;but w'en Dickey's name crops up
+on 'Change you know as well as me 'ow many captain's tickets will be
+backed wi' t' brass."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This time, if so minded, the robin might have trilled his song <I>adagio
+con sostenuto</I> without fear of interruption by those harsh voices.
+Neither man spoke during so long a time that the break seemed to impose
+a test of endurance; in such a crisis, he who has all at stake will
+yield rather than he who only stakes a part.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"S'pose we talk plainly as man to man?" said Coke thickly, at last.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>I</I> can't talk much plainer," said Verity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, you can.  Promise me the command of your next ship, an' the
+Andromeda goes on the rocks this side o' Monte Video."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Verity jumped as though he had been stung by an infuriated wasp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Coke, I'm surprised at you," he grunted, not without a sharp glance
+around to make sure no other was near.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, you ain't, not a bit surprised, on'y you don't like to 'ear it in
+cold English.  That's wot you're drivin' at&mdash;the insurance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shut up, you ijjit.  Never 'eard such d&mdash;d rot in all me born days."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Listen to it now, then.  It's good to 'ave the truth tole you some
+times.  Wot are you afraid of?  I take all the risk an' precious little
+of the money.  Write me a letter&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Write!  Me!  Coke, you're loony."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not me.  Wait till I'm through.  Write a letter sayin' you're sorry
+the <I>Andromeda</I> must be laid up this fall, but promisin' me the next
+vacancy.  'Ow does that 'urt <I>you</I>?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Verity's cigar had gone out.  He relighted it with due deliberation; it
+could not be denied that his nerve, at least, was superb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm willin' to do anything in reason," he said slowly.  "I don't see
+where I can lay 'ands on a better man than you, Jimmie, even if you
+<I>do</I> talk nonsense at times.  You know the South American trade, an'
+you know me.  By gad, I'll do that.  Anyhow, it's wot you deserve, but
+none the less, I'm actin' as a reel friend, now ain't I?  Many a man
+would just lay you up alongside the <I>Andromeeda</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll call at your office in the mornin' for the letter," said Coke,
+whose red face shone like the setting sun seen through a haze.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, yes.  I'll 'ave it ready."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An' you won't back out of them extry stores?  I must sweeten the crew
+on this run."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll supply the best of stuff&mdash;enough to last for the round trip.  But
+don't make any mistake.  You must be back afore September 30th.  That's
+the date of the policy.  Now let's trot inside, an' my gal&mdash;Mrs. Dickey
+Bulmer that is to be&mdash;will give you some tea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tea!" snorted Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, there's whisky an' soda on tap if you prefer it.  It <I>is</I> rather
+'ot for tea.  Whew! you're boilin'?  W'y don't you wear looser clo'es?
+Look at me&mdash;cool as a cucumber.  By the way, 'oo's the new man you've
+shipped as second?  Watts is the chief, I know, but 'oo is Mr. Philip
+Hozier?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Youngster fillin' in sea-service to get a ticket an' qualify for the
+Cunard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thoroughly reliable sort of chap, eh?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The best."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was odd how these men left unsaid the really vital things.  Again it
+was Coke who tried to fill in some part of the blank space.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just the right kind of second for the <I>Andromeda's</I> last cruise," he
+muttered.  "Smart as a new pin.  You could trust 'im on the bridge of a
+battleship.  Now, Watts is a good man, but a tot of rum makes 'im fair
+daft."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah!" purred Verity, "you must keep a tight 'and on Watts.  I like an
+appetizer meself w'en I'm off dooty, so to speak, but it's no joke to
+'ave a boozer in charge of a fine ship an' vallyble freight.  Of
+course, you're responsible as master, but you can't be on deck mornin',
+noon, an' night.  Choke Watts off the drink, an' you'll 'ave no
+trouble.  So that's settled.  My, but you're fair meltin'&mdash;wot is it
+they say&mdash;losin' adipose tisher.  Well, come along.  Let's lubricate."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center">
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Andromeda</I> sailed on the Tuesday afternoon's tide.  She would drop
+the pilot off Holyhead, and, with fair weather, such as cheered her
+departure from the Mersey, daybreak on Thursday would find her pounding
+through the cross seas where St. George's Channel merges into the wide
+Atlantic.  If she followed the beaten track on her long run to the
+River Plate&mdash;as sailors will persist in miscalling that wondrous Rio de
+la Plata&mdash;she might be signaled from Madeira or the Cape Verde Islands.
+But shipmasters often prefer to set a course clear of the land till
+they pick up the coast of South America.  If she were not spoken by
+some passing steamer, there was every possibility that the sturdy old
+vessel would not be heard of again before reaching her destination.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center">
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+But David Verity heard of her much sooner, and no thunderbolt that ever
+rent the heavens could have startled him more than the manner of that
+hearing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Resolving to clinch matters with regard to Iris and her elderly suitor,
+he invited "Owd Dickey" to supper on Sunday evening.  The girl endured
+the man's presence with a placid dignity that amazed her uncle.  On the
+plea of a headache, she retired at an early hour, leaving Bulmer to
+gloat over his prospective happiness, and primed to the point of
+dementia.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was quite willing to accompany Verity to the bank next morning; a
+pleasant-spoken manager sighed his relief when the visitors were gone,
+and he was free to look at the item "bills discounted" on Verity's page
+in the ledger.  More than that, a lawyer was instructed to draw up a
+partnership deed, and the representatives of various ship-building
+firms were asked to supply estimates for two new vessels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Altogether Dickey was complaisant, and David enjoyed a busy and
+successful day.  He dined in town, came home at a late hour, and merely
+grinned when a servant told him that Mr. Bulmer had called twice but
+Miss Iris happened to be out on both occasions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless, at breakfast on Tuesday, he warned his niece not to keep
+her admirer dangling at arm's length.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"E's a queer owd codger," explained the philosopher.  "Play up to 'im a
+bit, an' you'll be able to twist 'im round your little finger.  I
+b'lieve he's goin' dotty, an' you can trust me to see that the marriage
+settlement is O. K."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you be home to dinner?" was her response.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No.  Now that the firm is in smooth water again I must show myself a
+bit.  It's all thanks to you, lass, an' I'll not forget it.  Good-by!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris smiled, and Verity was vastly pleased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sure you will not forget," she said.  "Good-by."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's no understandin' wimmin," mused David, as his victoria swept
+through the gates of Linden House.  "Sunday afternoon Dickey might ha'
+bin a dose of rat poison; now she's ready to swaller 'im as if 'e was a
+chocolate drop."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again he returned some few minutes after midnight; again the servant
+announced Mr. Bulmer's visits, three of them; and again Miss Iris had
+been absent&mdash;in fact, she had not yet come home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not 'ome!" cried David furiously.  "W'y it's gone twelve.  W'ere
+the&mdash;w'ere is she?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No one knew.  She had quitted the house soon after Verity himself, and
+had not been seen since.  Storm and rage as he might, and did, David
+could not discover his niece's whereabouts.  He spent a wearying and
+tortured night, a harassed and miserable day, devoted to frantic
+inquiries in every possible direction with interludes of specious lying
+to the infatuated Bulmer.  But enlightment came on Thursday morning.  A
+letter arrived by the first post.  It was from Iris.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"MY DEAR UNCLE," she wrote: "Neither you nor Mr. Bulmer should have any
+objection to my passing the few remaining weeks of my liberty in the
+manner best pleasing to myself.  On Sunday evening, in your presence,
+Mr. Bulmer urged me to fix an early date for our marriage.  Tell him
+that I shall marry him when the <I>Andromeda</I> returns to England from
+South America.  You will remember that you promised last year to take
+me to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres this summer; I have been learning
+Spanish so as to help our sight-seeing.  Unfortunately, business
+prevents you from keeping that promise, but there is no reason why I
+should not go.  I am on board the <I>Andromeda</I>, and will probably be
+able to explain matters satisfactorily to Captain Coke.  The vessel is
+due back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not
+have long to wait.  It is more than likely that Captain Coke will not
+know I am aboard until Thursday, and I have arranged with a friend that
+this letter shall reach you about the same time.  Please convey my
+apologies to Mr. Bulmer, and accept my regret for any anxiety you may
+have felt owing to my unaccountable absence.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+"Your affectionate niece,
+<BR>
+"IRIS YORKE."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+David narrowly escaped an apoplectic seizure.  When he recovered his
+senses he looked ten years older.  The instinct of self-preservation
+alone saved him in his frenzy from blurting forth the tidings of the
+girl's flight.  Incoherent with fear and passion, he contrived to give
+orders for his carriage, and was driven to his office.  Thence he
+dispatched telegrams to every signaling station in England, Ireland,
+and Spain, at which by the remotest possibility the <I>Andromeda</I> might
+be intercepted.  He cabled to Madeira and Cape Verde, even to Fernando
+Noronha and Pernambuco; he sent urgent instructions to the pilotage
+authorities of the Bristol Channel, the southwest ports, and Lisbon;
+and the text of every message was: "<I>Andromeda</I> must return to
+Liverpool instantly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the wretched man realized that he was doomed.  Fate had struck at
+him mercilessly.  He could only wait in dumb despair, and mutter
+prayers too long forgotten, and concoct bogus letters from a cousin's
+address in the south of England for the benefit of Dickey Bulmer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Never was ship more eagerly sought than the <I>Andromeda</I>, yet never was
+ship more completely engulfed in the mysterious silence of the great
+sea.  The days passed, and the weeks, yet nothing was heard of her.
+She figured in the "overdue" list at Lloyd's; sharp-eyed underwriters
+did "specs" in her; woe-begone women began to haunt the Liverpool
+office for news of husbands and sons; the love-lorn Dickey wore Verity
+to a shadow of his former self by alternate pleadings and threats; but
+the <I>Andromeda</I> remained mute, and the fanciful letters from Iris
+became fewer and more fragmentary as David's imagination failed, and
+his excuses grew thinner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And the odd thing was that if David had only known it, he could have
+saved himself all this heart-burning and misery by looking through the
+dining-room window on that Sunday afternoon when his prospects seemed
+to be so rosy.  He never thought of that.  He cursed every circumstance
+and person impartially and fluently, but he omitted from the Satanic
+litany the one girlish prank of tree-climbing that led Iris to spring
+out of sight amid the sheltering arms of an elm when her uncle and
+Captain Coke deemed the summer-house a suitable place for "a plain talk
+as man to man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So David learnt what it meant to wait, and listen, and start
+expectantly when postman's knock or telegraph messenger's imperative
+summons sounded on door of house or office.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But he waited long in vain.  The <I>Andromeda</I>, like her namesake of old,
+might have been chained to a rock on some mythical island guarded by
+the father of all sea serpents.  As for a new Perseus, well&mdash;David knew
+him not.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap02"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER II
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The second officer of the <I>Andromeda</I> was pacing the bridge with the
+slow alertness of responsibility.  He would walk from port to
+starboard, glance forrard and aft, peer at the wide crescent of the
+starlit sea, stroll back to port, and again scan ship and horizon.
+Sometimes he halted in front of the binnacle lamp to make certain that
+the man at the wheel was keeping the course, South 15 West, set by
+Captain Coke shortly before midnight.  His ears listened mechanically
+to the steady pulse-beats of the propeller; his eyes swept the vague
+plain of the ocean for the sparkling white diamond that would betoken a
+mast-head light; he was watchful and prepared for any unforeseen
+emergency that might beset the vessel intrusted to his care.  But his
+mind dwelt on something far removed from his duties, though, to be
+sure, every poet who ever scribbled four lines of verse has found rhyme
+and reason in comparing women with stars, and ships, and the sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If Philip Hozier was no poet, he was a sailor, and sailors are
+notoriously susceptible to the charms of the softer sex.  But the only
+woman he loved was his mother, the only bride he could look for during
+many a year was a mermaid, though these sprites of the deep waters seem
+to be frequenting undiscovered haunts since mariners ceased to woo the
+wind.  For all that, if perforce he was heart-whole, there was no just
+cause or impediment why he should not admire a pretty girl when he saw
+one, and an exceedingly pretty girl had honored him with her company
+during a brief minute of the previous day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was superintending the safe disposal of the last batch of cotton
+goods in the forward hold&mdash;and had just found it necessary to explain
+the correct principles of stowage with sailor-like fluency&mdash;when a
+young lady, accompanied by a dock laborer carrying a leather
+portmanteau, spoke to him from the quay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is Captain Coke on board?" said she.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, madam," said he, lifting his cap with one hand, and restraining
+the clanking of a steam windlass with the other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am Mr. Verity's niece, and I wish to send this parcel to Monte
+Video&mdash;may I put it in some place where it will be safe?" said she.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hoping that the rattling winch had drowned his earlier remarks&mdash;which
+were couched in an <I>lingua franca</I> of the high seas&mdash;he began to tell
+her that it would give him the utmost pleasure to take charge of it on
+her account, but she nodded, bade the porter follow, ran along a
+somewhat precarious gangway, and was on deck before he could offer any
+assistance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are Mr. Hozier, I suppose?" said Iris, gazing with frank brown
+eyes into his frank blue ones.  She, of course, was severely
+self-possessed; he, as is the way of mere man, grew more confused each
+instant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I will just pop the bag into Captain Coke's stateroom, and leave
+this note with it.  I have explained everything fully.  I wrote a line
+in case he might be absent."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All of which was so strictly accurate that it served its purpose
+admirably, though the said purpose, it is regrettable to state, was the
+misleading and utter bamboozling of Philip Hozier.  Miss Iris Yorke
+knew quite well that Captain Coke was then closeted with David Verity
+in Exchange Buildings; she knew, because she had watched him pass
+through the big swing doors of her uncle's office.  She also knew,
+having made it her business to find out, that in fifteen minutes, or
+less, the crew would muster in the fo'c'sle for their mid-day meal.
+Not having heard a word of Hozier's free speech to the gentlemen of
+various nationalities at the bottom of the hold, she wondered why he
+was blushing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shall I show you the way?" asked Philip, finding his tongue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, thank you.  I have been on board the <I>Andromeda</I> many times.  Ah,
+Peter, I see you.  What is it to-day, scouse or lobscouse?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Scouse, miss," said the ship's cook, grinning widely at her
+recollection of the line drawn by both his patrons and himself between
+ship's biscuit stewed with fresh meat and the same article flavored
+with salt junk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Peter's recognition placed Iris's identity beyond doubt.  She said
+nothing more to Hozier, but tripped up the companionway.  Soon he saw
+her paying the man who had carried the portmanteau.  She herself seemed
+to be in no hurry.  She walked to the rails beneath the bridge, and
+found interest in watching the loading operations, which were resumed
+as soon as the second officer saw that his services were not wanted.
+Time was pressing, and a good deal yet remained to be done.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Watts, the chief officer, who was called ashore by urgent business
+five minutes after the "old man" left the vessel, chose this awkward
+moment to appear from behind a bonded warehouse.  He was walking with
+unnatural steadiness, so Hozier made some excuse to meet him and
+whisper that the owner's niece was on board.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sun's zhot," remarked Mr. Watts cheerfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go and lie down for a spell," suggested Hozier, and Mr. Watts thought
+it was a "shpiffin' idee."  When Hozier was free to glance a second
+time at the cross rail, Iris had vanished.  He was annoyed.  Evidently
+she did not wish to encounter any more of the ship's officers that
+morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hatches were on, and everything was orderly before Coke's squat
+figure climbed the gangway.  Hozier reported the young lady's visit,
+and the skipper was obviously surprised.  As he hoisted himself up the
+steep ladder to the hurricane deck, the younger man heard him
+condemning someone under his breath as "a leery old beggar."  The
+phrase was hardly applicable to Iris, but Coke came out of his cabin
+with an open letter in his hand, and bade a steward stow the
+portmeanteau in some other more hallowed and less inconvenient place.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And there the incident ended.  The <I>Andromeda</I> hauled down the Blue
+Peter for her long run of over 6,000 miles to Monte Video, and Hozier
+had routine work in plenty to occupy his mind during the first
+twenty-four hours at sea without perplexing it with memories of a
+pretty face.  Soon after Holyhead was passed, it is true, a sailor
+reported to the second officer that he had seen a ghost between decks,
+in the region of the lazarette.  It was then near midnight, a quiet
+hour on board ship, and Hozier told the man sharply to go to his bunk
+and endeavor to sleep off the effects of the bad beer imbibed earlier
+in the day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, on this second night of the voyage, while the ship was plodding
+steadily southward with that fifteen point inclination to the west that
+would bring her far into the Atlantic soon after daybreak, Philip
+remembered Mr. Verity's niece, and felt sorry that when she paid those
+former visits to the <I>Andromeda</I>, fate had decreed that he should be
+serving his time on another vessel.  For there was an expression in her
+eyes that haunted him.  Though she addressed him with that absence of
+restraint which is a heaven-sent attribute of every young woman when
+circumstances compel her to speak to a strange young man&mdash;though her
+tone to the more favored cook was kindly, and even sprightly&mdash;though
+Philip himself was red and inclined to stammer&mdash;despite all these
+hindrances to clear judgment, he felt that she was troubled in spirit.
+His acquaintance with women was of the slightest, since a youth who is
+taught his business on the <I>Conway</I>, and means to attach himself to one
+of the great Trans-Atlantic shipping lines, has no time to spare for
+dalliance in boudoirs.  But it gave him a thrill when he heard that
+this charming girl knew his name, and it seemed to him, for an instant,
+that she was looking into his very soul, analyzing him, searching for
+some sign that he was not as others, which meant that there were some
+whom she had bitter cause to distrust.  Of course, that was mere
+day-dreaming, a nebulous fantasy brought by her gracious presence into
+a medley of hurrying windlasses, strenuous orders, and sulky, panting
+men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At any rate, she had left a memento of her too brief appearance on
+board in the shape of the bag.  He would contrive to take on his own
+shoulders its mission in Monte Video; then, on returning to Liverpool,
+he would have an excuse for calling on her.  He did not know her name
+yet.  Possibly, Captain Coke would mention that interesting fact when
+his temper lost its raw edge.  As a last resource, the cook might
+enlighten him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was strange that he should be thinking of Iris&mdash;far stranger than he
+could guess&mdash;but his thoughts were sub-conscious, and he was in no wise
+neglecting the safety of the ship.  The night was clear but dark, the
+stars blinked with the subdued radiance that betokens fine weather, and
+ever and anon their reflection glimmered from the long slope of a wave
+like the glint of spangles on a dress.  But it was a garment of
+far-flung amplitude, woven on the shadowy loom of night and the sea,
+and from such mysterious warp and weft is often produced the sable robe
+of tragedy and death.  It was so now, within an ace.  At one instance,
+the restless plain of the ocean seemed to bear no other argosy than the
+<I>Andromeda</I>; in the next, Hozier's quick-moving glance had caught the
+pallid sheen of some small craft's starboard light.  No need to tell
+him what might happen.  A sailing vessel, probably a fishing smack, was
+crossing the steamer's course.  He sprang to the telegraph, and
+signaled "Slow" to the engine-room.  Simultaneously he shouted to the
+steersman to starboard the helm, and the siren trumpeted a single
+raucous blast into the silence.  With the rattle of the chains and
+steering-rods in the gear-boxes came a yell from the lookout forward:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Light on the port bow!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier repeated the hail, but promised the blear-eyed sentinels in the
+bows of the ship a lively five minutes when the watch was relieved.
+Slowly the <I>Andromeda</I> swung to the west.  Even more slowly, or so it
+appeared to the anxious man on the bridge, a red eye peeped into being
+alongside the green one.  A blacker smear showed up on the black sea,
+and a hoarse voice, presumably situated beneath the smear, expressed a
+desire for information.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Arr ye all aslape on board that crimson collier?" it asked in a
+Waterford brogue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Got the hooker's wheel tied, I suppose?" retorted Hozier, for the now
+visible schooner had not attempted to change her course by half a
+point.  She was now bowling along with every stitch set before a
+five-knot breeze from the east; the tilt of her sails was such that she
+practically presented only the outline of her spars when first sighted
+from the steamer; and her side lights probably had tallow candles in
+them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bedad, it's aisier in moind we'd be if you were tied to it," shouted
+the voice, and Hozier felt, like many another Saxon, that an Irishman's
+last word is often the best one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The engines resumed their cadence, and the <I>Andromeda</I> crept round
+again to South 15 West.  She was back on her proper line when a heavy
+step sounded on the iron rungs of the bridge ladder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's up?" demanded Coke, who was fully dressed, though Hozier thought
+he had retired two hours earlier.  "Oh, the beer is frothin' up to
+their eyes, is it?" went on the skipper, after listening to a brief
+summary of events.  "I thought, mebbe, the wheel had jammed.  But those
+lazy swabs want talkin' to.  I'll just give 'em a bit of me mind," and
+he went forward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier heard him reading the Riot Act to the shell-backs who were
+supposed to keep a sharp lookout ahead.  But the captain did not
+monopolize the conversation.  His deep notes rumbled only at intervals.
+The men had something to say.  He returned to the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One of them scallywags sez 'e 'as seen a ghost," he announced, with
+the calm air of a man who states that the moon will rise during the
+next hour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish he could see less remarkable things, such as schooners, sir,"
+said Hozier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But 'e swears 'e sawr it twiced."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, is he the man who reported a ghost outside the lazarette last
+night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I s'pose so.  Did 'e tell you about it?  That's where she walks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's his yarn&mdash;a female ghost, a black 'un, black clo'es anyhow.
+He's a dashed fool, but he's no boozer, though his mate's tongue is a
+bit thick yet.  I'll take the forenoon watch, an' you might overhaul
+the ship for stowaways after breakfast.  Never heard of one on this
+journey&mdash;I've routed out as many as twenty at a time w'en I was runnin'
+between Wellington an' Sydney&mdash;but you never can tell, so 'ave a squint
+round."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir," said Hozier, and that is how it fell to his lot to discover
+Iris Yorke, looking very white and miserable, when the hatch of the
+lazarette was broken open at half-past eight o'clock on Thursday
+morning!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A tramp steamer is not a complex organism.  She is made up of holds,
+bunkers, boilers and engines, with scanty accommodation for officers
+and crew grouped round the funnel or stuck in the bows.  When the boats
+were stripped of their tarpaulins, and a few lockers and store-rooms
+examined, the only available hiding-places were the shaft tunnel, the
+holds, and the lazarette, a small space between decks, situated
+directly above the propeller, where a reserve supply of provisions is
+generally carried.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the door of the lazarette was locked, and the key missing, though
+it ought to be hanging with others, all duly labeled, on a hook in the
+steward's cabin.  A duplicate set of keys in the captain's possession
+was far from complete.  As the steward was certain he had fastened the
+lazarette himself early on Tuesday morning, there was nothing for it
+but to force the lock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even that would not have been necessary had the carpenter slackened his
+efforts after the first assault.  Iris cried loudly enough that she
+would open the door, but the noise of the shaft and the flapping of the
+screw drowned her voice, and she was compelled to stand clear when the
+stout planking began to yield.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was dark in there, and Hozier was undeniably startled by the
+spectacle of a slim figure, wrapped in a long ulster, standing among
+the cases and packages.  "Now, out you come!" he cried, with a
+gruffness that was intended only to cover his own amazement; but Iris,
+despite the horrors of sea-sickness and confinement in the dark, was
+not minded to suffer what she considered to be impertinence on the part
+of a second officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am Miss Yorke," she said, coming forward into the half light of the
+lower deck.  "Any explanation of my presence here will be given to the
+captain, and to no other person."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That innocent word "person" is capable of many meanings.  Hozier felt
+that its application to himself was distinctly unfavorable.  And Iris
+was quite dignified and self-possessed.  She had given a few deft
+touches to her hair.  Her hat was set at the right angle.  Her dark
+gray coat and brown boots looked neat and serviceable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I did not know to whom I was speaking," he managed to say,
+for he now recognized the "ghost," and was more surprised than he had
+ever been in his life before.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is matterless," said Iris frigidly.  "Where is Captain Coke?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the bridge," said Philip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will go to him.  Please don't come with me.  I tried to tell you
+that I would unlock the door, but you refused to listen.  Will you let
+me pass?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He obeyed in silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, s'help me!" muttered a sailor, "talk about suffrigettes!  Wot
+price <I>'er</I>?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris hurried to the deck.  The light seemed to dazzle her, and her
+steps were so uncertain that Hozier sprang forward and caught her arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Won't you sit down a moment, Miss Yorke?" he said.  "If you searched
+the whole ship, you could not have chosen a worse place to travel in
+than the lazarette."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was driven out twice at night by the rats," she gasped, though she
+strove desperately to regain control of her trembling limbs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Too bad!" he whispered.  "But it was your own fault.  Why did you do
+it?  At any rate, wait here a few minutes before you meet the captain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not afraid of meeting him.  Why should I be?  He knows me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I meant only that you are hardly able to walk, but I seem to say the
+wrong thing every time.  There is nothing really to worry about.  We
+are not far from Queenstown.  We can put you ashore there by losing
+half a day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl had been ill, wracked in body and distraught in mind, with the
+added horror of knowing that rats were scampering over the deck close
+to her in the noisy darkness, but she summoned a half laugh at his
+words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are still saying the wrong thing, Mr. Hozier," she murmured.  "The
+<I>Andromeda</I> will not put into Queenstown.  From this hour I become a
+passenger, not a stowaway.  My uncle knows now that I am here.  Thank
+you, you need not hold me any longer.  I have quite recovered.  Captain
+Coke is on the bridge, you said?  I can find my way; this ship is no
+stranger to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And away she went, justifying her statements by tripping rapidly
+forward.  The mere sight of her created boundless excitement among such
+members of the crew as were on deck, but the shock administered to Mr.
+Watts was of that intense variety often described as electric.  In the
+matter of disposing of large quantities of ardent spirits he was a
+seasoned vessel, and, as a general rule, the first day at sea sufficed
+to clear his brain from the fumes of the last orgy on shore.  But, to
+be effective, the cure must not be too drastic.  This morning, after
+leaving the bridge, he had fortified his system with a liberal
+allowance of rum and milk.  Breakfast ended, he took another dose of
+the same mixture as a "steadier," and he was just leaving the messroom
+when he set eyes on Iris.  Of course, he refused to believe his eyes.
+Had they not deceived him many times?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ha!" said he, "a bit liverish," and he pressed a rough hand firmly
+downward from forehead to cheek-bones.  When he looked again, the girl
+was much nearer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lord luv' a duck, this time I've got 'em for sure!" he groaned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His lower jaw dropped, he stared unblinkingly, and purple veins bulged
+crookedly on his seamed forehead.  He was bereft of the power of
+movement.  He stood stock-still, blocking the narrow gangway.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good morning, Mr. Watts.  You remember me, don't you?" said Iris,
+showing by her manner that she wished to pass him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A slight roll of the ship assisted in the disintegration of Watts.  He
+collapsed sideways into the cook's galley, the door of which was
+hospitably open.  Somewhat frightened by the wildness of his looks,
+Iris ran on, and dashed at the foot of the companion rather
+breathlessly.  The keen air was already tingeing her cheeks with color.
+When she reached the bridge, where Captain Coke was propped against the
+chart-house, with a thick, black cigar sticking in his mouth and
+apparently trying to touch his nose, she had lost a good deal of the
+pallor and woe-begone semblance that had demoralized Hozier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke heard the rapid, light footsteps, and turned his head.  At all
+times slow of thought and slower of speech, he was galvanized into a
+sudden rigidity that differed only in degree from the symptoms
+displayed by his chief officer.  Certainly he could not have been more
+stupefied had he seen the ghost reported overnight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They told me I should find you here, Captain," said she.  "I must
+apologize for thrusting my company on you for a long voyage,
+but&mdash;circumstances&mdash;were&mdash;too much for me&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Face to face with the commander of the ship, and startled anew by his
+expression of blank incredulity, the glib flow of words conned so often
+during the steadfast but dreadful hours spent in the lazarette failed
+her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know me," she faltered.  "I am Iris Yorke."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Not a syllable came from the irate and astonished man gazing at her
+with such a bovine stolidity.  His shoulders had not abated a fraction
+of their stubborn thrust against the frame of the chart-house.  His
+hands were immovable in the pockets of his reefer coat.  The cigar
+still stuck out between his lips like a miniature jib-boom.  Had he
+wished to terrify her by a hostile reception, he could not have
+succeeded more completely, though, to be just, he meant nothing of the
+sort; his wits being jumbled into chaos by the apparition of the last
+person then alive whom he expected or desired to see on board the
+<I>Andromeda</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Iris could not interpret his mood, and she strove vainly to conquer
+the fear welling up in her breast because of the grim anger that seemed
+to blaze at her from every line of Coke's brick-red countenance.  In
+the struggle to pour forth the excuses and protestations that sounded
+so plausible in her own ears, while secured from observation behind the
+locked door of her retreat, she blundered unhappily on to the very
+topic that she had resolved to keep secret.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why are you so unwilling to acknowledge me?" she cried, with a nervous
+indignation that lent a tremor to her voice.  "You have met me often
+enough.  You saw me on Sunday at my uncle's house?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did I?" said Coke, speaking at last, but really as much at a loss for
+something to say as the girl herself.  He had recognized her instantly,
+just as he would recognize the moon if the luminary fell from the sky,
+and with as little comprehension of the cause of its falling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of course, she took the question as a forerunner of blank denial.  This
+was not to be borne.  She fired into a direct attack.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If your memory is hazy concerning the events of Sunday afternoon, it
+may be helpful if I recall the conversation between my uncle and you in
+the summer-house," she snapped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some of the glow fled from Coke's face.  He straightened himself and
+glanced at the sailor inside the wheel-house, whose attention was given
+instantly to the fact that the vessel's head had fallen away a full
+point or more from South 15 West owing to the easterly set of a strong
+tide.  Vessels' heads are apt to turn when steersmen do not attend to
+their business.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's that you're sayin'?" demanded Coke, coming nearer, and looking
+her straight in the eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I heard every word of that interesting talk," she continued valiantly,
+though she was sensible of a numbness that seemed to envelop her in an
+ice-cold mist.  "I know what you arranged to do&mdash;so I have promised&mdash;to
+marry Mr. Bulmer&mdash;when the <I>Andromeda</I>&mdash;comes back&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A light broke on Coke's intelligence that irradiated his prominent
+eyes.  His heavy lips relaxed into a cunning grin, and he flicked the
+ash off the end of the cigar with a confidential nod.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, is <I>that</I> it?" he said.  "Artful old dog, Verity!  But why in&mdash;why
+didn't 'e tell me you was comin' aboard this trip?  We 'aven't the
+right fixin's for a lady, so you must put up with the best we can do
+for you, Miss Yorke.  Nat'rally, we're tickled to death to 'ave your
+company, an' if on'y that blessed uncle of your's 'ad told me wot to
+expect, I'd 'ave made things ship-shape at Liverpool.  But, my
+god-father, wot sort of ijjit axed you to stow yourself away in the
+lazareet?  Steady now; you ain't a-goin' to faint, are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke's amiability came too late.  His squat figure and red face
+suddenly loomed into a gigantic indistinctness in the girl's eyes.  She
+would have fallen to the deck had not the captain's strong hands
+clutched her by the shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hi!  Below there!" he yelled.  "Tumble up, some of you!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier was the first to gain the bridge.  He had followed the progress
+of events with sufficient accuracy to realize that Miss Iris Yorke had
+met with a distinct rebuff by the skipper, and, judging from his own
+experience of her physical weakness when she emerged into daylight, he
+was not surprised to hear that she had fainted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Ere, take 'old," gurgled Coke, who had nearly swallowed the cigar in
+his surprise at Iris's unforeseen collapse.  "This kind of thing is
+more in your line than mine, young feller.  Just lay 'er out in the
+saloon, an' ax Watts to 'elp.  His missus goes orf regular w'en they
+bring 'im 'ome paralytic."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip took the girl into his arms.  To carry her safely down the steep
+stairway he was compelled to place her head on his left shoulder and
+clasp her tightly round the waist with his left arm.  Some loosened
+strands of her hair touched his face; he could feel the laboring of her
+breast, the wild beating of her heart, and he was exceeding wroth with
+that unknown man or woman who had driven this insensible girl to such
+straits that she was ready to dare the discomforts and deprivations of
+a voyage as a stowaway, rather than be persecuted further.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris was laid on a couch in the messroom, and the steward summoned Mr.
+Watts.  The chief officer came, looking sheepish.  It was manifestly a
+great relief when he found that the "ghost" was unconscious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, that's nothing," he cried, in response to his junior's eager
+demand for information as to the treatment best fitted for such
+emergencies.  "They all drop in a heap like that w'en they're worried.
+Fust you takes orf their gloves an' boots, then you undoes their stays
+an' rips open their dresses at the necks.  One of you rubs their 'ands
+an' another their feet, an' you dabs cold water on their foreheads, an'
+burn brown paper under their noses.  In between whiles you give 'em a
+drink, stiff as you can make it.  It's dead easy.  Them stays are a bit
+troublesome if they run to size, but she's thin enough as it is.
+Anyhow, I can show you a fine trick for that.  Just turn her over till
+I cast a lashin' loose with my knife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts was elbowed aside so unceremoniously that his temper gave way.
+Hozier lifted Iris's head gently and unfastened the neck-hooks of her
+blouse.  He began to chafe her cold hands tenderly, and pressed back
+the hair from her damp forehead.  The "chief," not flattered by his own
+reflections, thought fit to sneer at these half measures.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's on'y a woman like the rest of 'em," he growled, "even if she
+<I>is</I> the owner's niece, an' a good-lookin' gal at that.  I s'pose now
+you think&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think she will want some fresh air soon, so you had better clear
+out," said Philip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His words were quiet, but he flashed a warning glance at the other man
+that sufficed.  Watts retired, muttering sarcasms under his breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris revived, to find Philip supporting her with a degree of skill that
+was remarkable in one who had enjoyed so little experience in those
+matters.  She heard his voice, coming, as it seemed, rapidly nearer,
+urging her to sip something very fiery and spirituous.  Instantly she
+protested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What are you giving me?" she sobbed.  "What has happened?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the whole of her world opened up before her.  Her hands flew to
+her throat, her hair.  She flushed into vivid life as the marble
+Galatea incardinated under Pygmalion's kiss.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did I faint?" she asked confusedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, but you are all right now.  You did not fall.  Captain Coke
+caught you and handed you over to me.  I wish you would drink the
+remainder of this brandy, and rest for a little while."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris pushed away the glass and sat up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You carried me?" she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I couldn't do anything else."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose you don't realize what it means to a woman to feel that she
+has been out of her senses under such conditions?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, but in your case it only meant that you sighed deeply a few times
+and tried to bite my fingers when I wished to open your mouth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What for?  Why did you want to open my mouth?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To give you a drink&mdash;you needed a stimulant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time a few dexterous twists and turns had restrained those
+wandering tresses within bounds.  She held a hair-pin between her lips,
+and a woman can always say exactly what she means when a hairpin
+prevents discursiveness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am all right now," she announced.  "Will you please leave me, and
+tell the steward to bring me a cup of tea?  If there is a cabin at
+liberty, he might put that portmanteau in it which I brought on board
+at Liverpool."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier fulfilled her requests, and rejoined Coke on the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Miss Yorke is quite well again, sir," he reported.  "She wants a
+cabin&mdash;to change her clothes, I imagine.  That bag you saw&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pretty foxy, wasn't it?" broke in Coke, with a glee that was puzzling
+to his hearer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The whole affair seems to have been carefully planned," agreed Philip.
+"But, as I was saying, she asked for the use of a cabin, so I told the
+steward to give her mine until we put into Queenstown."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke, who had lighted another black and stumpy cigar, removed it in
+order to speak with due emphasis.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Put into h&mdash;l!" he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But surely you will not take this young lady to the River Plate?"
+cried the astounded second officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She knew where she was bound w'en she kem aboard the <I>Andromeda</I>,"
+said the skipper, frowning now like a man who argues with himself.
+"There's her portmanter to prove it, with a label, an' all, in her own
+'and-writin'.  It's some game played on me by 'er an' 'er uncle.
+Any'ow, the fust time she sees land again it'll be the lovely 'arbor of
+Pernambuco&mdash;an' that's straight.  'Ere she is, an' 'ere she'll stop,
+an' the best thing you can do is spread the notion among the crew that
+she's runnin' away to avoid marryin' a man she doesn't like.  That
+sounds reasonable, an' it 'appens to be true.  Verity an' me talked it
+over last Sunday, p.m."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To avoid a marriage?" repeated Hozier, who discovered a bluff honesty,
+not to say candor, in the statement, not perceptible hitherto in his
+commander's utterances.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that's it," said Coke, waving the cigar across an arc of the
+horizon as he warmed to the subject.  "But look 'ere, me boy, this gal
+sails under my flag.  I'm, wot d'ye call it, in locomotive parentibus,
+or something of the sort, while she's on the ship's books.  You keep
+your mouth shut, an' wink the other eye, an' leave it to me to give you
+the chanst of your life&mdash;eh, wot?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip Hozier did not strive to extract the precise meaning of the
+skipper's words.  The process would have been difficult, since Coke
+himself could not have supplied any reasonable analysis.  Somehow, to
+the commander's thinking, the presence of the girl seemed to make
+easier the casting away of the ship&mdash;exactly how, or what bearing her
+strangely-begun voyage might have on subsequent events, he was not yet
+in a position to say.  But when the second officer left him, and he was
+steeped once more in the fresh breeze and the sunshine, with his
+shoulders braced against the chart-house, he looked at a smoke trail on
+the horizon far away to the west.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Queenstown!" he chuckled.  "Not this journey&mdash;not if my name's Jimmie
+Coke, the man 'oo is stannin' on all that is left of 'is 'ard-earned
+savin's.  No, sir, I've got me orders an' I've got me letter, an' the
+pore old <I>Andromeda</I> gets ripped to pieces in the Recife, or I'll know
+the reason why.  Wot a card to play at the inquiry!  Owner's niece on
+board&mdash;bound to South America for the good of 'er health.  'Oo even
+'eard of a man sendin' 'is pretty niece on a ship 'e meant to throw
+away?  It's Providential, that's wot it is, reel Providential!  I do
+believe ole Verity 'ad a 'and in it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Which shows that Captain Coke confused Providence with David Verity,
+and goes far to prove how ill-fitted he was to theorize on the ways of
+Providence.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap03"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER III
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"Five bells, miss!  It'll soon be daylight.  If you wants to see the
+Cross, now's your time!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris had been called from dreamless sleep by a thundering rat-tat on
+her cabin door.  In reply to her half-awaked cry of "All right," the
+hoarse voice of a sailor told her that the Southern Cross had just
+risen above the horizon.  She had a drowsy recollection of someone
+saying that the famous constellation would make its appearance at seven
+bells, not at five, and the difference of an hour, when the time
+happens to be 2:30 instead of 8:30 a.m. is a matter of some importance.
+But, perhaps that was a mistake; at any rate, here was the messenger,
+and she resolutely screwed her knuckles into her eyes and began to
+dress.  In a few minutes she was on deck.  A long coat, a Tam o'
+Shanter, and a pair of list slippers will go far in the way of costume
+at night in the tropics, and the <I>Andromeda's</I> seventeenth day at sea
+had brought the equator very near.  At dinner on the previous
+evening&mdash;in honor of the owner's niece fashionable hours were observed
+for meals&mdash;Mr. Watts mentioned, by chance, that the Cross had been very
+distinct during the middle watch, or, in other words, between midnight
+and 4 a.m.  Iris at once expressed a wish to see it, and Captain Coke
+offered a suggestion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Hozier takes the middle watch to-night," said he.  "We can ax 'im
+to send a man to pound on your door as soon as it rises.  Then you must
+run up to the bridge, an' 'e'll tell you all about it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If Iris was conscious of a slight feeling of surprise, she did not show
+it.  Hitherto, the burly skipper of the <I>Andromeda</I> had made it so
+clearly understood that none of the ship's company save himself was to
+enjoy the society of Miss Iris Yorke, that she had exchanged very few
+words with the one man whose manners and education obviously entitled
+him to meet her on an equal plane.  Even at meals, he was often absent,
+for the captain and chief officer of a tramp steamer are not altruists
+where eating is concerned.  She often visited the bridge, her favorite
+perch being the shady side of the wheel-house, but talking to the
+officer of the watch was strictly forbidden.  In everything
+appertaining to the vessel's navigation the discipline of a man-of-war
+was observed on board the <I>Andromeda</I>.  So Coke's complacency came now
+quite unexpectedly, but Iris was learning to school her tongue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you very much," she said.  "When shall I see him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, you needn't bother.  I'll tell 'im meself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was somewhat disappointed at this.  Hozier would be free for an
+hour before he turned in, and they might have enjoyed a nice chat while
+he smoked on the poop.  In her heart of hearts, she was beginning to
+acknowledge that a voyage through summer seas on a cargo vessel, with
+no other society than that of unimaginative sailormen, savored of
+tedium, indeed, almost of deadly monotony.  Her rare meetings with
+Hozier marked bright spots in a dull round of hours.  During their
+small intercourse she had discovered that he was well informed.  They
+had hit upon a few kindred tastes in books and music; they even
+differed sharply in their appreciation of favorite authors, and what
+could be more conducive to complete understanding than the attack and
+defense of the shrine of some tin god of literature?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While, therefore, it was strange that Captain Coke should actually
+propose a visit to the bridge at an unusual time&mdash;at a time, too, when
+Hozier would be on duty&mdash;it struck her as far more curious that he
+should endeavor to prevent an earlier meeting.  But she had never lost
+her intuitive fear of Coke.  His many faults certainly did not include
+a weak will.  He meant what he said&mdash;also a good deal that he left
+unsaid&mdash;and his word was law to everyone on board the <I>Andromeda</I>.  So
+Iris contented herself with meek agreement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall be delighted to come at any time.  I have often read about the
+Southern Cross, yet three short weeks ago I little thought&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You reely didn't think about it at all," broke in Coke.  "If you 'ad,
+you'd 'ave known you couldn't cross the line without seein' it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here was another perplexing element in the skipper's conduct.  That
+Iris was a stowaway was forgotten.  She was treated with the attention
+and ceremony due to the owner's niece.  Coke never lost an opportunity
+of dinning into the ears of Watts, or Hozier, or the steward, or any
+members of the crew who were listening, that Miss Yorke's presence in
+their midst was a preordained circumstance, a thing fully discussed and
+agreed on as between her uncle and himself, but carried out in an
+irregular manner, owing to some girlish freak on her part.  The
+portmanteau, with its change of raiment, brought convincing testimony,
+and Iris's own words when discovered in the lazaretto supplied further
+proof, if that were needed.  Her name figured in the ship's papers, and
+the time of her appearance on board was recorded in the log.  Coke
+might be a man of one idea, but he held to it as though it were written
+in the Admiralty Sailing Directions; not his would be the fault if
+David Verity failed to appreciate the logic of his reasoning long
+before an official investigation became inevitable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A keen, invigorating breeze swept the last mirage of sleep from the
+girl's brain as she flitted silently along the deck.  A wondrous galaxy
+of stars blazed in the heavens.  In that pellucid air the sky was a
+vivid ultramarine.  The ship's track was marked by a trail of
+phosphorescent fire.  Each revolution of the propeller drew from the
+ocean treasure-house opulent globes of golden light that danced and
+sparkled in the tumbling waters.  It was a night that pulsated with the
+romance and abandon of the south, a night when the heart might throb
+with unutterable longings, and the blood tingle in the veins under the
+stress of an emotion at once passionate and mystic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, spurred on by no stronger impulse than that of the sight-seer,
+though not wholly unaware of an element of adventurous shyness in her
+expectation of a <I>tête-à-tête</I> with a good-looking young man of her own
+status, climbed to the bridge so speedily and noiselessly that Hozier
+did not know of her presence until he heard her dismayed cry:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is <I>that</I> the Southern Cross?"
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-050"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-050.jpg" ALT="&quot;Is that the Southern Cross?&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="412" HEIGHT="597">
+<H3>
+[Illustration: "Is that the Southern Cross?"]
+</H3>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+He turned quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You, Miss Yorke?" he exclaimed, and not even her wonder at the
+insignificance of the stellar display of which she had heard so much
+could cloak the fact that Hozier was unprepared for her appearance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, it is I&mdash;who else?" she asked.  "Did not Captain Coke tell
+you to expect me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How odd!  That is what he arranged.  A man came and rapped at my door."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pardon me one moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He leaned over the bridge and hailed the watch.  The same hoarse voice
+that had roused Iris answered his questions, and, in the faint light
+that came from the binnacle, she caught a flicker of amusement on his
+face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our excellent skipper's intentions have been defeated," he said.  "He
+told one of the men to call him at seven bells, but not to wake you
+until the Cross was visible.  His orders have been obeyed quite
+literally.  He will be summoned in another hour, and you have been
+dragged from bed to gaze at the False Cross, which every foremast hand
+persists in regarding as the real article.  The true Cross, of which
+Alpha Crucis is the Southern Pole star, comes up over the horizon an
+hour after the false one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But Captain Coke said he would see you and warn you of my visit."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can only assure you that he did not.  Perhaps he thought it
+unnecessary&mdash;meaning to be on deck himself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Must I wait here a whole hour, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier laughed.  It was amusing to find how Coke's marked effort to
+keep the girl and him apart had been defeated by a sailor's blunder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said.  "It is a beautiful
+night.  You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, no
+matter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you will
+never have a better chance of star-gazing.  Look at Sirius up there,
+brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than any
+star in southern latitudes.  Our dear old Bear of the north ranks far
+beyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dust
+contrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds such
+luster to the firmament nearer the equator."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Under other circumstances, Iris would have reveled in just such an
+opportunity of acquiring knowledge easily.  Astronomy, despite its
+limitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm of
+wonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal of
+the infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soul
+pined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference the
+instant extinction of the Milky Way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlier
+than was necessary," she said.  "You and I have not said much to each
+other since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our friends at table are somewhat&mdash;difficult.  If only you knew how I
+regretted&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, what of that?  When I became a stowaway I fully expected to be
+treated as one.  I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourself
+why I was guilty of such a mad trick?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain Coke partly
+expected to have your company."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is absurd.  He had not the remotest notion&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me, but there you are wrong.  He says that your uncle and he
+discussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool.  His
+theory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship's larder.
+I assure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the
+<I>Andromeda's</I> mess during this voyage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishing
+in her own ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Being the owner's niece, I am well catered for?" she cried.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Something of the sort.  It is only natural."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappy
+creature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuries
+that would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks,
+and remembers, and is capable of&mdash;of giving evidence."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly.
+Coke's counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriage
+was hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothing
+else.  For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Things are not so bad as that," he said gently.  "I hope I am not
+trespassing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you that
+the skipper was quite explicit, up to a point.  He said you were being
+forced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, the story sounded all right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hid myself on my uncle's ship when I wished to avoid marrying the man
+of his choice?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes off
+the starlit sea for a few amazed seconds.  There was no mistaking the
+scornful ring in the girl's words.  He could see the deep color that
+flooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensity
+of feeling that thrilled while it perplexed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not your
+motive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us on
+the this trip, why are you here?" he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that my
+presence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and the
+crime he had planned to commit.  If one wants to avoid hateful people a
+change of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the money
+for ordinary travel.  Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board the
+Andromeda without good reason.  I have often wished to have a talk with
+you.  I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence.  If you
+agree to help me, something may yet be done.  At first, I was sure that
+Captain Coke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discovered
+that I knew what was in his mind.  But now, I am beginning to doubt.
+Each day brings us nearer South America, and&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was breathless with excitement.  She drew nearer to the silent, and
+impassive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, she
+caught his arm with an appealing hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme,"
+she murmured.  "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain,
+quite <I>certain</I>, that the ship will be lost within the next few days."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl was
+saying that which she honestly thought to be true.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lost!  Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked,
+and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on to
+repress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened in
+her brown eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that is what he said&mdash;on the rocks, this side of Monte Video."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He said&mdash;who?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The&mdash;the captain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To whom did he say it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not know.  I am half distracted with thinking.  What can we do?
+Captain Coke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly to
+him.  But, make no mistake&mdash;he knows that I heard his very words, and
+there is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence,
+that frightens me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After that, neither spoke during many minutes.  The <I>Andromeda</I> jogged
+along steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beat
+time to the placid hum of her engines.  The sturdy old ship could
+seemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through the
+living waters, marking her track with a golden furrow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," muttered
+Hozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in the
+wheel-house to assure himself that the man could not, by any chance,
+overhear their conversation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But it is true&mdash;dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her hands
+together and resting them on the high railing of the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on.
+"Don't you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in any
+discussion with the man principally concerned?  I want to say this,
+though&mdash;you are in no danger.  There is no ship so safe as one that is
+picked out for wilful destruction.  Men will not sacrifice their own
+lives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is what
+is intended.  So you can sleep sound o' nights&mdash;at any rate until we
+near the coast of Brazil.  I can only promise you if any watchfulness
+on my part can stop this piece of villainy&mdash;&mdash;  Hello, there!  What's
+up?  Why is the ship falling away from her course?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that she
+uttered a slight shriek.  It took her an appreciable time to understand
+that he was speaking to the man at the wheel.  But the sailor knew what
+he meant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Something's gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled.  "I wasn't
+certain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s'uth'ard.  Then
+she jammed for sure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room.
+Already the golden pathway behind the <I>Andromeda</I> had changed from a
+wavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve.  There
+was a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside the
+chart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady there!" bellowed Hozier.  "Wait until we have examined the
+gear-boxes.  There may be a kink in a chain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck.  Some of the
+men ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting that
+governed the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap the
+wooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains.  In the
+midst of the hammering and excitement, Captain Coke swung himself up to
+the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I'm blowed!  <I>You</I> here?" he said, looking at Iris.  "Wot is it
+now?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier.  "Wheel stuck again?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir.  Has it happened before?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well&mdash;er&mdash;not this trip.  But it 'as 'appened.  Just for a minnit I
+was mixin' it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin'
+hooker off the Irish coast.  Ah, there she goes!  Everything O.K. now.
+W'en daylight comes we'll overhaul the fixin's.  Nice thing if the
+wheel jammed just as we was crossin' the Recife!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause of
+the disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow with
+an adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings.  Coke treated
+the incident with nonchalance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, Miss
+Yorke?" he said abruptly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannot
+distinguish between falsity and truth," she answered.  "But please
+don't be angry with any of the men on my account.  Mr. Hozier tells me
+they often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistake
+has been enjoyable.  Now I know all about it&mdash;what were those stars you
+were telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip took the cue she offered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major.  I shall write the names and
+particulars for you after breakfast," he said with a smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross," grunted Coke; "it ain't a patch on
+the Bear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Hozier said something like that," put in Iris mischievously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did 'e?  Well 'e's right for once.  But don't you go an' take as
+Gospel most things 'e says.  Every shipmaster knows that the second
+officer simply can't speak the truth.  It ain't natural.  W'y, it 'ud
+bust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke grinned at his own pleasantry.  To one of his hearers, at least,
+it seemed to be passing strange that he was so ready to forget such a
+vital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a few
+minutes earlier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seen
+and admired the cluster of stars which oldtime navigators used to
+regard with awe.  When shafts of white light began to taper,
+pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin.
+Contrary to Hozier's expectation, Coke did not attempt to draw from him
+any account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap to
+the wheel.  He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration in
+the course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet," he said, nodding to
+Hozier confidentially.  "I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bit
+of bone into a gear-box.  If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, get
+the carpenter to see to it.  I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheel
+can let you down.  S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an'
+that 'appened!  It 'ud be the end of the pore ole ship; an' oo'd credit
+it?  Not a soul.  They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!'  Oh, I know
+'em, the swine&mdash;never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight,
+but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact position
+anticipated by Coke.  An elderly salt who had served with the P. &amp; O.
+recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mail
+steamer while passing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.  He drew a
+lurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady passengers
+sleeping inside a curtained space on deck, and his location of the area
+of disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the whole
+of the next two days, for the <I>Andromeda</I> revealed many gaps in her
+woodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsed
+by a new sensation.  At daybreak one morning every drop of water in the
+vessel's tanks suddenly assumed a rich, blood-red tint.  This unnerving
+discovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby stream
+pouring into the earliest kettle.  Thinking that an iron pipe had
+become oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap.
+Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncanny
+means, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color if
+not the taste of a thin Burgundy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke was summoned hastily.  <I>Noblesse oblige</I>; being captain, he
+valiantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It ain't p'ison," he announced, gazing suspiciously at the little
+group of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict.  "It sartinly ain't
+p'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me born
+days.  'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker&mdash;'ave a
+sup?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not me!" said Watts.  "I don't like the look of it.  First time I've
+ever seen red ink on tap.  For the rest of this trip I stick to bottled
+beer, or somethink with a label."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash," volunteered
+Hozier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Does it?" growled Coke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed.  "Wot a pity
+it ain't an infusion of whisky an' potash!" and he glared vindictively
+at Watts.  "Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot it
+is&mdash;some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an'
+corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic.  Stooard!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir," said the messroom attendant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on the
+table every meal till it gives out.  See that nobody puts away more'n
+'is proper allowance, too.  I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the
+<I>Andromeda</I> gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you're alloodin' to me," put in the incensed "chief," whose temper
+rose on this direct provocation, "I want to tell you now&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Does the cap fit?" sneered Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, it doesn't.  I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life.
+D'ye take me for a&mdash;chemist's shop?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never 'eard of it!" cried the incensed skipper, who had obviously made
+up his mind as to the person responsible for the outrage.  "There's
+'arf a dozen cases of it in the after hold&mdash;or there was, w'en we put
+the hatches on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even if some of the cases were broken, sir, the contents could not
+reach the tanks," said Hozier, who fancied that Coke's attack on the
+bibulous Watts was wholly unwarranted.  But the commander's wrath could
+not be appeased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Get this stuff pumped out, an' 'ave the tanks scoured.  We'll put into
+Fernando Noronha, an' refill there.  It's on'y a day lost, an' I guess
+the other liquor on board 'll last till we make the island.  Sink me,
+if this ain't the queerest run this crimson ship 'as ever 'ad.  I'll be
+glad w'en it's ended."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke lurched away in the direction of the chart-room.  Hozier found him
+there later, poring over a chart of Fernando Noronha.  Iris, on hearing
+the steward's version of the affair, came to the bridge for further
+enlightenment, but Coke merely told her that the island was a Lloyd's
+signal station, so she could cable to her uncle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can I go ashore?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I dunno.  We'll see.  It's a convict settlement for the Brazils, an'
+they're mighty partic'lar about lettin' people land, but they'll 'ardly
+object to a nice young lady like you 'avin' a peep at 'em."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As his tone was unusually gruff, not to say jeering, she resolved to
+find an opportunity of seeking Hozier's advice on the cablegram
+problem.  But the portent of the blood-red water was not to be
+disregarded.  Never was Delphic oracle better served by nature.  The
+<I>Andromeda</I> began to roll ominously; masses of black cloud climbed over
+the southwest horizon; at midday the ship was driving through a heavy
+sea.  As the day wore, the weather became even more threatening.  A sky
+and ocean that had striven during three weeks to produce in splendid
+rivalry blends of sapphire blue and emerald green and tenderest pink,
+were now draped in a shroud of gray mist.  With increasing frequency
+and venom, vaulting seas curled over the bows, and sent stinging
+showers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge.  Instead of
+the natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, the
+ship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots.  Torrents
+swept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hull
+with a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plank
+creaked.  Despite these drawbacks, the <I>Andromeda</I> wormed her way
+south.  She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, and
+labored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiff
+gale.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of a
+century.  Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of courage
+when Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shouted
+to her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outer
+furies!  The first time he announced that they were just "crossing the
+line," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lair
+was uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst.  On the second
+occasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be under
+the lee of Fernando Noronha early next morning.  She had sufficient sea
+lore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, but
+Hozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in the
+island, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by the
+present adverse combination of the elements.  In fact, Coke had already
+called both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with him
+that the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from the
+east, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the lead
+would permit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost,
+Philip did not give it other than a passing thought.  Coke was
+navigating the <I>Andromeda</I> with exceeding care and no little skill.  He
+was a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to the
+younger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worst
+part of the blow.  About midnight the weather moderated.  It improved
+steadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun.
+By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainly
+visible.  Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost due
+west.  The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloud
+battalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea.  Soon it was
+possible to distinguish the full extent of the coast line.  Houses
+appeared, and trees, and green oases of cultivation, but these were
+mere spots of color amid the arid blackness of a land of bleak rock and
+stone-strewed hills.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a strong current setting from the southeast, and the dying
+gale left its aftermath in a long swell, but the <I>Andromeda</I> rolled on
+with ever-increasing comfort.  Even Iris was tempted forth by the
+continued sunshine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke was not on the bridge at the moment.  Mr. Watts was taking the
+watch; Hozier was on deck forrard, looking for gravel and shells on the
+instrument that picks up these valuable indications from the floor of
+the sea.  Suddenly the captain appeared.  He greeted Iris with a genial
+nod.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, there you are," he cried.  "Not seen you since this time
+yesterday.  Sorry, but there'll be no goin' ashore to-day.  We're on
+the wrong side of the island, an' it 'ud toss you a bit if you was to
+try an' land in eether of the boats.  Take 'er in easy now, Mr. Watts.
+That's our anchorage&mdash;over there," and he pointed to the mouth of a
+narrow channel between South Point and the Ile des Frégates, the latter
+a tiny islet that almost blocks the entrance to a shallow bay into
+which runs a rivulet of good but slightly brackish water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ship slowed perceptibly, and Hozier busied himself with the lead,
+which a sailor was swinging on the starboard side from the small
+platform of the accommodation ladder.  Iris did not know what was said,
+but the queer figures repeated to Coke seemed to be satisfactory.
+Headlands and hills crept nearer.  The rocky arms of the island closed
+in on them.  A faint scent as of sweet grasses reached them from the
+shore.  Iris could see several people, nearly all of them men in
+uniform, hurrying about with an air of excitement that betokened the
+unusual.  Perhaps a steamer's advent on the south side of the island
+was a novelty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now they were in a fairly smooth roadstead; the remnants of the gale
+were shouldered away from the ship by the towering cliff that jutted
+out on the left of the bay.  The crew were mostly occupied in clearing
+blocks and tackle and swinging two life-boats outward on their davits.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All ready forrard?" roared Coke.  Hozier ran to the forecastle.  He
+found the carpenter there, standing by the windlass brake.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All ready, sir!" he cried.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke nodded to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give her thirty-five," he said, meaning thereby that the anchor should
+be allowed thirty-five fathoms of chain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the bridge, where Iris was standing, she could follow each
+movement of the commander's hands as he signaled in dumbshow to the
+steersman or telegraphed instructions to the engine-room.  It was
+interesting to watch the alertness of the men on duty.  They were a
+scratch crew, garnered from the four quarters of the globe at the
+Liverpool shipping office, but they moved smartly under officers who
+knew their work, and the <I>Andromeda</I> was well equipped in that respect.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The turbulent current was surging across the bows with the speed of a
+mill-race, so Coke brought the vessel round until she lay broadside
+with the land and headed straight against the set of the stream.  It
+was his intent to drop anchor while in that position, and help any
+undue strain on the cable by an occasional turn of the propeller.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Keep her there!" he said, half turning to the man at the wheel; he
+changed the indicator from "Full speed" to "Slow ahead"; in a few
+seconds the anchor chain would have rattled through the
+hawse-hole&mdash;when something happened that was incomprehensible,
+stupefying&mdash;something utterly remote and strange from the ways of
+civilized men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Andromeda</I> quivered under a tremendous buffet.  There was a crash
+of rending iron and an instant stoppage of the engines.  Almost merging
+into the noise of the blow came a loud report from the land, but that,
+in its turn, was drowned by the hiss of steam from the exhaust.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke appeared to be dumfounded for an instant.  Recovering himself, he
+ran to the starboard side, leaned over, looked down at a torn plate
+that showed its jagged edges just above the water-line, and then lifted
+a blazing face toward a point half-way up the neighboring cliff, where
+a haze lay like a veil of gauze on the weather-scarred rocks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You d&mdash;d pirates!" he yelled, raising both clenched fists at the
+hidden battery which had fired a twelve-pound shell into the doomed
+ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Andromeda</I> herself seemed to recognize that she was stricken unto
+death.  She fell away before the current with the aimless drift of a
+log.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let go!" bellowed Coke with frenzied pantomime of action to Hozier.
+It was too late.  Before the lever controlling the steam windlass that
+released the anchor could be shoved over, another shell plunged through
+the thin iron plates in the bows, smashing a steam pipe, and jamming
+the hawser gear by its impact.  The missile burst with a terrific
+report.  A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killed
+outright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received a
+blow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him on
+the deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship.
+That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear the
+bridge of its occupants.  Striking high and forward, it had robbed the
+<I>Andromeda</I> of her last chance.  Now she was rolling in the full grip
+of the tidal stream.  It could only be a matter of a minute or less
+before she struck.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap04"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA"
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The island artillery did not succeed in hitting the crippled ship
+again.  Three more shells were fired, but each projectile screamed
+harmlessly far out to sea.  A trained gunner, noting these facts, would
+reason that the shore battery made good practice in the first instance
+solely because its ordnance was trained at a known range.  Indeed, he
+might even hazard a guess that the <I>Andromeda's</I> warm reception was
+arranged long before her masts and funnel rose over the horizon.  That
+the islanders intended nothing less than her complete destruction was
+self-evident.  Without the slightest warning they had tried to sink
+her; and now that she was escaping the further attentions of the field
+pieces, a number of troops stationed on South Point and the Isle des
+Frégates began to pelt her with bullets.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, when the first paralysis of fear had passed, when her stricken
+senses resumed their sway and her limbs lost their palsy, flinched from
+this new danger, and sank sobbing to her knees behind the canvas shield
+of the bridge.  Somehow, this flimsy shelter, which sailors call the
+"dodger," gave some sense of safety.  Her throbbing brain was incapable
+of lucid thought, but it was borne in on her mistily that the world and
+its occupants had suddenly gone mad.  The omen of the blood-red water
+had justified itself most horribly.  The dead carpenter was sprawling
+over the forecastle windlass.  His hand still clutched the brake.  The
+sailor at the wheel had been shot through the throat, and had fallen
+limply through the open doorway of the chart-room; he lay there,
+coughing up blood and froth, and gasping his life out.  The two men
+wounded by the second shell were creeping down the forward companion in
+the effort to avoid the hail of lead that was beating on the ship.
+Hozier was raising himself on hands and knees, his attitude that of a
+man who is dazed, almost insensible.  Watts had gone from the
+bridge&mdash;he might have been whirled to death over the side like the
+unfortunate foremast hand she had seen tossed from off the forecastle;
+but Coke, whose charmed life apparently entitled him to act like a
+lunatic, was actually balancing himself on top of the starboard rails
+of the bridge by clinging to a stay, having climbed to that exposed
+position in order to hurl oaths at the soldiers on shore.  He had gone
+berserk with rage.  His cap had either fallen off or been torn from his
+head by a bullet; his squat, powerful figure was shaking with frenzy;
+he emphasized each curse with a passionate gesture of the free hand and
+arm; he said among other things, and with no lack of forceful
+adjectives, that if he could only come to close quarters with some of
+the Portygee assassins on the island he would tear their sanguinary
+livers out.  It is an odd thing that men made animal by fury often use
+that trope.  They do really mean it.  The liver is the earliest spoil
+of the successful tiger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Andromeda</I>, uncontrollable as destiny, and quite as heedless of
+her human freight, swung round with the current until her bows pointed
+to the islet occupied by the marksmen.  All at once, Coke suspended his
+flow of invectives and rushed into the chart-room, where Iris heard him
+tearing lockers open and throwing their contents on the deck.  To
+enter, he was obliged to leap over the body of the dying man.  The
+action was grotesque, callous, almost inhuman; it jarred the girl's
+agonized transports back into a species of spiritual calm, a mental
+state akin to the fatalism often exhibited by Asiatics when death is
+imminent and not to be denied.  The apparent madness of the captain was
+now more distressing to her than the certain loss of the ship or the
+invisible missiles that clanged into white patches on the iron plates,
+cut sudden holes and scars in the woodwork, or whirred through the air
+with a buzzing whistle of singularly menacing sound.  She began to be
+afraid of remaining on the bridge; her fear was not due to the really
+vital fact that it was so exposed; it arose from the purely feminine
+consideration that she was sure Coke had become a raving maniac, and
+she dreaded meeting him when, if ever, he reappeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A bullet struck the front frame of the chart-room, and several panes of
+glass were shattered with a fearful din.  That decided her.  Coke, if
+he were not killed, would surely be driven out.  She sprang to her
+feet, and literally ran down the steep ladder to the saloon deck.
+Through the open door of the officers' mess she witnessed another
+bizarre act&mdash;an act quite as extraordinary in its way as Coke's jump
+over the steersman's body.  In the midst of this drama of death and
+destruction, Watts was standing there, with head thrown back and
+uplifted arm, gulping down a tumblerful of some dark-colored liquid,
+draining it to the dregs, while he held a black bottle in the other
+hand.  That a man should fly to rum for solace when existence itself
+might be measured by minutes or seconds, was, to Iris, not the least
+amazing experience of an episode crammed with all that was new, and
+strange, and horrible in her life.  She raced on, wholly unaware that
+the drifting ship was now presenting her port bow to the death-dealing
+fusillade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, from somewhere, she heard a gruff voice:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hev' ye shut off steam, Macfarlane?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ou ay.  It's a' snug below till the watter reaches the furnaces," came
+the answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So some of the men were doing their duty.  Thank God for that!
+Undeterred by the fact that a live shell had burst among the engines,
+the oil-stained, grim-looking engineers had not quitted their post
+until they had taken such precautions as lay in their power to insure
+the ship's safety.  A light broke in on the fog in the girl's mind.
+Even now, at the very gate of eternity, one might try to help others!
+The thought brought a ray of comfort.  She was about to look for the
+speakers when a bullet drilled a hole in a panel close to her side.
+She began to run again, for a terrified glance through the forward
+gangway showed that the ship was quite close to the land, where men in
+blue uniforms, wearing curiously shaped hats and white gaiters, were
+scattered among the rocks, some standing, some kneeling, some prone,
+but all taking steady aim.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But it showed something more.  Hozier was now lying sideways on the
+raised deck of the forecastle; he partly supported himself on his right
+arm; his left hand was pressed to his forehead; he was trying to rise.
+With an intuition that was phenomenal under the circumstances, Iris
+realized that he was screened from observation for the moment by the
+windlass and the corpse that lay across it.  But the ship's ever
+increasing speed, and the curving course of her drifting, would soon
+bring him into sight, and then those merciless riflemen would shoot him
+down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, not that!  Not that!" she wailed aloud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An impulse stronger than the instinct of self-preservation caused the
+blood to tingle in her veins.  She had waited to take that one look,
+and now, bent double so as to avoid being seen by the soldiers, she
+sped back through the gangway, gained the open deck, crouched close to
+the bulwarks on the port side, and thus reached unscathed the foot of
+the companion down which the wounded men had crawled.  The zinc plates
+on the steps were slippery with their blood, but she did not falter at
+the sight.  Up she went, stooped over Hozier, and placed her strong
+young arms round his body.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quick!" she panted, "let me help you!  You will be killed if you
+remain here!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her voice seemed to rouse him as from troubled sleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was hit," he muttered.  "What is it?  What is wrong?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, come, come!" she screamed, for some unseen agency tore a
+transverse gash in the planking not a foot in front of them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He yielded with broken expostulations.  She dragged him to the top of
+the stairs.  Clinging to him, she half walked, half fell down the few
+steps.  But she did not quite fall; Hozier's weight was almost more
+than she could manage, but she clung to him desperately, saved him from
+a headlong plunge to the deck, and literally carried him into the
+forecastle, where she found some of the crew who had scurried there
+like rabbits to their burrow when the first shell crashed into the
+engine-room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris's fine eyes darted lightning at them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You call yourselves men," she cried shrilly, "yet you leave one of
+your officers lying on deck to be shot at by those fiends!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We didn't know he was there, miss," said one.  "We'd ha' fetched him
+right enough if we did."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even in her present stress of mixed emotions, the sailor's words
+sounded reasonable.  Every other person on board was just as greatly
+stunned by this monstrous attack as she herself, and the firing now
+appeared to increase in volume and accuracy.  Several bullets clanged
+against the funnel or broke huge splinters off the boats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gord A'mighty, listen to that," growled a voice.  "An' we cooped up
+here, blazed at by a lot of rotten Dagos, with not a gun to our name!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris was still supporting Hozier, whose head and shoulders were
+pillowed against her breast as she knelt behind him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can nothing be done?" she asked.  "I believe Captain Coke has been
+killed.  Mr. Hozier is badly injured, I fear.  Bring some water, if
+possible."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, yes, water.&#8230;  Only a knock on the head.&#8230;  How did it
+happen?  And what is that noise of firing?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier's scattered wits were returning, though neither he nor Iris
+remembered that the <I>Andromeda</I> was waterless.  He looked up at her,
+then at the men, and he smiled as his eyes met hers again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Funny thing!" he said, with a natural tone that was reassuring.  "I
+thought the windlass smashed itself into smithereens.  But it couldn't.
+What was it that banged?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A shell, fired from the island," said the girl.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier straightened himself a little.  He was hearing marvels, though
+far from understanding them, as yet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A shell!" he repeated vacantly.  Had she said "a comet" it could not
+have sounded more incredible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  It might have killed you.  Several of the men are dead.  I
+myself saw three of them killed outright, and two others are badly
+wounded."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here you are, sir&mdash;drink this," said a fireman, offering a pannikin of
+beer.  It was unpalatable stuff, but it tasted like the nectar of the
+gods to one who had sustained a blow that would have felled an ox.
+Hozier had almost emptied the tin when an exclamation from an Irish
+stoker drew all eyes to the after part of the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Holy war!  Will ye look at that!" shouted the man.  "Sure the skipper
+isn't dead, at all, at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris had failed to grasp the meaning of Coke's antics in the
+chart-room, but they were now fully explained.  The bulldog breed of
+this self-confessed rascal had taken the upper hand of him.  Though he
+had not scrupled to plot the destruction of the ship, and thus rob a
+marine insurance company of a considerable sum of money&mdash;though at that
+very instant there was actual proof of his scheme in the preparations
+he had made to jam the steering-gear when the anchor was raised after
+the tanks were replenished&mdash;it was not in the man's nature to skulk
+into comparative safety because a foreigner, a pirate, a
+not-to-be-mentioned-in-polite-society Portygee, opened fire on him in
+this murderous fashion.  Moreover, Coke's villainy would have
+sacrificed no lives.  The <I>Andromeda</I> might be converted into scrap
+iron, and thereby give back, by perverted arithmetic, the money
+invested in her.  But her white decks would not be stained with blood.
+Whatever risk was incurred would be his, the responsible captain's, his
+only.  It was a vastly different thing that shot and shell should be
+rained on an unarmed ship by the troops of a civilized power when she
+was seeking the lowest form of hospitality.  No wonder if the
+bull-necked skipper foamed at the mouth and used words forbidden by the
+catechism; no wonder if he tried to express his helpless fury in one
+last act of defiance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He rummaged the lockers for a Union Jack and the four flags that showed
+the ship's name in signal letters.  The red ensign was already
+fluttering from a staff at the stern, and the house flag of David
+Verity &amp; Co. was at the fore, but these emblems did not satisfy Coke's
+fighting mettle.  The <I>Andromeda</I> would probably crack like an eggshell
+the instant she touched the reef towards which she was hurrying; he
+determined that she would go down with colors flying if he were not put
+out of action by a bullet before he could reach the main halyard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The swerve in the ship's course as she passed the island gave him an
+opportunity.  In justice to Coke it should be said that he recked
+naught of this, but it would have been humanly impossible otherwise for
+the soldiers to have missed him.  And now, while the vessel lay with
+straight keel in the set of the current, the national emblem of
+Britain, with the <I>Andromeda's</I> code flags beneath, fluttered up the
+mainmast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There are many imaginable conditions under which Coke's deed would be
+regarded as sublime; there are none which could deny his splendid
+audacity.  The soldiers, who seemed to be actuated by the utmost
+malevolence, redoubled their efforts to hit the squat Hercules who had
+bellowed at them and their fellow artillerists from the bridge.
+Bullets struck the deck, lodged in the masts, splintered the roof and
+panels of the upper structure, but not one touched Coke.  He coolly
+made fast each flag in its turn, and hauled away till the Union Jack
+had reached the truck; then, drawn forrard by a hoarse cheer that came
+from the forecastle, he turned his back on the enemy and swung himself
+down to the fore-deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was still wearing the heavy garments demanded by the gale; his
+recent exertions, joined to the fact that the normal temperature of a
+sub-tropical island was making itself felt, had induced a violent
+perspiration.  As he lumbered along the deck he mopped his face
+vigorously with a pocket handkerchief, and this homely action helped to
+convince Iris that she was mistaken in thinking him mad.  His words,
+too, when he caught sight of her, were not those of a maniac.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, missy," he cried, "wot'll they say in Liverpool now?  I s'pose
+they'll 'ear of this some day," and he jerked a thumb backwards to
+indicate the unceasing hail of bullets that poured into the after part
+of the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl looked at him with an air of surprise that would have been
+comical under less grievous conditions.  She knew, with a vague
+definiteness, that death was near, perhaps unavoidable, and it had
+never occurred to her that she or any other person on board need feel
+any concern about the view entertained by Liverpool as to their fate.
+Before she could frame a reply, however, Hozier seemed to recover his
+faculties.  He stood up, walked unaided to the side of the ship, and
+glanced ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shouldn't we try to lower a boat, sir?" he asked instantly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's the use?" growled Coke.  "Oo's goin' to lower boats while them
+blighters on the island are pumpin' lead into us?  And wot good are the
+boats w'en they're lowered?  They've been drilled full of holes.  You
+might as well try to float a sieve.  Look at that," he added
+sarcastically, as the side of the cutter was ripped open by a
+ricochetting shot, and splinters were littered on the deck, "they know
+wot they want an' they mean to get it.  Dead men tell no tales.  It
+won't be anybody 'ere now who'll 'ave the job of lettin' the folk at
+'ome know 'ow the pore ole <I>Andromeda</I> went under."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are none of the boats seaworthy?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not one.  They're knocked to pieces.  Sorry for you, Miss Yorke.  But
+we're all booked for Kingdom Come.  In 'arf a minnit, or less, we'll be
+on the reef, an' the ship must begin to break up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke was telling the plain truth, but Hozier ran aft to make sure that
+he was right in assuming the extent of the boats' damages.  One of the
+men, an Italian, climbed to the forecastle deck in order to see more
+clearly what sort of danger they were running into.  He came back
+instantly, and his swarthy face was green with terror.  Though he spoke
+English well enough, he began to jabber wildly in his mother tongue.
+None paid heed to him.  It was common knowledge that the vessel must be
+lost, and that those who still lived when she struck would have the
+alternatives of being drowned, or beaten to pieces against the frowning
+rocks, or shot from the mainland like so many stranded seals, if some
+alliance of luck and strength secured a momentary foothold on one of
+the tiny islets that barred the way.  And at such moments, when the
+mind is driven into a swift-running channel that ends in a cataract,
+elemental passions are apt to strive with elemental fears.  Few among
+these rough sailors had ever given thought to the future.  They had
+lived from hand to mouth, the demands of a hard and dangerous
+profession alternating with bouts of foolish revelry.  Most of them had
+looked on death in the tempest, in the swirling seas, in the uplifted
+knife.  But then, there was always a chance of escape, an open door for
+the stout heart and ready hand; whereas, under present conditions,
+there was nothing to be done but pray, or curse, or wait in stoic
+silence until the first ominous quiver ran through the swift-moving
+ship.  So, all unknowingly, they grouped themselves according to their
+nationalities, for the Latins knelt and supplicated the saints and the
+Virgin Mother, the Celts roared insensate threats at the islanders who
+had thrown them into the very jaws of eternity, and the Saxons stood
+motionless, with grim jaws and frowning brows, disdaining alike both
+frenzied appeal and useless execration.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Someone threw a cork jacket over the girl's shoulders, and bade her
+fasten its straps around her waist.  She obeyed without a word.
+Indeed, she seemed to have lost the power of speech.  Everything had
+suddenly assumed such a crystal clear aspect that her eyes were gifted
+with unnatural vision though her remaining senses were benumbed.  The
+blue and white of the sky, the emerald green of the water, the russet
+brown and cold gray of the land&mdash;these shone now with a beauty vivid
+beyond any of nature's tints she had ever before seen.  She was
+conscious, too, of an awful aloofness.  Her spirit was entrenched in
+its own citadel.  She seemed to be brooding, solitary and remote, yet
+shrinking ever within herself; quite unknowing, she offered a piteous
+example of the old Hebrew's dire truism that man came naked into the
+world and naked shall he depart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a curiously detached way she wondered why Hozier did not return.
+The prayers and curses of the men surrounding her fell unheeded on her
+ears.  Where was Hozier?  What was he doing?  Why did he not come to
+her?  She felt a strange confidence in him.  If he had not been struck
+down by that calamitous shell he would have saved the ship&mdash;assuredly
+he would have devised some means of saving their lives!  Perhaps, even
+now, he was attempting some desperate expedient!&#8230;  The thought
+nerved her for an instant.  Then a rending, grinding noise was followed
+by a sudden swerve and roll of the ship that sent her staggering
+against a bulkhead.  An outburst of cries and shouting rang through her
+brain, and a shriek was wrung from her parched throat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the <I>Andromeda</I> righted herself again, though there was another
+sound of tearing metal, and the deck heaved perceptibly under a shock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ah, kind Heaven! here came Hozier, running, thundering some loud order.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The port life-boat&nbsp;&#8230; seaworthy!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a fierce rush, in which she joined.  She was knocked down.  A
+strong hand dragged her to her feet.  It was Coke, swearing horribly.
+She saw Hozier leap against the flood of men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"D&mdash;n you, the woman first!" she heard him say, and he sent the leaders
+of the mob sprawling over the hatches of the forehold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke, almost carrying her in his left arm, butted in among the crew
+like an infuriated bull.  Some of the men, shamefaced, made way for
+them.  Hosier reached her.  She thought he said to the captain:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's a chance, if we can swing her clear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the ship struck, and they were all flung to the deck.  They rose,
+somehow, anyhow, but the <I>Andromeda</I>, apparently resenting the check,
+lifted herself bodily, tilted bow upward, and struck again.  A mass of
+spray dashed down upon the struggling figures who had been driven a
+second time to their knees.  There was a terrific explosion in the
+after-hold, for the deck had burst under the pressure of air, and
+another ominous roar announced that the water had reached the furnaces.
+Steam and smoke and dust mingled with the incessant lashing of sheets
+of spray, and Iris was torn from Coke's grip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She fancied she heard Hozier cry, "Too late!" and a lightning glimpse
+down the sloping deck showed some of the engineers and stokers crawling
+up toward the quivering forecastle.  She felt herself clasped in
+Hozier's arms, and knew that he was climbing.  After a few breathless
+seconds she realized that they were standing on the forecastle, where
+the captain and many of the crew were clinging to the windlass, and
+anchor, and cable, and bulwarks, to maintain their footing.  Below,
+beyond a stretch of unbroken deck, the sea raged against all that was
+left of the ship.  The bridge just showed above the froth and spume of
+sea level.  The funnel still held by its stays, but the mainmast was
+gone, and with it the string of flags.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The noise was deafening, overpowering.  It sounded like the rattle of
+some immense factory; yet a voice was audible through the din, for
+Hozier was telling her not to abandon hope, as the fore part of the
+ship was firmly wedged into a cleft in the rocks: they might still have
+a chance when the tide dropped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So that explained why it was so dark where a few moments ago all was
+light.  Iris pressed the salt water out of her burning eyes, and tried
+to look up.  On both sides of the narrow triangle of the forecastle
+rose smooth overhanging walls, black and dripping.  They were festooned
+with seaweed, and every wave that curled up between the ship's plates
+and the rocks was thrown back over the deck, while streams of water
+fell constantly from the masses of weed.  She gasped for breath.  The
+mere sight of this dismal cleft with its super-saturated air space made
+active the choking sensation of which she was just beginning to be
+aware.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I&mdash;cannot breathe!" she sobbed, and she would have slipped off into
+the welter of angry foam beneath had not Hozier tightened a protecting
+arm round her waist.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stoop down!" he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She had a dim knowledge that he unbuttoned his coat and drew one of its
+folds over her head.  Ah, the blessed relief of it!  Freed from the
+stifling showers of spray, she drew a deep breath or two.  How good he
+was to her!  How sure she was now that if he had been spared by that
+disabling shell he would have saved them all!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bent and shrouded as she was, she could see quite clearly downward.
+The ship was breaking up with inconceivable rapidity.  Already there
+was a huge irregular vent between the fore deck and the central block
+of cabins topped by the bridge.  And a new horror was added to all that
+had gone before.  Swarms of rats were skimming up the slippery planks.
+They were invading the forecastle and the forecastle deck.  They came
+in an irresistible army, though, fortunately for Iris's continued
+sanity, the greater number scurried into the darkness of the men's
+quarters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was watching them with fascinated eyes, though not daring to
+withdraw her head from under the coat, when she heard a ghastly yell
+from beneath, and an erie face appeared above the stairway.  It was
+Watts, mad with fright and drink.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Save me! save me!" he screamed, and the girl shuddered as she realized
+that the man did not fear death so much as he loathed the scampering
+rats.  He had no difficulty in climbing the steep companion, though, by
+reason of the present position of all that was left of the <I>Andromeda</I>,
+its pitch was thrown back to an unusual angle.  He scrambled up, a
+pitiable object.  A couple of rats ran over his body, and as each
+whisked across his shoulders and past his cheek he uttered a
+blood-curdling yell.  A big wave surged up into the recesses of the
+cleft and was flung off in a drenching shower on to the forecastle.  It
+nearly swept Watts into the next world, and it drove every rodent in
+that exposed place back to the dry interior.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To return, they had to use the unhappy chief officer as a causeway, and
+the poor wretch's despairing cries were heartrending.  He was clinging
+for dear life to a bolt in the deck when Coke joined hands with a
+sailor and was thus enabled to reach him.  Once the skipper's strong
+fingers had clutched his collar he was rescued&mdash;at least from the
+instant death that might have been the outcome of his abject terror,
+for there could be little doubt in the minds of those who saw his
+glistening eyes and drawn lips that it would have needed the passage of
+but one more rat and he would have relaxed his hold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke pulled him up until he was lodged in safety in front of the
+windlass.  The manner of the welcome given by the captain to his <I>aide</I>
+need not be recorded here.  It was curt and lurid; it would serve as a
+sorry passport if proffered on his entry to another world; but the
+tragi-comedy of Watts's appearance among the close-packed gathering on
+the forecastle was forthwith blotted out of existence by a thing so
+amazing, so utterly unlooked for that during a couple of spellbound
+seconds not a man moved nor spoke.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER V
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE REFUGEES
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Watts was whimpering some broken excuse to his angry skipper when a
+coil of stout rope fell on top of the windlass and rebounded to the
+deck.  More than that, one end of it stretched into the infinity of
+dripping rock and flying spray overhead.  And it had been thrown by
+friendly hands.  Though it dangled from some unseen ledge, its purpose
+seemed to be that of help rather than slaughter, whereas every other
+act of the inhabitants of Fernando Noronha had been suggestive of
+homicidal mania in its worst form.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke and Hozier recovered the use of their faculties simultaneously.
+The eyes of the two men met, but Coke was the first to find his voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Salvage, by G&mdash;d!" he cried.  "Up you go, Hozier!  I'll sling the girl
+behind you.  She can't manage it alone, an' it needs someone with
+brains to fix things up there for the rest of us."  And he added
+hoarsely in Philip's ear: "Sharp's the word.  We 'aven't many minutes!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip made no demur.  The captain's strong common sense had suggested
+the best step that could be taken in the interests of all.  Iris, who
+was nearer yielding now that there was a prospect of being rescued than
+when death was clamoring at her feet among the trembling remains of the
+ship, silently permitted Coke and a sailor to strip off a life-belt and
+tie her and Hozier back to back.  It was wonderful, though hidden from
+her ken in that supreme moment, to see how they devised a double sling
+in order to distribute the strain.  When each knot was securely
+fastened, Coke vociferated a mighty "Heave away!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But his powerful voice was drowned by the incessant roar of the
+breakers; not even the united clamor of every man present, fifteen all
+told, including the drunken chief officer, could make itself heard
+above the din.  Then Hozier tugged sharply at the rope three times, and
+it grew taut.  Amid a jubilant cry from the others, he and Iris were
+lifted clear of the deck.  At once they were carried fully twenty feet
+to seaward.  As they swung back, not quite so far, and now well above
+the level of the windlass from which their perilous journey had
+started, a ready-witted sailor seized a few coils of a thin rope that
+lay tucked up in the angle of the bulwarks, and flung them across
+Hozier's arms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Take a whip with you, sir!" he yelled, and Philip showed that he
+understood by gripping the rope between his teeth.  It was obvious that
+the rescuers were working from a point well overhanging the recess into
+which the <I>Andromeda</I> had driven her bows, and there might still be the
+utmost difficulty in throwing a rope accurately from the rock to the
+wreck.  As a matter of fact, no less than six previous attempts had
+been made, and the success of the seventh was due solely to a favorable
+gust of wind hurtling into the cleft at the very instant it was needed.
+The sailor's quick thought solved this problem for the future.  By
+tying the small rope to the heavier one, those who remained below could
+haul it back when some sort of signal code was established.  At
+present, all they could do was to pay out the whip, and take care that
+it did not interfere with Hozier's ascent.  They soon lost sight of him
+and the girl, for the spray and froth overhead formed an impenetrable
+canopy, but they reasoned that the distance to be traveled could not be
+great; otherwise the throwing of a rope would have been a physical
+impossibility in the first instance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once there was a check.  They waited anxiously, but there was no sign
+given by the frail rope that they were to haul in again.  Then the
+upward movement continued.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Chunk o' rock in the way," announced Coke, glaring round at the
+survivors as if to challenge contradiction.  No one answered.  These
+men were beginning to measure their lives against the life of the wedge
+of iron and timber kept in position by the crumbling frame of the ship.
+It was a fast-diminishing scale.  The figures painted on the
+<I>Andromeda's</I> bows represented minutes rather than feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts was lying crouched on deck, with his arms thrown round the
+windlass.  Looking ever for a fresh incursion of rats, he seemed to be
+cheered by the fact that his dreaded assailants preferred the interior
+of the forecastle to the wave-swept deck.  He was the only man there
+who had no fear of death.  Suddenly he began to croon a long-forgotten
+sailor's chanty.  Perhaps, in some dim way, a notion of his true
+predicament had dawned on him, for there was a sinister purport to the
+verse.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+"Now, me lads, sing a stave of the Dead Man's Mass;<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Ye'll never sail 'ome again, O.</SPAN><BR>
+We're twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hay&mdash;&mdash;</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing ho&mdash;&mdash;</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">A nikker is Davy Jones,</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3em">Just one more plug, an' a swig at the jug,</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">An' up with the skull an' bones."</SPAN><BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+After a longer and faster haul than had been noticed previously, the
+rope stopped a second time.  Everyone, except Watts, was watching the
+whip intently.  His eyes peered around, wide-open, lusterless.  The
+pounding of the seas, the grating of iron on rock, left him unmoved.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wy don't you jine in the chorus, you swabs?" he cried, and forthwith
+plunged into the second stanza.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+"The <I>Alice</I> brig sailed out of the Pool<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">For the other side of the world, O,</SPAN><BR>
+An' our ole man brought 'is gal from school,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">With 'er 'air so brown an' curled, O.</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hum&mdash;&mdash;</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hum&mdash;&mdash;</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Of death no man's a dodger,</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3em">An' we squared our rig for a yardarm jig</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">When we sighted the Jolly Roger."</SPAN><BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+He grew quite uproarious because the lilting tune evoked neither
+applause nor vocal efforts from the others.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lord luv' a duck!" he shouted.  "Can't any of ye lend a hand?  Cheer
+O, maties&mdash;'ere's a bit more&mdash;&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+The brig was becalmed in a sea like glass,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">An' it gev' us all the creeps, O,</SPAN><BR>
+Wen the sun went down like a ball o' brass,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">An' the pirate rigged 'is sweeps&mdash;&mdash;"</SPAN><BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"There she goes!" yelled the sailor in charge of the line; he began to
+haul in the slack like a madman; Coke's fist fell heavily on the
+singer's right ear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wen your turn comes, I'll tie the rope round your bloomin' neck!" he
+growled vindictively, though his eyes continued to search the dark
+shroud overhead that inclosed them as in a tomb.  A dark form loomed
+downward through the mist.  It was Hozier, alone, coming back to them.
+A frenzied cheer broke from the lips of those overwrought men.  They
+knew what that meant.  Somewhere, high above the black rocks and the
+flying scud, was hope throned in the blessed sunshine.  They drew him
+in cautiously until Coke was able to grasp his hand.  They were quick
+to see that he brought a second rope and a spare whip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two at a time on both ropes," was his inspiriting message.  "They're
+friendly Portuguese up there, but no one must be seen if a boat is sent
+from the island to find out what has become of the ship.  So step
+lively!  Now, Captain, tell 'em off in pairs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke's method was characteristic.  He literally fell on the two nearest
+men and began to truss them.  Hozier followed his example, and tied two
+others back to back.  They vanished, and the ropes returned, much more
+speedily this time.  Four, and four again, were drawn up to safety.
+There were left the captain, Hozier, and the unhappy Watts, who was now
+crying because the skipper had "set about" him, just for singin' a reel
+ole wind-jammer song.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must take up this swine," said Coke to Hozier, dragging Watts to
+his feet with scant ceremony.  "If I lay me 'ands on 'im I'll be
+tempted to throttle 'im."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts protested vigorously against being tied.  He vowed that it was
+contrary to articles for a chief officer to be treated in such a
+fashion.  He howled most dolorously during his transit through mid-air,
+but was happily quieted by another sharp rap on the head resulting from
+his inability to climb over the obstructing rock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before quitting the deck, Hozier helped to adjust the remaining rope
+around the captain's portly person.  They were lifted clear of the
+trembling forecastle almost simultaneously, and in the very nick of
+time.  Already the skeleton of the ship's hull was beginning to slip
+off into deep water.  The deck was several feet lower than at the
+moment of the vessel's final impact against the rocks.  Even before the
+three reached the ledge from which their rescuers were working, the
+bridge and funnel were swept away, the foremast fell, the forehold and
+forecastle were riotously flooded by the sea, and Watts, were he
+capable of using his eyes, might have seen his deadly enemies, the
+rats, swarming in hundreds to the tiny platform that still rose above
+the destroying waves.  Soon, even that frail ark was shattered.  When
+keel and garboard stroke plates snapped, all that was left of the
+<I>Andromeda</I> toppled over, and the cavern she had invaded rang with a
+fierce note of triumph as the next wave thundered in without hindrance.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center">
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+It was, indeed, a new and strange world on which Iris looked when able
+to breathe and see once more.  During that terrible ascent she had
+retained but slight consciousness of her surroundings.  She knew that
+Hozier and herself were drawn close to a bulging rock, that her
+companion clutched at it with hands and knees, and thus fended her
+delicate limbs from off its broken surface; she felt herself half
+carried, half lifted, up into free air and dazzling light; she heard
+voices in a musical foreign tongue uttering words that had the ring of
+sympathy.  And that was all for a little while.  Friendly hands placed
+her in a warm and sunlit cleft, and she lay there, unable to think or
+move.  By degrees, the numbness of body and mind gave way to clearer
+impressions.  But she took much for granted.  For instance, it did not
+seem an unreasonable thing that the familiar faces of men from the
+<I>Andromeda</I> should gather near her on an uneven shelf of rock strewn
+with broken bolders and the litter of sea-birds.  She recognized them
+vaguely, and their presence brought a new confidence.  They increased
+in number; sailor-like, they began to take part instantly in the work
+of rescue; but she wondered dully why Hozier did not come to her, nor
+did she understand that he had gone back to that raging inferno beneath
+until she saw his blood-stained face appear over the lip of the
+precipice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then she screamed wildly: "Thank God!  Oh, thank God!" and staggered to
+her feet in the frantic desire to help in unfastening the ropes that
+bound him to the insensible Watts.  One of the men tried to persuade
+her to sit down again, but she would not be denied.  Her unaccustomed
+fingers strove vainly against the stiff strands, swollen as they were
+with wet, and drawn taut by the strain to which they had been
+subjected.  Tears gushed forth at her own helplessness.  The pain in
+her eyes blinded her.  She shrank away again.  Not until Philip himself
+spoke did she dare to look at him, to find that he was bending over
+her, and endeavoring to allay her agitation by repeated assurance of
+their common well-being.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But her distraught brain was not yet equal to a complexity of thought.
+Watts was lying close to her feet, and it thrilled her with dread and
+contempt when Coke bestowed a well-considered kick on his chief
+officer's prostrate form.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, how dare you?" she cried, indignant as an offended goddess.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sorry, miss," said Coke, scowling as if he were inclined to repeat the
+assault, though he was not then aware of the more strenuous method
+adopted by the rock as a sobering agent.  "I didn't know you was there.
+But 'e fair gev' me a turn, 'e did, singin' 'is pot-'ouse crambos w'en
+we was in the very jors of death, so to speak."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He must not sing," she announced gravely, "but really you should not
+kick him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, Miss Yorke," broke in Hozier, who was choking back a laugh that
+was nearer hysteria than he dreamed, "our Portuguese friends say we
+must not remain here an instant longer than is necessary."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," said a strange voice, "the sea is moderating.  At any moment a
+boat may appear.  Follow me, all of you.  The road is a rough one, but
+it is not far."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The speaker was an elderly man, long-haired and bearded, of whose
+personality the girl caught no other details than the patriarchal
+beard, a pair of remarkably bright eyes, a long, pointed nose, and a
+red scar that ran diagonally across a domed forehead.  He turned away
+without further explanation, and began to climb a natural pathway that
+wound itself up the side of an almost perpendicular wall of rock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier caught Iris by the arm, and would have assisted her, but she
+shook herself free.  She felt, and conducted herself, like a fractious
+child.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can manage quite well," she said with an odd petulance.  "Please
+look after that unfortunate Mr. Watts.  I am not surprised that he
+should have been frightened by the rats.  They terrified me, too.  Oh,
+how awful they were&mdash;in the dark&mdash;when their eyes shone!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her mind had traveled back to the two nights and a day passed in the
+lazaretto.  She sobbed bitterly, and stumbled over a steep ledge.  She
+would have fallen were it not for Philip's help.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Watts is all right," he soothed her.  "Two of the men are seeing to
+him.  And the rats are all gone now.  There are none here!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you sure?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite sure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What became of them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are all&mdash;we left them behind on the ship."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly she clung to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't let them send me back to the ship," she implored.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no.  You are safe now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I am safe, but I dread that ship.  Why did I ever come on
+board?  Captain Coke said he would sink her.  I told you&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady!  Keep a little nearer the rocks on your left.  The passage is
+narrow here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier raised his voice somewhat, and purposely hurried her.  But she
+was not to be repressed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor ship!  What had she done that she should be battered on the
+rocks?" she wailed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must not talk," he said firmly, well knowing that if the sailors
+and firemen lumbering close behind had not heard her earlier comment it
+was due solely to the blustering wind.  They were skirting the seaward
+face of the rocky islet on which they had found salvation.  The sun was
+blazing at them sideways from a wide expanse of blue sky.  The rear
+guard clouds of the gale were scurrying away over the horizon in front
+of their upward path.  Somehow, Philip's sailor's brain was befogged.
+Those clouds must have blown to the northeast.  If that were so, what
+was the sun doing in the southeast at this time of the day?  It had
+hardly budged a point from the quarter in which some fitful gleams
+shone when that mad thing happened near the windlass.  Thinking he was
+still dizzy from the effects of the blow, which the girl had ascribed
+to the bursting of a shell, Philip glanced at his watch.  It was
+twenty-five minutes past eight!  Yet he distinctly remembered eight
+bells being struck while Coke was telling him from the bridge to give
+the anchor thirty-five fathoms of cable.  Was it possible that they had
+gone through so much during those few minutes?  If he were really
+light-headed, then sun and clouds and watch were conspiring to keep him
+so.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, chilled by his stern tone, nevertheless noted his action.  Still
+unable to concentrate her thoughts on more than one topic, and that to
+the exclusion of all else, she asked the time.  He told her.  He
+awaited some expression of surprise on her part, provided it were,
+indeed, true that only twenty-five minutes had sped since the
+<I>Andromeda</I> was quietly preparing to drop anchor off South Point.  But
+she received his news without comment.  She would have been equally
+undisturbed if told it was midnight, and that the vessel had gone
+ashore on the coast of China.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just then the track turned sharply away from the sea.  A dry
+water-course cut deeply into the cliff where torrential rains had found
+an upright layer of soft scoria imbedded in the mass of basalt.  Their
+guide was standing on the sky-line of the cleft, some forty feet above
+them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell the others to make haste," he said.  "This is the end of your
+journey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It did not strike either Hozier or the girl as being specially
+remarkable that a man should meet them in this extraordinary place and
+address them in good English.  Iris, at any rate, gave no heed to this
+most amazing fact.  She merely observed for the first time that the
+elderly stranger, while dressed in a beggar's rags, assumed an air of
+command that was almost ludicrous.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is he?" she asked, being rather breathless now after a steep climb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know," said Hozier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How absurd!" she gasped.  "I&mdash;I think I'm dreaming.  Why&mdash;have
+we&mdash;come here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She heard a coarse chuckle from Coke, not far below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let 'im cough it up," the skipper was saying.  "It'll do 'im good.
+I've seen 'im blind many a time, but 'ow any man could dope 'isself in
+that shape in less'n two minutes!&mdash;&mdash;  Well, it fair gives me the
+go-by!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two minutes!  Hozier listened, and he was recovering his wits far more
+rapidly than Iris.  Was the skipper, then, in league with nature
+herself to perplex him?  And Watts, too?  Why did Coke hint so coarsely
+that he was drunk?  He was on the bridge while he, Philip, was
+attending to the lead, and at that time the chief officer was perfectly
+sober.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, once again, was deeply incensed by Coke's brutality.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Horrid man!" she murmured, but she had no breath left for louder
+protest.  It was hot as a furnace in this narrow ravine; each upward
+step demanded an effort.  She would have slipped and hurt herself many
+times were it not for Hozier's firm grasp, nor did she realize the
+sheer exhaustion that forced him to seek support from the neighboring
+wall with his disengaged hand.  The man in front, however, was alive to
+their dangerous plight.  He said something in his own language&mdash;for his
+English had the precise staccato accent of the well-educated
+foreigner&mdash;and another man appeared.  The sight of the newcomer
+startled Iris more than any other event that had happened since the
+<I>Andromeda</I> reached the end of her last voyage.  He wore the uniform of
+those dreadful beings whom she had seen on the island.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrieked; Hozier fancied she had sprained an ankle; but before she
+could utter any sort of explanation the apparition in uniform was by
+her side, and murmuring words that were evidently meant to be
+reassuring.  Seeing that he was not understood, he broke into halting
+French.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Courage, madame!" he said.  "Il faut monter&mdash;encore un peu&mdash;et
+donc&mdash;vous êtes arrivé&nbsp;&#8230;  Ça y est!  Voilá!  Comptez sur moi.
+Juste ciel, mais c'est affreux l'escalier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But he worked while he poured out this medley, and Iris was standing on
+level ground ere he made an end.  He was a handsome youngster,
+evidently an officer, and his eyes dwelt on the girl's face with no
+lack of animation as he led her into a cave which seemed to have been
+excavated from the inner side of a small crater.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can rest here in absolute safety, madame," he said.  "Permit me to
+arrange a seat.  Then I shall bring you some wine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris flung off the hand which held her arm so persuasively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please do not attend to me.  There are wounded men who need attention
+far more than I," she said, speaking in English, since it never entered
+her mind that the Portuguese officer had been addressing her in French.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was puzzled more by her action than her words, but Hozier, who had
+followed close behind, explained in sentences built on the
+Ollendorffian plan that mademoiselle was disturbed, mademoiselle
+required rest, mademoiselle hardly understood that which had arrived,
+<I>et voilá tout</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The other man smiled comprehension, though he scanned Hozier with a
+quick underlook.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is monsieur the captain?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, monsieur the captain comes now.  Here he is."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle, without doubt, is the daughter of monsieur the captain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," said Hozier, rather curtly, turning to ascertain how Iris had
+disposed of herself in the interior of the cavern.  It was his first
+experience of a South American dandy's pose towards women, or, to be
+exact, toward women who are young and pretty, and it seemed to him not
+the least marvelous event of an hour crammed with marvels that any man
+should endeavor to begin an active flirtation under such circumstances.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He saw that Iris was seated on a camp stool.  Her face was buried in
+her hands.  A wealth of brown hair was tumbled over her neck and
+shoulders; the constant showers of spray had loosened her tresses, and
+the unavoidable rigors of the passage from ship to ledge had shaken out
+every hairpin.  The Tam o' Shanter cap she was wearing early in the day
+had disappeared at some unknown stage of the adventure.  Her attitude
+bespoke a mood of overwhelming dejection.  Like the remainder of her
+companions in misfortune, she was drenched to the skin.  That physical
+drawback, however, was only a minor evil in this almost unpleasantly
+hot retreat; but Hozier, able now to focus matters in fairly accurate
+proportion, felt that Iris had not yet plumbed the depths of suffering.
+Their trials were far from ended when their feet rested on the solid
+rock.  There was every indication that their rescuers were refugees
+like themselves.  The scanty resources visible in the cave, the intense
+anxiety of the elderly Portuguese to avoid observation from the chief
+island of the group, the very nature of the apparently inaccessible
+crag in which he and his associates were hiding&mdash;each and all of these
+things spoke volumes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier did not attempt to disturb the girl until the dapper officer
+produced a goatskin, and poured a small quantity of wine into a tin
+cup.  With a curious eagerness, he anticipated the other's obvious
+intent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pardon me, monsieur," he said, seizing the vessel, and his direct
+Anglo-Saxon manner quite robbed his French of its politeness.  Then his
+vocabulary broke down, and he added more suavely in English: "I will
+persuade her to drink a little.  She is rather hysterical, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Portuguese nodded as though he understood.  Iris looked up when
+Hozier brought her the cup.  The mere suggestion of something to drink
+made active the parched agony of mouth and throat, but her wry face
+when she found that the liquid was wine might have been amusing if the
+conditions of life were less desperate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is there no water?" she asked plaintively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The officer, who was following the little by-play with his eyes,
+realized the meaning of her words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have no water, mademoiselle," he said.  Then he glanced at the
+group of bedraggled sailors.  "And very little wine," he added.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please drink it," urged Hozier.  "You are greatly run down, you know,
+though you really ought to feel cheerful, since you have escaped with
+your life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I feel quite brave," said Iris simply.  "I would never have believed
+that I could go through&mdash;all that," and her childish trick of listening
+to the booming of the distant breakers told him how vivid was her
+recollection of the horrors crowded into those few brief minutes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be quick, please," put in the elderly Portuguese with a tinge of
+impatience.  "We have no second cup, and there are wounded men&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give it to them," said Iris, lifting her face again for an instant.
+"I do not need it.  I have told you that once already.  I suppose you
+think I should not be here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sure our friend did not mean that," said Hozier, looking squarely
+into those singularly bright eyes.  He caught and held them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did not mean that the lady should be left to die if that is the
+interpretation put on my remark," came the quiet answer.  "But it was
+an act of the utmost folly to bring a delicate girl on such an errand.
+I cannot imagine what your captain was thinking of when he agreed to
+it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's that, mister?" demanded Coke.  Now that his fit of rage had
+passed, the bulky skipper of the <I>Andromeda</I> was red-faced and
+imperturbable as usual.  The manifold perils he had passed through
+showed no more lasting effect on him than a shower of sleet on the
+thick hide of the animal he so closely resembled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are <I>you</I> the captain?" said the other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir.  An' I'd like to 'ear w'y my ship or 'er present trip wasn't
+fit for enny young leddy, let alone&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is a matter for you to determine.  I suppose you know best how to
+conduct your own business.  My only concern is with the outcome of your
+rashness.  Why did you deliberately sacrifice your ship in that manner?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The speaker's cut-glass style of English left his hearers in no doubt
+as to what he had said.  During the tense silence that reigned for a
+few seconds even some among the crew pricked their ears, while Hozier
+and Iris forgot other troubles in their new bewilderment.  There were
+reasons why the drift of the stranger's words should be laid deeply to
+heart by three people present.  Coke, at any rate, found himself nearer
+a state of pallid nervousness than ever before in the course of a
+variegated life.  It was impossible that he should actually grow pale,
+but his brick-red features assumed a purple tint, and his fiery little
+eyes glinted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot are you a-drivin' at, mister?" he growled at last, after trying
+vainly to expectorate and compromising the effort in a husky gargle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you deny, then, that you acted like a madman?  Do you say that you
+did not know quite well the risk you ran in bringing your vessel to the
+island in broad daylight?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Coke found his breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Risk!" he roared.  "Risk in steamin' to an anchorage an' sendin' a
+boat ashore for water?  There seems to be a lot of mad folk loose just
+now on Fernando Noronha, but I'm not one of 'em, an' that's as much as
+I can say for enny of you&mdash;damme if it ain't."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Evidently the Portuguese was not accustomed to the direct form of
+conversation in vogue among British master mariners.  He bent his
+piercing gaze on Coke's angry if somewhat flustered countenance, and
+there was a perceptible stiffening of voice and manner when he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are you, then?  Who sent you here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm Captain James Coke, of the British ship <I>Andromeda</I>, that's 'oo
+<I>I</I> am, an' I was sent 'ere, or leastways to the River Plate, by David
+Verity an' Co., of Liverpool."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It must not be forgotten that Coke shared with his employer a certain
+unclassical freedom in the pronunciation of the ship's name; the long
+"e" apparently puzzled the other man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Andromeeda</I>?" he muttered.  "Spell it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My godfather, this is an asylum for sure," grunted Coke, in a spasm of
+furious mirth.  "A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a.  Now you've got it.  Ain't it up to
+Portygee standard?  A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a!  'Ow's that for the bloomin'
+spellin' bee?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Coke's humor made no appeal.  The staring, brilliant eyes fixed on
+him did not relax their vigilance, nor did any trace of emotion exhibit
+itself in that calm voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are unlucky, Captain Coke, most unlucky," it said.  "I regret my
+natural mistake, which, it seems, was shared by the authorities of
+Fernando do Noronha.  You have blundered into a nest of hornets, and,
+as a result, you have been badly stung.  Let me explain matters.  I am
+Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva, ex-President of the Republic of Brazil.
+There is, at this moment, a determined movement on foot on the mainland
+to replace me in power, and, with that object in view, efforts are
+being made to secure my escape from the convict settlement in which my
+enemies have imprisoned me.  I and two faithful followers are here in
+hiding.  My friend, Capitano Salvador De San Benavides," and he bowed
+with much dignity toward the uniformed officer, "came here two days ago
+in a felucca to warn me that a steamer would lie to about a mile south
+of the island to-night.  The steamer's name is <I>Andros-y-Mela</I>&mdash;it is
+rather like the name of your unhappy vessel&mdash;so much alike that the
+<I>Andromeda</I> has been sunk by mistake.  That is all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke, listening to this explanation with the virtuous wrath of a knave
+who discovers that he has been wrongfully suspected, bristled now with
+indignation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, that's all, is it?" he cried sarcastically.  "No, sir, it ain't
+all, nor 'arf, nor quarter.  Let me tell you that no crimson pirate on
+Gawd's earth can blow a British ship off the 'igh seas an' then do the
+dancin'-master act, with 'is 'and on 'is 'eart, an' say it was just a
+flamin' mistake.  All! says you?  Don't you believe it.  There's a lot
+more to come yet, take my tip&mdash;a devil of a lot, or I'm the biggest
+lunatic within a ten-mile circle of w'ere I'm stannin', which is givin'
+long odds to any other crank in the whole creation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Coke was right, though he little guessed then why he was so
+thoroughly justified in assuming that he and the other survivors of the
+<I>Andromeda</I> had not yet gone through half, or quarter, or more than a
+mere curtain-raising prelude to the strange human drama in which they
+were destined to be the chief actors.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap06"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+There was an awkward pause.  Coke, rascal though he was, and
+pot-bellied withal, was no Falstaff.  Rather did he suggest the
+present-day atavism of some robber baron of the Middle Ages, whose
+hectoring speech bubbled forth from a stout heart.  But the ragged
+ex-President heeded him not.  After a moment of placid scrutiny of his
+enraged countenance by those bright, watchful eyes, Coke might have
+been non-existent so far as recognition of his outburst was apparent
+during the sonorous discussion that ensued between Dom Corria Antonio
+De Sylva and the Señor Capitano Salvador De San Benavides.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The latter, it is true, betrayed excitement.  At first he favored Iris
+with a deprecatingly admiring glance, as one who would say, "Dear lady,
+accept my profound regret and respectful homage."  But that phase
+quickly passed.  His leader was not a man to waste words, and the
+gallant captain's expressive face soon showed that he had grasped the
+essential facts.  They did not please him.  In fact, he was distinctly
+cowed, almost stunned, by his companion's revelations.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It fell to De Sylva to explain matters to his unexpected guests.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My friend agrees with me that it is only fair that the exact position
+should be revealed to you," he said, addressing Coke, though a
+dignified gesture invited the others to share his confidence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It don't take much tellin'," began Coke.  De Sylva silenced him with
+an emphatic hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please attend.  The situation is not so simple as you seem to imagine.
+The loss of your ship cannot be dealt with here.  It raises issues of
+international law which can only be settled by courts and governments.
+You know, I suppose, that nothing will be done until a complaint is
+lodged by a British minister, and that hinges upon the very doubtful
+fact that you will ever again see your own country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ex-President certainly had the knack of expressing himself clearly.
+Those concluding words rang like a knell.  They even called Watts back
+from the slumber of unconsciousness; the "chief" stirred himself where
+he lay on the floor of the cavern, and began to quaver.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+"&mdash;&mdash;twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hay&mdash;&mdash;"</SPAN><BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Coke, taken by surprise, was unable to stop this warbling earlier.  But
+his hand clutched Watts's shoulder, and his venomous whisper of "Shut
+up, you ijjit!" was so unmistakable that the lyric ceased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva seemed to be aware of some peculiarity in the symptoms of the
+wounded man's recovery, but he continued speaking in the same balanced
+tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It happens, by idle chance, that my enemies have become yours.  The
+men who destroyed your ship thought they were injuring me.  I have just
+pointed out to Capitano De San Benavides the precise outcome of this
+attack.  Until a few moments ago we shared the delusion that the troops
+on Fernando de Noronha believed we were now on our way to a Brazilian
+port.  We were mistaken.  More than that, we know now that they have
+obtained news&mdash;probably through a traitor to our cause&mdash;of the
+<I>Andros-y-Mela's</I> voyage.  They were prepared for her coming.  They had
+made arrangements to receive her&mdash;almost at the place decided on by our
+friends in Brazil.  It is more than likely that the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> is
+now lying under the guns of some coast fortress, since the presence of
+troops and cannon on this side of the island is unprecedented."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't see wot all this 'as to do with me," blurted out Coke
+determinedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No.  It would not concern you in the least if you were safe at sea.
+But, since you are here, it does concern you most gravely.  From one
+point of view, you served my cause well by preparing to lower a boat.
+You misled my persecutors as to locality, at least.  Of course, I saw
+you, and thought you were mad, but your action did help to conceal from
+the soldiers the secret of my true hiding-place.  I wish to be candid
+with you.  If my friends and I had realized that you were here by
+accident, we ought to have taken no steps to save you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Really!" snarled Coke, eying the unruffled Brazilian much as an
+Andulusian bull might glare at a picador.  A buzz of angry whispering
+came from the crew.  Even Iris flashed a disdainful glance at the man
+who uttered this atrocious sentiment.  De Sylva raised his hand.  He
+permitted himself the luxury of a wintry smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pray, do not misunderstand me," he said.  "I am humane as most others,
+but it is difficult to decide whether or not mere humanity, setting
+aside self-interest, would not rather condemn you to the speedy death
+of the wreck than drag you to the worse fate that awaits you here.  And
+please remember that we did succor you, thus risking observation and a
+visit by the troops when the sea permits a landing.  But that is not
+the true issue.  An hour ago there were four people on this bare
+rock&mdash;four of us who looked for escape to-night.  We were supplied with
+such small necessaries of existence as would enable us to live if our
+rescuers were delayed for a day, or even two.  Now, there will be no
+rescue.  We are&mdash;" he looked slowly around&mdash;"twenty instead of four;
+but we have the same quantity of stores, which consist of a
+half-emptied skin of wine, a bunch of bananas, a few scraps of maize
+bread, and some strips of dried meat.  Do you follow me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke, who had been holding Watts in a sitting posture by a firm grip on
+his collar, allowed the limp figure to sprawl headlong again.  He
+wanted to plunge both hands deeply into his trousers pockets, because
+men of his type associate attitude so closely with thought that the one
+is apt to become almost dependent on the other.  And so, for the
+moment, the safeguarding of Watts was of no consequence.  But Watts had
+benefited much by the sousing of the spray, while his recovery was
+expedited by the forcible ejection of the salt water he had swallowed.
+He raised himself on one hand, and looked about with an inquiring eye.
+The Brazilian officer's uniform seemed to fascinate him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Ello!" he gurgled.  "Run in?  Well I'm&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is not that man wounded?  I thought I saw him dashed against the
+rocks," said De Sylva.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'E ought to be," said Coke, "but 'e's on'y drunk.  A skin o' rum, 'arf
+empty, too, just like your skin o' wine, mister."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let him be taken outside and gagged if he resists."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was an uneasy movement among the men.  Their common impulse was
+to obey.  Coke spread his feet a little apart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Leave 'im alone.  'E'll do no 'arm now," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot be interrupted," cried De Sylva, whose iron self-restraint
+seemed to be yielding before British truculence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll keep 'im quiet but I can't 'ave 'im roasted afore 'is time, an'
+that's wot's 'ul 'appen if you tied him up in that gulley."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thanke'ee, skipper.  You allus were a reel pal," murmured Watts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke bent over him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If your tongue don't stop waggin' it'll soon be stickin' out between
+yer teeth," he hissed.  "This ain't no fancy lock-up in the East Injia
+Dock Road, Arthur, me boy.  They won't bring you a pint of cocoa 'ere,
+an' ax if you're comfortable.  You 'aven't long to live accordin' to
+all accounts, so just close your mouth an' open your ears, an' mebbe
+you'll know w'y."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva regained his self-possession with a rapidity that was
+significant.  He had not climbed to the presidential chair of the
+Republic from a clerkship in the London Embassy of the Empire without
+acquiring the habit of estimating his fellow men speedily and
+accurately.  Here was one who might be led, but would never permit
+himself to be driven.  Moreover, this dethroned ruler was by way of
+being a philosopher.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hate drunkards," he said, shrugging his shoulders.  "You cannot
+trust them.  If I had been surrounded by trustworthy men, I should
+not&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He broke off.  There was a sound of hurrying footsteps on the steep
+pathway.  A figure, clad in rags that surpassed even De Sylva's,
+appeared in the entrance.  A brief colloquy took place.  De Sylva's
+eager questions were answered in monosyllables, or the nearest approach
+thereto.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Marcel tells me that one of your boats is drifting away with a man
+lying in the bottom," came the uneasy explanation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke's face showed a degree of surprise, which, in his case, was almost
+invariably akin to disbelief, but an exclamation from Hozier drew all
+eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good Lord!" he cried, "that must be the lifeboat I was trying to clear
+when the ship struck.  Macfarlane was helping me, but he was hit by a
+bullet and dropped across the thwarts.  I thought he was dead!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dead or alive, he is better off than we," said De Sylva.  He
+questioned Marcel again briefly.  "There can be no doubt that the man
+in the boat cast off the lashings when he found that the ship was
+sinking," he continued in English.  "Marcel saw him doing that, and
+wondered why he was alone.  At any rate, if he is carried beyond the
+reef, he has a fighting chance.  We have none."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?  Are these men on the island so deaf to human sympathies that
+they would murder all of us in cold blood?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl's sweet, low-pitched voice sounded inexpressibly sad in that
+vaulted place.  Even De Sylva's studied control gave way before its
+music.  He uttered some anguished appeal to the deity in his own
+tongue, and flung out his hands impulsively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What would you have me say?" he cried, and his eyes blazed, while the
+scar on his forehead darkened with the gust of passion that swept over
+his strong features.  "I might lie to you, and try to persuade you that
+we can exist here without food or water, whereas to-morrow, or next day
+at the utmost, will see most of us dead.  But in a few hours you will
+realize what it means to be kept on this bare rock under a tropical
+sun.  You can do one thing.  Your party greatly outnumbers mine.  Climb
+to the top-most pinnacle and signal to the island.  You will soon be
+seen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed with a savage irony that was not good to hear, but Coke
+caught at the suggestion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even that is better'n tearin' one another like mad dogs," he growled.
+"I know wot's comin'.  I've seen it wonst."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier made for the exit, where Marcel stood, irresolute, apparently
+waiting for orders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where are you going?" demanded De Sylva.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To see what is becoming of the lifeboat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Better not.  You cannot help your friend, and the instant it becomes
+known to the troops that there is a living soul on the Grand-père rock
+they will come in a steam launch and shoot everyone at sight."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will that be the answer to our signal?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was Iris who asked the question, and the Brazilian's voice softened
+again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, then, do you advise us to seek our own destruction?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He bowed.  His manner was almost humble.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is the easier way," he murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is there no other?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"None&mdash;unless we attack two hundred soldiers with sticks, and stones,
+and three revolvers, and a sword."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier came back.  He had merely stepped a pace or two into the
+sunlight.  Through the northerly dip of the gulley he had seen the
+ship's boat whirled past an islet by the fierce current.  Macfarlane
+was not visible.  Perhaps that was better so.  At any rate, the sight
+of the small craft vanishing behind one of the island barriers brought
+home with telling force the predicament of those who remained.  Now
+that the sheer frenzy of the wreck had relaxed, Philip's head was like
+to split with the throbbing anguish of the blow he had received.  But
+his mind was clearer.  De Sylva's words, amplifying his own vague
+recollection of the scene on board the <I>Andromeda</I>, enabled him to
+construct a picture of events as they were.  And his blood boiled when
+he thought of Iris, snatched many times from death, only to face it
+once more in the ravening form of starvation and thirst.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Attack!" he said hoarsely.  "How is that possible?  A deep and wide
+channel separates us from the main island."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Brazilian, who seemed to have argued himself into a state of stoic
+despair, gave a startling answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have a boat, a sort of boat," he said quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How many will it hold?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Three, in a smooth sea, and with skilled handling.  It nearly
+overturned when I and two others crossed from the island, a distance of
+three hundred yards."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But we have ropes, clothes, perhaps some few pieces of wreckage.  Can
+nothing be done to repair it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Meaning that we draw lots to see who shall endeavor to escape
+to-night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The men might even do that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, yes&mdash;the men, of course.  I think it hopeless.  But, try it!  Yes,
+certainly, try it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A pause, more eloquent than the most impassioned speech, showed how
+this frail straw, eddying in the vortex of their fate, might yet be
+clutched at.  San Benavides, trying vainly to guess what was being
+said, blurted forth an anxious inquiry.  His compatriot explained
+briefly.  Somehow, the measured cadence of their talk had a less
+reliable sound than the vigorous Anglo-Saxon.  They were both brave
+men.  They had not scrupled to risk their lives in an enterprise where
+success beckoned even doubtingly.  But they were lacking when all that
+remained to be settled was how best to die; in such an hour the men of
+an English speaking race will ever choose a fighting death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This time, it was a woman who decided.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris rose to her feet.  She brushed back the strands of damp hair from
+her face, and with deft hands made a rough-and-ready coil of her
+abundant tresses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you planning to send me with two others adrift in a boat, while
+seventeen men are left here?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Brazilian ceased speaking.  There was another uneasy pause.  Hozier
+felt that the question was addressed to him, but he was tongue-tied,
+almost shame-faced.  Coke, however, did not shirk the task of
+enlightening her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Something like that," he said.  "We can't let you cut in with the rest
+of us, missy.  That wouldn't be reasonable.  But it's best to fix the
+business fair an' square.  We ain't agoin' to try any other way, not so
+long as <I>I'm</I> skipper," and he looked with brutal frankness at De Sylva
+and the anxious but uncomprehending San Benavides.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ex-President knew what he meant; even in his despondency he
+resented the implied slur on his good faith.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You cannot examine the boat until darkness sets in," he said.  "Then
+you will find out how frail a foundation you are building on.  It is
+absolutely ridiculous to assume that she can be made seaworthy.  Her
+occupants would be drowned before they were clear of the islands."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In any case, I refuse to go," said Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva smiled gloomily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are courageous, senhora, and, in some respects, you are wise," he
+said.  "Yet&nbsp;&#8230; I must admit it&nbsp;&#8230;  I would urge you to select the
+boat&mdash;in preference&nbsp;&#8230;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Marcel, the Brazilian who had come to tell them of the drifting
+life-boat, turned away from the mouth of the cavern, and scrambled down
+the ravine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's 'e after?" demanded Coke, suddenly suspicious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He and Domingo are keeping a lookout," said De Sylva.  "If the
+soldiers intend to visit us we should at least be warned.  The boat is
+hidden among the rocks on the landward side," he added, not without a
+touch of scorn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That man has taught us our own duty," cried Iris.  "The boat that
+brought these men to this rock can bring nineteen men and a woman to
+Fernando Noronha.  We must land there to-night.  With those to guide us
+who know the coast, surely that should be possible.  We have a right to
+struggle for our lives.  We, of the <I>Andromeda</I>, at least, have done no
+wrong to the cruel wretches who sought to kill us without mercy to-day.
+Why should we not endeavor to defend ourselves?  There is food there,
+and guns in plenty.  Let us take them.  Above all, let us not dream of
+any such useless device as this proposal to send three to drown
+somewhere in the sea and leave seventeen to perish miserably here.  We
+are in God's hands.  Let us trust to Him, but while doing that fully
+and fearlessly, we must seek life, not death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bully for you, miss!" roared a sailor, and a growl of admiration rang
+through the cave.  Instantly a hubbub of talk showed how intent the
+crew had been on the previous discussion, but Coke shouted them into
+silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oo axed wot <I>you</I> think, you swabs?" he bellowed.  "Stow your lip!
+Sink me, if you don't all do as you're bid, an' keep still tongues in
+your 'eds, I'll want to know w'y&mdash;P.D.Q."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A big, blond Norwegian, Hans Olsen by name, strode forward.  Unlike the
+usual self-contained Norseman, he was reputed a "sea-lawyer" in the
+forecastle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We haf somedings ter zay for our lifes, yez," he protested.  Coke bent
+and butted him violently in the stomach with his head.  The man crashed
+against the rocky wall, and sat dazed where he had fallen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You've got to obey orders&mdash;savvy?" growled Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yez," gasped Olsen, evidently fearing a further assault.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The incident ended.  Its outstanding feature was the amazing activity
+displayed by the burly skipper, who had rammed his man before the big
+fellow could lift a finger.  It might be expected that Iris would show
+some sign of dismay, owing to this unlooked-for violence.  But she was
+now beyond the reach of merely feminine emotions.  She had protested
+against the kicking of Watts because it seemed to lack motive, because
+Watts was helpless, and because she herself was half-delirious at the
+time.  Olsen's attitude, on the other hand, hinted at mutiny, and
+mutiny must be repressed at any cost.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva's incisive accents helped to bridge a moment fraught with
+possibilities, for it would be idle to assume that this polyglot
+gathering was composed of Bayards.  Self-preservation is apt to prove
+stronger than chivalry under such circumstances.  Let it be assumed
+that three among the twenty could escape that night, and it was
+horribly true that the field of selection might be narrowed by a
+wild-beast struggle long before the sun went down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The young lady has at least given us a project," he said.  "It is a
+desperate one, Heaven knows!  It offers a fantastic chance, and I can
+see no other, but&mdash;what can we do without arms?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Use our heads," put in Hozier.  He had not the slightest intention of
+making a light-hearted joke at that crisis in their affairs, but he
+happened to look at Coke, and an involuntary smile gleamed through the
+crust of clotted blood and perspiration that gave his good-looking face
+a most sinister aspect.  The Irishman cackled with laughter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Begob, that's wan for the skipper," he crowed; then some of the others
+grinned, and the <I>Andromeda's</I> little company stood four-square again
+to the winds of adversity.  Having blundered into prominence, the
+second mate was quick to see that he must hammer home the facts, though
+in more serious vein.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bring us to the island, Senhor De Sylva," he said, "and we will make a
+fight of it.  In any case, even if we fail, they will not deliberately
+kill a woman.  There must be other women there who will intervene in
+behalf of one of their own sex.  But we may succeed.  It is improbable
+that the whole of the troops will be gathered in one spot.  Why should
+we not take some small detachment by surprise and secure their weapons?
+If we can land unobserved, we ought to be able to drop on them
+apparently from the skies.  I take it that the presence here of Captain
+San Benavides is unknown, and the leadership of an officer in the
+enemy's own uniform should turn the scale in our favor.  Have you no
+followers among the troops or islanders?  Suppose we make good our
+first attack, and seize a strong position&mdash;isn't it probable we may
+receive assistance from your partisans?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps&mdash;among the convicts," was De Sylva's grim reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No officials, or soldiers?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not one.  They are chosen for this service on account of their
+animosity against the former Government.  How else could you account
+for their treatment of unarmed men on a ship crippled by their first
+shell?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You spoke of a steam launch.  Where is that kept?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At a wharf under the walls of the citadel which commands the town and
+anchorage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Assuming we have a stroke of luck and rush some outpost, would it be
+possible to cross the island before dawn and board the launch or some
+other craft in which we can put to sea?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is only the launch, and some small fishing catamarans.  No other
+boats are allowed to exist on the island, in order to prevent the
+escape of convicts.  The boat we possess is really a badly-constructed
+catamaran, without a sail, and minus the out-rigger which alone renders
+it safe for the shortest voyage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wy didn't you say that sooner, mister?" put in Coke.  "If some of
+these jokers knew wot sort of craft it was, mebbe it wouldn't 'ave
+needed a shove in the stommick to bring Hans Olsen to heel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sorry," said De Sylva.  "You see, I realized the utter folly of
+trying to escape in that fashion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two men looked each other squarely in the eye.  The ex-President of
+a great republic and the master of a worn-out tramp steamer were both
+born leaders of men.  Whatsoever prospect of a cabal existed
+previously, it was scotched now, beyond doubt.  Henceforth, no matter
+what ills threatened, surely the little army mustered on the Grand-père
+rock would stand or fall together!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An unerring token of unity was forthcoming at once.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please, miss, an' gents all, may we smoke?" pleaded a voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris was for an immediate permission, but De Sylva shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not until the tide falls," he said.  "There is a very real fear of a
+visit from the launch.  It has passed this spot four times during the
+past two days&mdash;ever since my absence was discovered, in fact.  The
+soldiers have searched every outlying island, but they have avoided
+Grand-père because it is believed that a landing is highly dangerous if
+not quite impracticable.  My friend Marcel, a fisherman, discovered by
+accident the only safe means of reaching the path which winds round the
+island.  Happily, the wretch who betrayed the mission of the
+<I>Andros-y-Mela</I> did not know the secret of my refuge.  And I see now
+that the Governor must be convinced that I am still hiding among the
+cliffs, or your vessel would not have appeared off South Point this
+morning.  No, there must be no smoking as yet.  In this clear air the
+slightest cloud might be seen rising above the rocks from without."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Marcel reappeared at the entrance.  With him was another man, whom
+Hozier remembered seeing when he was hauled up from the ship with Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, I was not mistaken," went on De Sylva.  "Here comes news of the
+launch!  They have signaled for it across the island."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Marcel entered the cave with an expressive gesture, for long habit had
+almost robbed him of his native vivacity.  His companion, Domingo,
+climbed the opposite wall of the ravine and stretched himself at full
+length in a niche where there was room for a man to lie.  Some tufts of
+rough grass grew there in sufficient density to conceal his head while
+he peered between the stalks.  They could see him quite plainly, but no
+one wanted to speak.  Though the unceasing wash of a heavy swell
+against the rocks would have drowned the noise had they shouted in
+unison, there was no need to tell anyone present that a very real and
+dangerous crisis had arrived.  The slow change in the direction of
+Domingo's gaze showed the approach and passing of the hostile vessel.
+It was evident that a long halt was made in the channel close to the
+wreck, of which some fragments remained above water.  Still, curiously
+enough, it was impossible for those on board the launch to read the
+ship's name, since the word "<I>Andromeda</I>," twice embossed on the sharp
+cut-water, was hidden by the jutting rocks on both sides of the cleft.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But it was not the fear of instant death following on the discovery
+that the Grand-père islet was inhabited that kept tongues mute and ears
+on the alert during a quarter of an hour that seemed to be protracted
+to a quarter of a day.  At present they were shut off from hostile
+bullets by the walls of a fortress stronger than any that could be
+built by men's hands.  The greater danger was that the enemy's
+suspicions might be aroused.  Let those who held Fernando Noronha with
+the armed forces of Brazil once come to regard the isolated rock in mid
+channel as providing even a possible refuge for the ex-President and
+his friends, and it would mean the complete overthrow of the slender
+chance of saving their lives that still offered itself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So they waited in silence, watching the rigid figure of the prostrate
+Brazilian, just as those among them who were saved from the <I>Andromeda</I>
+had watched the arch of spray and spindrift from the slowly sinking
+forecastle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last Domingo turned his head slightly, and gave them a reassuring
+little nod.  He said something, which De Sylva translated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They have a photograph of the wreck," he said, "and are now steaming
+through the northerly channel to the anchorage on the west side of the
+island.  Most fortunately, they do not seem to be aware of your
+drifting boat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then he added, with a courtliness that was so incongruous with his
+unkempt appearance and patched and tattered garments;&mdash;"If the Senhora
+permits, the men may smoke now.  In another hour the channel will not
+be navigable.  We have a hot and tiring day before us, and I advise
+sleep for those to whom it is vouchsafed.  If the weather continues to
+improve, the next tide will bring us a smooth sea.  Given that, and a
+dark night&mdash;well&mdash;we may make history.  Who knows?"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap07"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CROSS PURPOSES
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Though Iris gave such warlike counsel, it would be doing her a grave
+injustice to assume that her gentle disposition was changed because of
+the day's sufferings.  The erstwhile light-hearted schoolgirl and
+youthful mistress of her uncle's house had been subjected to dynamic
+influences.  The ordeal through which she had passed, unscathed bodily
+but seared in spirit, had left her strung to a tense pitch.  Relaxation
+had not come&mdash;as yet.  She only knew that she resented to the uttermost
+the Brazilians' malevolent fury.  Hers was a nature that could not
+endure unfairness.  It was unfair of David Verity to seek to mend his
+shattered fortunes by forcing her into a hateful marriage; unfair of
+both Verity and Coke to found their new venture on a great fraud; and
+monstrously unfair of these island factionaries to vent their spite on
+an innocent ship.  So, for the hour, she was inspired.  It is the
+high-souled enthusiast who devotes life itself to a cause; those who
+practice oppression have ever most to beware of in the man or woman
+whose conscience will not condone a wrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of course, in this present clash of emotions, Iris little understood
+what her advice really meant.  She was appealing to heaven rather than
+to the force of arms.  To one of her temperament, it seemed incredible
+that a number of inoffensive strangers should be slaughtered because a
+South American republic could not agree in choosing a president.  Such
+a thing was unheard of in her previous experience, built on no more
+solid foundation than the humdrum existence of Brussels and Bootle.
+And the inhabitants of neither Brussels nor Bootle settle their
+political differences by shooting casual visitors at sight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddly enough, the only professional soldier present condemned her
+project roundly when it was mooted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In leaving the island to-night you are acting on an assumption,"
+protested Captain San Benavides to his chief.  "You cannot be sure that
+the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> will not appear.  The arrangement is that she is to
+send a boat here soon after midnight, yet, if this mad scheme of an
+attack on armed troops by unarmed men is persisted in, we must begin to
+ferry to the island long before that hour.  In all probability, we
+shall be discovered at once.  At the very moment that our friends are
+eagerly awaiting us on board the ship we may be lying dead on the
+island.  The notion is preposterous.  Be guided by me, Dom Corria, and
+decline to have anything to do with it.  Better still, let these
+English boors promise to forget that we are alive; then Marcel can
+guide them to the landing-place, where they will be shot speedily and
+comfortably.  There is no sense in sacrificing the girl.  She must be
+kept here on some pretext."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ex-President took thought before he answered.  He did not deny
+himself that the confident air of these hard-bitten sailors made strong
+appeal to his judgment.  He had his own reasons for distrusting some
+among his professed supporters, and he did not share his military
+aide's opinion as to the coming of the promised vessel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a good deal in what you say, senhor adjudante," he announced
+after his bright eyes had dwelt on San Benavides' expressive face in
+thoughtful scrutiny.  "In England they have a proverb that a man cannot
+both run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, but such maxims are
+not framed for would-be Presidents.  I fear we must fall in with our
+allies' views, <I>faute de mieux</I>.  You and I have to lead a headstrong
+army.  That little Hercules of a commander is stubborn as a mule&mdash;a
+mule that has the strength and courage of a wild boar.  The younger man
+thinks only of the girl's safety.  He, at least, will not consent to
+leave her.  Both, backed by their crew, will not scruple to sacrifice
+us if their interests point that way.  Trust me to twist them into the
+course that shall best serve our own needs.  I am now going to tell
+them that you approve of their plan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Forthwith he launched out into an English version of the excellent
+captain's comments.  His precise, well-turned periods were admirable.
+Their marked defect was that he said the exact contrary to San
+Benavides.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, having a born aptitude for languages, spoke French and German
+with some proficiency.  She had also devoted many hours to the study of
+Spanish during the past winter, and it happens that the Portuguese of
+Brazil is less unlike Spanish than the Portuguese of Lisbon.  In
+Europe, national antipathies serve to accentuate existing differences
+between the two tongues, but the peoples of the South American seaboard
+feel the need of a common speech, and local conditions have
+standardized many words.  Hence, the Spanish language will serve all
+ordinary purposes among the Latin races who have made their own the
+vast continent that stretches from Panama to Tierra del Fuego.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the girl's super-active brain was puzzled by De Sylva's rendering of
+his military friend's remarks.  With the vaguest knowledge of what was
+actually said, she suspected that San Benavides had opposed the very
+project which, according to the President, he favored.  She had caught
+the name of the relief vessel, the words <I>bote</I>, "boat," <I>las doce</I>,
+"twelve o'clock," <I>à bordo de buque</I>, "on board the ship," and others
+which did not figure in the translation.  She wondered why.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The long day wore slowly.  The heat was intense.  Even the hardened
+sailors soon found that if the atmosphere of the cavern were to remain
+endurable they might not smoke.  So pipes were extinguished, and they
+tried to better their condition.  Water-soaked coats and boots placed
+in the sun were dry in a few minutes.  Iris was persuaded to allow her
+dress to be treated in this manner.  She was still wearing the heavy
+ulster of the early morning&mdash;when the aftermath of the gale was chill
+and searching&mdash;and the possession of this outer wrap made easy the
+temporary discarding of a skirt and blouse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unhappily, she answered in French some simple query of the dapper
+officer's.  Thenceforth, to her great bewilderment and Hozier's
+manifest annoyance, he pestered her with compliments and inquiries.  To
+avoid both, she expressed a longing for sleep.  It seemed to her
+excited imagination that she would never be able to sleep again, yet
+her limbs were scarcely composed in comfort on a litter of coarse grass
+and parched seaweed than her eyes closed in the drowsiness of sheer
+exhaustion.  This respite was altogether helpful.  She had slept but
+little during the gale, and its tremendous climax had surprised her
+vitality at a low ebb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she awoke, the ravine was in shadow and the interior of the cave
+was dark.  Her first conscious sensation was that of almost intolerable
+thirst.  Her lips were blistered, her tongue and palate sore, and she
+asked herself in alarm what new evil was afflicting her, until she
+remembered the drenching she had received and the amount of salt-laden
+air that had passed into her lungs.  Nevertheless, she cried
+involuntarily for water, and again she was offered wine.  She managed
+to smile in a strained fashion at this malicious humor of fortune.  By
+a freak of memory she called to mind the somewhat similar predicament
+of the crew of a storm-tossed ship that she had once read about.  They
+ran short of water, but the vessel carried hundreds of cases of bottled
+stout.  During three long weeks of boating against the wind those
+wretched men were compelled to drink stout morning, noon, and night,
+and never did temperance argument apply with greater force to the
+seafaring community than toward the end of that enforced regimen of
+malt liquor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier, who had aroused her by touching her shoulder, fancied he saw
+the gleam of merriment in her face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is amusing you?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She told him, though she spoke with difficulty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not quite so bad as that," he said.  "If there is no hitch in
+our plans, we should be on the island within five hours.  We have
+everything thought out as far as may be in view of the unknown.  At any
+rate, Miss Yorke, if we succeed in getting you safely ashore, you
+personally will have but slight cause for further anxiety.  The
+proposal is that Marcel shall take you at once to the hut of an old
+convict whom he can trust&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A convict!" she gasped.  The word was ominous, and she was hardly
+awake.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The population of Fernando Noronha is almost entirely made of convicts
+and soldiers," he explained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But am I to be left there alone?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What else is there to be done?  You cannot join in the attack on a
+fort&mdash;and that offers our only chance, it would seem.  Granted an
+effective surprise, we may carry it.  Then your guardian will bring you
+to us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What if you fail?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must not fail," he said quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please do not hide the alternative from me," she pleaded.  "I have
+endured so much&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, don't you see, this man&mdash;who, by the way, is married, and has a
+daughter aged fourteen&mdash;will, if necessary, reveal your presence to the
+Governor.  By that time, say, in a day or two, the excitement will have
+died down, the news of your escape will be cabled to England, you will
+be sent to the coast on the Government steamer, and you can travel home
+by the next mail."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That sounds very simple&mdash;and European," she said, and the pathetic
+sarcasm was not lost on him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is reasonable enough.  Unfortunately for us, all the bother centers
+round Senhor De Sylva, to whom we owe our lives.  He is outside at the
+moment, showing our skipper the lay of the land before the light fails,
+so I am free to speak plainly.  When he is dead there will be no
+further trouble, till the next revolution.  But why endeavor to look
+ahead when seeing is impossible?  At present, what really presses is
+the necessity that you should eat and drink.  We have shared out the
+whole of the available food.  Here is your portion.  We deemed it best
+to give the men one square meal.  They know now that they must earn the
+next one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With each instant her perceptive powers were quickening.  She was aware
+that he had deliberately avoided the main issue.  De Sylva's probable
+death implied a good deal, but it was the supreme test of her courage
+that she refrained from useless questioning.  Yet she thrust aside the
+two bananas and supply of dried meat and crusts that Hozier placed
+before her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot eat," she murmured, striving to control her voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you must.  It is imperative.  You would not wish to break down at
+the very moment your best energies will be in demand.  Our lives, as
+well as your own, may depend on your strength.  Come, Miss Yorke, no
+woman could have been pluckier than you.  Don't fail us now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The gloom was deepening momentarily.  Hozier's back was turned to the
+entrance, and, in the ever-growing darkness, she was unable to see his
+face; but his anxious protest in no wise deceived her; she even smiled
+again at the ruse that attempted to saddle her with some measure of
+responsibility for the success or failure of the raid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I promise to eat&mdash;and drink this sour wine&mdash;will you be candid?"
+she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One must bargain.  There is no other way.&#8230;  Promise!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose you mean that I must agree to please you by wild guessing
+about events that may turn out quite differently."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Candid, I said."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes&mdash;that most certainly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In the first place, may we go into the fresh air?  I must have slept
+many hours.  What time is it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"About seven o'clock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Seven!  Have I been lying here since goodness knows what time this
+morning?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were thoroughly used up," he said, and he added, with a laugh: "If
+it is any consolation, I may tell you that, to the best of my belief,
+you never moved nor uttered a sound."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For instance, I didn't snore," she cried, rising to her feet, and
+thanking the kindly night that veiled her untidiness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I&mdash;don't&mdash;think so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, please be more positive than that.  You send a cold shiver down my
+back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Several members of the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew also indulged in a prolonged
+siesta," he said.  "I assure you it was almost out of the question to
+divide the sleepers into snorers and non-snorers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A man will talk harmless nonsense of that sort when he is at his wit's
+end to wriggle out of a perplexing situation.  Hozier was deputed to
+obtain the girl's consent to the proposal he had already put before
+her.  He feared that she would refuse compliance, for he understood her
+fine temper better than the others.  He was a young man&mdash;one but little
+versed in the ways of women&mdash;yet some instinct warned him that there
+was a nobility in Iris Yorke's nature that might set self at naught and
+urge her to share her companions' lot, even though certain death were
+the outcome.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They passed together through the cavern.  Watts, sound asleep, was
+lying there.  The majority of the men were seated on the rocks without,
+or lounging near the entrance.  They were smoking now freely, the only
+stipulation being that matches were not to be struck in the open.
+Their whispered talk ceased when they saw the girl.  Absorbed in the
+prospect of a fight for life, for the moment they had forgotten her,
+but a murmured tribute of sympathy and recognition greeted her
+appearance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman found his tongue first.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Begorrah, miss," he said, "but it's the proud man I'll be the next
+time I see you smilin' from the kay side at Liverpool, no matter
+whether I'm there meself or not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No one laughed at the absurd phrase which so clearly expressed its
+meaning.  But the ship's cook, Peter, noting the strips of dried meat
+in her hands, raised a grin by saying:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sorry the galley fire is out, miss, or I'd 'ave stewed 'em a bit."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This kindly badinage was gratifying, though it helped to reveal the
+interrupted topic of their conversation.  There was no hiding the
+desperate character of the coming adventure.  The <I>Andromeda's</I> crew
+did not attempt to minimize it.  The choice offered lay only in the
+manner of their death.  As to the prospect of ultimate escape, they
+hardly gave it a thought.  Some among them had served in the armies of
+Europe, and they, at least, were under no delusion concerning the issue
+of an attack on a fort by less than a score of unarmed men&mdash;seventeen
+to be exact, since two of the ship's company were so maimed by the
+bursting of the shell on the forecastle as to be practically helpless;
+it was by the rarest good fortune that they were able to walk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris smiled at them in her frank way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope you will all be spared to ship on a new <I>Andromeda</I>," she said.
+No sooner had the words left her lips than the thought came unbidden:
+"If my uncle and Captain Coke wished the ship to be thrown away,
+nothing could have better suited their purposes than this tragic error."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the instant, the unforeseen outcome of that Sunday afternoon's
+plotting in the peaceful garden of Linden House held her imagination.
+She recalled each syllable of it, and there throbbed in her brain the
+hitherto undreamed of possibility that Coke had brought the <I>Andromeda</I>
+to Fernando Noronha in pursuance of his thievish project.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At once she whispered to Hozier:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is there anyone on the path below?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," he said.  "The Brazilians are with Coke at the top of the gully."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it safe for us to go the other way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think so.  But you must be careful not to slip."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She caught his arm, little knowing the thrill her clasp sent through
+his frame.  This simple gesture of her confidence was bitter-sweet.  He
+resolutely closed his eyes to the knowledge that this might be their
+last talk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall not fall," she said.  "I am a good mountaineer.  I learnt the
+trick of it in Cumberland.  Come with me.  There is a pleasant breeze
+blowing from the sea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They climbed down.  Neither spoke until they stood on the curving ledge
+that had proved their salvation.  Though the tide was rising again, the
+heavy sea was gone.  The current still created some spume and noise as
+it swept past the reef, but its anger had vanished with the gale.
+Beyond the fringe of broken water a slight swell only served to mirror
+in countless facets the tender light of a perfect sunset.  The eastern
+horizon was a broad line of silver.  Nearer, the shadow of the island
+created bands of purest green and ultramarine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They reached the place from which the Brazilians had thrown the rope.
+They could hear the quiet plash of the water in the cleft.  Piled
+against a low-lying rock were the funnel and other debris of the
+<I>Andromeda</I>.  The black hull was plainly visible beneath the surface.
+Even while they were looking at the wreck a huge fish curled his ten
+feet of length with stealthy grace from out some dim recess; it might
+be, perhaps, from out the crushed shell of the chart-room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier glanced at his companion.  He half expected her to shrink back
+appalled at this sinister sight; it was her destiny to surprise him not
+once but many times during that amazing period.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is that a shark?" she asked quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.&#8230;  You stipulated for candor, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I had no notion that such a monster could move with so great elegance.
+I think I would rather be eaten by a shark than lie at the bottom of
+the sea like our poor vessel there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even a shark would appreciate the compliment," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes continued to watch the terrifying apparition until it prowled
+into hidden depths again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not sorry I have seen it," she murmured.  "It helps one to
+understand.  We are glib concerning the laws of nature, and seem to
+regard them much as the printed regulations stuck on hackney carriages,
+whatsoever they may be.  Yet, how cruelly just they are!  I suppose
+that the finding of the ship's booty by that huge creature has given a
+new span of life to some weaker fish."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier did not know whether or not she had realized the shark's real
+quest.  Her next words enlightened him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we follow the others, will the soldiers throw our dead bodies into
+the sea?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I want you to believe that you will be absolutely safe if we escape
+being discovered during the crossing of the narrow strip of water that
+separates this rock from the island," he hastened to say.  "That is
+your only risk, and it is a light one.  Senhor De Sylva is sure that
+the troops will not keep the keenest lookout to-night.  They are still
+convinced that the insurgent steamer is sunk.  Our chief danger will
+date from to-morrow's dawn.  Marcel reports that a systematic search of
+the island was begun to-day.  It will be continued to-morrow, but on
+new lines, because, by that time, they will have learnt the truth.  The
+<I>Andros-y-Mela</I> is not lying in pieces at the foot of this rock, the
+President has not escaped, and every practicable inch of Fernando
+Noronha and the adjacent islands will be scoured in the hope of finding
+him.  At first sight, that looks like being in our favor; in reality,
+it means the end if we are discovered here.  The soldiers will shoot
+first and inquire afterwards.  I have not the slightest doubt but that
+plenty of evidence will be forthcoming that we were a set of
+desperadoes who had unlawfully interfered in the affairs of a foreign
+state."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She appeared to be weighing this argument, sitting in judgment on De
+Sylva and his theories.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I want to do that which is for the good of all," she said at length.
+"Do you ask me to go to this convict's house, Mr. Hozier?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I urge it on you with the utmost conviction.  With you off our hands,
+we can act freely.  We must deliver an attack to-night.  God in Heaven,
+you cannot think that we would expose you to the perils of a desperate
+fight!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His sudden outburst was unexpected, even by himself.  He trembled in an
+agony of passion.  Iris placed a timid hand on his shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will go," she whispered.  "Please do not be distressed on my
+account.  I will go.  I brought you here, not to discuss my own fate,
+but yours.  These Brazilians will not scruple to make use of you, and
+then throw you aside if it suits their purpose.  That man, De Sylva,
+does not care how he attains power, and I know that he and the officer
+entertain some plan which they have not revealed to you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You&nbsp;&#8230; <I>know</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  I understand a little of their language.  I have a mere glimpse
+of its sense, as one sees a landscape through a mist.  When De Sylva
+told you to-day that San Benavides was with you heart and soul, he was
+lying.  There were things said about a ship, and midnight, and a boat.
+I watched the officer's face.  He was wholly opposed to the landing
+to-night.  My mind is not so vague now.  I think I can grasp his
+meaning.  Was it not to-night that the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> was to appear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, may they not hope secretly that she will keep to the fixed hour?
+Once you and I and the others are on the island, and an alarm is given,
+the Brazilians could slip away unnoticed.  Yes, that is it.  I do not
+trust them any more than I trusted Captain Coke.  Don't you realize
+that he brought the <I>Andromeda</I> to this place in order to wreck her
+more easily?  It was to supply a pretext for the visit that he made
+undrinkable the water in the ship's tanks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That appealing hand still rested on Philip's shoulder.  Its touch
+affected him profoundly.  With a lightning dart of memory his thoughts
+went back to the moment when she lay, inert and half-fainting, in his
+arms on the bridge, after he had taken her from the lazarette.  But he
+controlled his voice sufficiently to say:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may be right; indeed, I know you are right, so far as Coke is
+concerned.  When I went aft to find out if one of the boats could not
+be cleared, I noticed that a steering-gear box had been prised open
+again.  I had time for only a second's glance, but I was sure the
+damage had not been done by a bullet.  So the <I>Andromeda</I> was doomed to
+be lost, no matter what happened.  By &mdash;&mdash;, forgive me, Miss Yorke, but
+this kind of thing makes one savage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps it is matterless now.  Coke will stand by the rest of us in
+our struggle for life, at any rate.  But the Brazilians&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have no fear of them.  I, too, have watched San Benavides.  I don't
+like the fellow, and wouldn't place an ounce of faith in him, but De
+Sylva has brains, and he knows well enough that no ship from Brazil
+will come to Fernando Noronha in his behalf.  In fact, he dreads a
+visit by a Government vessel, in which event our frail chance of
+seizing that launch&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She felt, rather than saw, that he had suddenly grown rigid.  His right
+arm flew out and drew her to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sh-s-s-h!" he breathed, and pulled her behind a rock.  Her woman's
+heart yielded to dread of the unseen.  It pulsed violently, and she was
+tempted to scream.  Despite his warning, she must at least have
+whispered a question, but her ears caught a sound to which they were
+now well accustomed.  The light chug-chug of an engine and the flapping
+of a propeller came up to them from the sea.  The steam launch was
+approaching.  Perhaps they had been seen already!  As if to emphasize
+this new peril, there was an interval of silence.  Steam had been shut
+off.  Philip touched the girl's lips lightly with a finger.  Then he
+lay flat on the ledge and began to creep forward.  It was impossible
+that he should run and warn the others, but it was essential, above all
+else, that he should ascertain what the men on the launch were doing,
+and the extent of their knowledge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He found a tuft of the grass that clung to a crevice where its roots
+drew hardy sustenance from the crumbling rock; he ventured to thrust
+his head through this screen, following Domingo's example some hours
+earlier.  Almost directly beneath, his eager glance found the little
+vessel.  She was floating past with the current.  He peered down on to
+her deck as if from the top of a mast.  A few cigarette-smoking
+officers were grouped in her bows.  Apparently, they were more
+interested in the remains of the <I>Andromeda</I> than in the natural
+fortress overhead.  Clustered round the hatch were some twenty
+soldiers, also smoking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One of the officers pointed to the ledge; he was excited and emphatic.
+Philip could not imagine that they had detected him, but he feared lest
+Iris, in her agitation, might have moved.  In that clear, calm air, not
+even the growing dusk would hide the flutter of a skirt or the altered
+position of a white face.  A man in charge of the wheel replied to the
+officer with a laugh.  The first speaker turned, glanced at the
+Brothers reef, behind which the <I>Andromeda's</I> boat had vanished that
+morning, and nodded dubiously.  The man at the wheel growled an order,
+and the engine started again.  Though Hozier knew not what was said,
+the significance of this pantomime was not lost on him.  The local
+pilot was afraid of these treacherous waters in the dark, but next day
+Frade de Francez (which is the islanders' name for the Grand-père Rock)
+would surely be explored if a landing could be made.  At a guess, the
+silent watcher took it that the steersman had declined to make a
+circuit of the rock until the light was good.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Away bustled the launch, but Hozier did not move until there was no
+risk of his figure being silhouetted against the sky.  Even then, he
+wormed his way backward with slow caution.  Iris was crouched where he
+had left her, wide-eyed, motionless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good job we came here," he said.  "It is evident they mean to maintain
+a patrol until there is news of De Sylva one way or the other.  It will
+be interesting now to hear what the gallant San Benavides says.  If any
+ship comes to Fernando Noronha to-night she will be seen from the
+island long before any signal is visible at this point."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you think the others saw the launch?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No&mdash;not unless some of the men strayed down the gully, which they were
+told not to do.  The breakers would drown the noise of the engines and
+screw."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a slight pause.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you tell them?" she went on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This time the pause was more eloquent than words.  Quite unconsciously,
+Iris replied to her own question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, as you said a little while ago, we owe our lives to Dom
+Corria De Sylva," she murmured, as if she were reasoning with herself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By chance, probably because Hozier stooped to help her to her feet, his
+arm rested lightly across her shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will not pretend to misunderstand you," he said.  "If the Brazilians
+do not mean to play the game, it would be a just punishment to let them
+rush on their own doom.  But De Sylva may not agree with this fop of an
+officer, and, in any event, we must go straight with him until he shows
+his teeth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You seem to dislike Captain San Benavides," she said inconsequently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I regard him as a brainless ass," he exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Somehow, that sounds like a description of a dead donkey, which one
+never sees."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle!" came a voice from the lip of the ravine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One can hear him, though," laughed Hozier, with a warning pressure
+that suspiciously resembled a hug.  These two were children, in some
+respects, quicker to jest than to grieve, better fitted for mirth than
+tragedy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They moved out from their niche, and San Benavides blustered into
+vehement French.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are going to the landing-place before it is too dark," he muttered
+angrily.  "We must not show a light; in a few minutes the path will be
+most dangerous.  Please make haste, mademoiselle.  We did not know
+where you had gone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The men knew," suggested Hozier in the girl's ear.  He dared not trust
+either his temper or his vocabulary.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We shall lose no time, now, monsieur," said Iris, hurrying on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This way then.  No, we do not pass the cave.  We go right round the
+cliff.  Permit me, mademoiselle.  I am acquainted with each step."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He took her hand.  Philip followed.  He was young enough to long for an
+opportunity to tell San Benavides that he was a puppy, a mongrel puppy.
+Just then he would have given a gun-metal case, filled with cigars&mdash;the
+only treasure he possessed&mdash;for a Portuguese dictionary.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a really difficult and hazardous descent, they found the others
+awaiting them in a rock-shrouded cove.  The barest standing-room was
+afforded by a patch of shingle and detritus.  Alongside a flat stone
+lay three broad planks tied together with cowhide.  The center plank
+was turned up at one end.  This was the catamaran, which de Sylva had
+dignified by the name of boat.  The primitive craft rested in a black
+pool in which the stars trembled, though they were hardly visible as
+yet in the brighter sky.  The water murmured in response to the
+movement of the tide, but to the unaided eye there was no vestige of a
+passage through the volcanic barrier that reared itself on every hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Were 'ave you bin?" growled Coke.  "We've lost a good ten minnits.
+You ought to 'ave known, Hozier, that it's darkest just after sunset."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We could not have started sooner, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"W'y not?  We were kep' waitin' up there, searchin' for you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That was our best slice of luck to-day.  Had any of you appeared on
+the ledge you would have been seen from the launch."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot launch?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The launch that visited us this morning.  Ten minutes ago she was
+standing by at the foot of the rock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip spoke slowly and clearly.  He meant his news to strike home.  As
+he anticipated, De Sylva broke in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You <I>saw</I> it?" he asked, and his deep voice vibrated with dismay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  I even made out, by actions rather than words, that the darkness
+alone prevented the soldiers from coming here to-night.  The skipper
+would not risk it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva said something under his breath.  He spoke rapidly to San
+Benavides, and the latter seemed to be cowed, for his reply was brief.
+Then the ex-President reverted to English.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have decided to send Marcel and Domingo ashore first," he said.
+"They will select the safest place for a landing.  Marcel will bring
+back the catamaran, and take off Mr. Hozier and the young lady.
+Captain Coke and I will follow, and the others in such order as Senhor
+Benavides thinks fit.  The catamaran will only hold three with safety,
+but Marcel believes he can find another for Domingo.  Remember, all of
+you, silence is essential.  If there is an accident, some of us may be
+called on to drown without a cry.  We must be ready to do it for the
+sake of those who are left.  Are we all agreed?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A hum of voices answered him.  De Sylva was, at least, a born leader.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap08"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE RIGOR OF THE GAME
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+In obedience to their leader's order, Marcel, the taciturn, and
+Domingo, from whose lips the Britons had scarce heard a syllable,
+squatted on the catamaran.  Marcel wielded a short paddle, and an
+almost imperceptible dip of its broad blade sent the strangely-built
+craft across the pool.  Once in the shadow, it disappeared completely.
+There was no visible outlet.  The rocks thrust their stark ridge
+against the sky in a seemingly impassable barrier.  Some of the men
+stared at the jagged crests as though they half expected to see the
+Brazilians making a portage, just as travelers in the Canadian
+northwest haul canoes up a river obstructed by rapids.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, that gives me the go-by," growled Coke, whose alert ear caught
+no sound save the rippling of the water.  "I say, mister, 'ow is it
+done?" he went on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a simple thing when you know the secret," said De Sylva.  "Have
+you passed Fernando Noronha before, Captain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Many a time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you seen the curious natural canal which you sailors call the
+Hole in the Wall?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, it's near the s'uth'ard end."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, the sea has worn away a layer of soft rock that existed there.
+In the course of centuries a channel has been cut right across the two
+hundred yards of land.  Owing to the same cause the summer rains have
+excavated a ravine through the crater up above, and a similar passage
+exists here, only it happens to run parallel to the line of the cliff.
+It extends a good deal beyond its apparent outlet, and is defended by a
+dangerous reef.  Marcel once landed on a rock during a very calm day,
+and saw the opening.  He investigated it, luckily for me&mdash;luckily, in
+fact, for all of us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts interrupted De Sylva's smooth periods by a startled ejaculation,
+and Coke turned on him fiercely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's up now?" he demanded.  "Ain't you sober yet?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Some dam thing jumped on me," explained Watts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Probably a crab," said De Sylva.  "There are jumping crabs all around
+here.  It will not hurt you.  It is quite a small creature."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, if it's on'y a crab," muttered Watts, "sorry I gev' tongue,
+skipper.  I thought it was a rat, an' I can't abide 'em."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you must learn to endure them while you are in Fernando do
+Noronha itself," went on the Brazilian.  "The island absolutely swarms
+with rats; some of the larger varieties are rather dangerous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Watts.  "It'll be the death o' me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot color are they?" asked Coke.  De Sylva's reply was given in a tone
+of surprise.  Certainly these hardy mariners had selected an unusual
+topic for discussion at a critical moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The common dark gray," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's all right, then," sneered Coke.  "Watts don't mind 'em gray.
+They're old messmates of his.  It's w'en they're pink or green that he
+fights shy of 'em."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hate rats of any sort&mdash;&mdash;" began Watts hotly, spurred to anger by an
+audible snigger among the men, but De Sylva stopped his protest
+peremptorily.  It was idiotic, this bantering when the next half hour
+might be their last.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must learn to guard your tongue," he said with harsh distinctness.
+"We cannot have our plans marred by a fool's outcry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless, the chief officer of the <I>Andromeda</I> was far from being a
+fool.  He had cut an inglorious figure during the wreck, but he was
+sober enough now, and it hurt his pride to be jeered at by his own
+skipper and treated with contumely by one whom he privately classed as
+a Dago.  He had the good sense to realize that the present was no fit
+time for a display of temper; but he nursed his wrath.  Dom Corria
+would have been well advised had he followed the counsel given so
+ungraciously, and guarded his own tongue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It might well be that the ex-President, whose fortunes were on the
+tiptoe of desperate hazard, was beginning to despair.  He may have
+scanned the meager forces at his disposal and felt that he was asking
+the gods for more than they could grant.  A few minutes earlier he had
+put forth the suave suggestion that Hozier should be given the
+speediest chance of securing the girl's safety.  That was politic;
+perhaps his stanch nerve was yielding to the strain, now that the two
+islanders were gone on their doubtful quest.  Be that as it may, his
+attitude did not encourage light conversation.  Even Coke withheld some
+jibe at the unfortunate mate's expense.  A chill silence fell on the
+little group.  The more imaginative among them were calculating the
+exact kind of lurch taken by the unstable raft that would mean
+"drowning without a cry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus the minutes sped, until a dim shape emerged from the opposite
+blackness.  It came unheard, growing from nothing into something with
+ghostly subtlety.  Iris, a prey to many emotions, managed to stifle the
+exclamation of alarm that rose unbidden.  But Hozier read her distress
+in a hardly audible sob.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is our friend, Marcel," he whispered.  "So Domingo has made good
+his landing.  Be brave!  The sea is quite calm.  This man has been to
+the island and back in less than a quarter of an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His confidence gave her new courage.  She even tried to turn danger
+itself into a jest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We seem to be living in spasms just now," she said.  "We certainly
+crowd a good deal of excitement into a very few minutes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle.  Marcel was in a
+hurry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself by
+placing your hands on his shoulders.  Yes, that is it.  Do not change
+your position until you are ashore.  Now you, Mr. Hozier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Marcel murmured something.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly.  "Domingo, too, has secured a
+catamaran.  He is bringing it at once in order to save time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom.  Without waiting for
+further instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passed
+the other in the center of the pool.  Iris felt Hozier's hands on her
+waist.  He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told her
+that she might trust him implicitly.  When the narrow cleft was
+traversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample need
+for some such assurance of guardianship.  Viewed from the cliff, the
+swell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, but
+it presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seen
+in profile.  It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man to
+propel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across a
+wide channel through which such a sea was running.  Indeed, Hozier
+himself, sailor as he was, felt more than doubtful as to the fate of
+their argosy.  But Marcel paddled ahead with unflagging energy once he
+was clear of the tortuous passage, and, before the catamaran had
+traveled many yards, even Iris was able to understand that the outlying
+ridge of rocks both protected their present track and created much of
+the apparent turmoil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last the raft, for it was little else, bore sharply out between two
+huge bowlders that might well have fallen from the mighty pile of
+Grand-père itself.  Pointed and angular they were, and set like a
+gateway to an abode of giants.  Beyond, there was a shimmer of
+swift-moving water, with a silver mist on the surface, though from a
+height of a few feet it would have been easy to distinguish the bold
+contours of Fernando Noronha itself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Marcel plied his paddle vigorously, and Iris thought they were heading
+against the current, since there was a constant swirl of white-tipped
+waves on both sides of the curved plank, and her dress soon became
+soaked.  But Hozier knew that one man could not drive a craft that had
+no artificial buoyancy in the teeth of a four-knot tidal stream.
+Marcel was edging across the channel, and making good use of the very
+force that threatened to sweep him away.  Indeed, in less than five
+minutes, a definite clearing yet darkening of the atmospheric light
+showed that land was near.  The hiss of the ripple subsided, the tide
+ceased its chant, and a dark mass sprang into uncanny distinctness
+right ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl's first sensation on nearing the island was an unpleasant one.
+She was conscious of a slight but somewhat nauseating odor, quite
+unlike anything within her ken previously.  It suffused the air, and
+grew more pronounced as the catamaran crept noiselessly into a tiny bay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier sympathized with her distress; knowing that acquaintance with an
+evil often helps to minimize its effect, he bent close to her ear and
+whispered the words:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mangrove swamp."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris had read of mangroves.  In a dim way, she classed them with
+tamarinds, and cocoa-palms, and other sub-tropical products.  At any
+rate, she was exceedingly anxious to tell Hozier that if mangroves
+tasted as they smelt she would need to be very hungry before she ate
+one!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Marcel was endowed with quick ears.  Though Hozier's whisper could
+hardly have reached him, he held up a warning hand, even while he
+brought the catamaran ashore on the shingle, so gently that not a
+pebble was disturbed.  He rose, a gaunt scarecrow, stepped off, and
+drew the shallow craft somewhat further up the sloping beach.  Then he
+helped Iris to her feet.  She became conscious at once that his
+thumb-nail was of extraordinary length, and&mdash;so strangely constituted
+is human nature&mdash;this peculiarity made a lasting impression on her mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier, thinking that he ought to remain near the catamaran, stood
+upright, but did not offer to follow the others.  Iris, filled with a
+sudden fear, hung back.  The Brazilian, aware of her resistance, sought
+its cause.  He saw Hozier, grinned, and beckoned to him.  So the three
+went in company, and at each upward stride the disagreeable stench,
+ever afterwards associated with Fernando Noronha in the girl's
+memories, became less and less perceptible, until, after a short walk
+through a clump of banana trees, it vanished altogether.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At that instant, when Iris was beginning to revel in the sweet incense
+of a multitude of unseen flowers, Marcel halted, motioned to Hozier to
+stand fast, and indicated that Iris was to come with him.  At once she
+shrank away in terror.  Though in some sense prepared for this parting,
+she felt it now as the crudest blow that fortune had dealt her during a
+day crowded with misfortunes.  In all likelihood, those two would never
+meet again.  She needed no telling as to the risk he would soon be
+called on to face, and her anguish was made the more bitter by the
+necessity that they should go from each other's presence without a
+spoken word.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless, she forced herself to extend a hand in farewell.  Her
+eyes were blinded with tears.  She knew that Hozier drew her nearer.
+With the daring of one who may well cast the world's convention to the
+winds, he gathered her to his heart and kissed her.  Then she uttered a
+little sob of happiness and sorrow, and fainted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not until she was lying helpless in his embrace, with her head
+pillowed on his breast, and an arm thrown limply across his shoulder,
+that Philip understood what had happened.  He loved her, and she, the
+promised wife of another man, had tacitly admitted that she returned
+his love.  Born for each other, heirs of all the ages, they were
+destined to be separated under conditions that could not have been
+brought about by the worst tyrant that ever oppressed his fellow
+creatures.  Small blame should be his portion if in that abysmal moment
+there came to Philip a dire temptation.  There was every reason to
+believe that he and Iris, if they found some hiding-place on the island
+that night, might escape.  He could send Marcel crashing into the
+undergrowth with a blow, carry the unconscious girl somewhere,
+anywhere, until the darkness shrouded them, and wait for the dawn with
+some degree of confidence.  In a red fury of thought he pictured her
+face when she regained possession of her senses and was told that they
+had no more to fear.  He saw, with a species of fantastic intuition,
+that the island authorities would actually acclaim them for the tidings
+they brought.  And then, he would find those grave brown eyes of hers
+fixed on his in agonized inquiry.  What of the others?  Why had he
+betrayed his trust?  Dom Corria de Sylva had sent him ashore in advance
+of any among the little band of fugitives.  Marcel and Domingo were
+outside the pale.  Their lives, at least, were surely forfeit when
+recaptured.  It was not a prayer but a curse that Hozier muttered when
+Marcel whispered words he did not understand, but whose obvious meaning
+was that now the girl must be carried to the convict's hut, since they
+were losing time, and time was all-important.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So they strode on, across ground that continued to rise in gentle
+undulations.  Even in his present frenzied mood, Hozier noticed that
+they were following the right bank of a rivulet, the catamaran being
+beached on the same side of its cove-like estuary.  Progress was rather
+difficult.  They were skirting a wood, and the trailers of a great
+scarlet-flowered bean and a climbing cucumber smothered the ground,
+canopied the trees, and swarmed over the rocks.  He could not
+distinguish these hindrances in the darkness, but he soon found that he
+must walk warily.  As for the effort entailed by his forlorn burden he
+did not give a thought to it until Marcel indicated that he must stand
+fast.  The Brazilian went on, leaving Hozier breathless.  Evidently he
+went to warn the inhabitants of a wretched hut, suddenly visible in the
+midst of a patch of maize and cassava, that there were those at hand
+who needed shelter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A dog barked&mdash;Marcel whistled softly, and the animal began to whimper.
+The Brazilian vanished.  Hozier still held Iris in his arms; his heart
+was beating tumultuously; his throat ached with the labor of his lungs.
+His straining ears caught rustlings among the grass and roots, but
+otherwise a solemn peace brooded over the scene.  Just beyond the hut,
+which was shielded from the arid hill by a grove of curiously contorted
+trees, the inner heights of the island rose abruptly.  Something that
+resembled a column of cloud showed behind the rugged sky-line of the
+land.  Even while he waited there, he saw a glint of light on its
+eastern side.  He fancied that under stress of emotion and physical
+weakness his eyes were deceiving him; but the line of golden fire grew
+brighter and more definite.  It was broken but unwavering, and black
+shadows began to take form as part of this phenomenon.  Then he
+remembered the giant peak of Fernando Noronha, that mis-shapen mass
+which thrusts its amazing beacon a thousand feet into the air.  The
+rising moon was gilding El Pico long ere its rays would illumine the
+lower land&mdash;that was all&mdash;yet he hailed the sight as a token of
+deliverance.  It was not by idle chance that that which he had taken
+for a cloud should be transmuted into a torch; there sprang into his
+heated brain a new trust.  He recalled the unceasing vigilance of One
+All-Powerful, who, ages ago, when His people were afflicted, "went
+before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by
+night in a pillar of fire, to give them light."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Marcel came, and aroused him from the stupor that had settled on
+him, and together they entered into the hovel, where a dark-skinned
+woman and a comely girl uttered words of sympathetic sound when Iris
+was laid on a low trestle, and Hozier took a farewell kiss from her
+unheeding lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Englishman stumbled away with his guide; he fancied that Marcel
+warned him several times to be more circumspect.  He did his best, but,
+for the time, he was utterly spent.  At last the Brazilian signified
+that they were near a trysting place.  He uttered a cry like a
+night-jar's, and the answer came from no great distance.  Soon they
+encountered Coke and De Sylva, who were awaiting them anxiously, and
+wondering, no doubt, why Hozier was missing, since Domingo and Marcel
+had fixed on an aged fig-tree as a rendezvous, and Hozier was not to be
+found anywhere near it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two boatmen hurried away, and De Sylva placed his lips close to
+Philip's ear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What went wrong?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Iris&mdash;Miss Yorke&mdash;fainted," was the gasping reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah.  You had to carry her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva fumbled in a pocket.  He produced a flask.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here is some brandy.  I kept it for just such an extremity.  We cannot
+have you breaking down.  Drink!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two weary hours elapsed before the little army of the Grand-père Rock
+was reunited on the shore of Cotton-Tree Bay.  Then there was a further
+delay, while their indefatigable scouts brought milk and water, some
+coarse bread, and a good supply of fruit from the hut.  It was part of
+their scheme that they should give their friend's habitation a wide
+berth.  If their plans miscarried he was instructed to say that he had
+found the English lady wandering on the shore soon after daybreak.  In
+any event, there would be no evidence that he had entertained the
+invaders in his hovel; otherwise, he would lose the first-class badge
+that permitted him, a convict, to dwell apart with his wife and
+daughter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was with the utmost difficulty that the men could be restrained from
+expressing their delight when they were given water and milk to drink.
+The water was poor, brackish stuff; the milk was sour and had lost
+every particle of cream; yet they deemed each a nectar of rank, and
+even the miserable Watts, who had long ago ascertained that the
+rustlings in the herbage were caused by countless numbers of rats and
+mice, was ready to acclaim beverages which he was too apt to despise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About midnight there was a bright moon sailing overhead, and De Sylva
+gave a low order that they were to form in Indian file.  Marcel led,
+the ex-President himself followed, with San Benavides, Coke, and Hozier
+in close proximity.  Domingo brought up the rear, in order to prevent
+straggling, and assist men who might stray from the path.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Avoiding the cultivated land surrounding the creek, the party struck up
+the hillside.  A few plodding minutes sufficed to clear the trees and
+dense undergrowth.  A rough, narrow path led to the saddle of the
+central ridge.  They advanced warily but without any real difficulty.
+Hozier took a listless interest in watching the furtive glances cast
+over his shoulder by San Benavides so long as the south coast of the
+island was visible.  At each turn in the mountain track the Brazilian
+officer searched the moonlit sea for the agreed signal.  At last, when
+the northern side also came in sight, and the whole island lay spread
+before them, San Benavides resigned himself to the inevitable.  For a
+little while, at least, he was perforce content to survey events
+through the eyes of his companions, and throw in his lot irrevocably
+with theirs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roughly speaking, Fernando Noronha itself, irrespective of the group of
+islands at its northeasterly extremity, stretches five miles from east
+to west, and averages a mile and a half in width.  From Cotton-Tree
+Bay, to which the catamarans had brought the small force, it was barely
+a mile to the village, convict settlement, and citadel.  Some few
+lights twinkling near the shore showed the exact whereabouts of the
+inhabited section.  Another mile away to the right lay Fort San
+Antonio, which housed the main body of troops.  Watch-fires burning on
+South Point, whence came the shells that disabled the <I>Andromeda</I>,
+revealed the presence of soldiers in that neighborhood.  De Sylva
+explained that a paved road ran straight from the town and
+landing-place to the hamlet of Sueste and an important plantation of
+cocoanuts and other fruit-bearing trees that adjoined South Point.  It
+was inadvisable to strike into that road immediately.  A little more to
+the right there was a track leading to the Curral, or stockyard.  If
+they headed for the latter place the men could obtain some stout
+cudgels.  The convict peons in charge of the cattle should be
+overpowered and bound, thus preventing them from giving an alarm, and
+it was also possible to avoid the inhabited hillside overlooking the
+main anchorage until they were close to the citadel.  Then, crossing
+the fort road, they would advance boldly to the enemy's stronghold,
+first making sure that the launch was moored in her accustomed station
+in the roadstead beneath the walls.  San Benavides would answer the
+sentry's questions, there would be a combined rush for the guard-room
+on the right of the gate, and, if they were able to master the guard,
+as many of the assailants as possible would don the soldiers' coats,
+shakos, and accouterments.  Granted success thus far, there should not
+be much difficulty in persuading the men in charge of the launch that a
+cruise round the island was to be undertaken forthwith.  Marcel would
+remain with them until the citadel was carried.  He would then hurry
+back to bring Iris across the island to an unfrequented beach known as
+the Porto do Conceiçao, where he would embark her on a catamaran and
+row out to the steamer, which, by that time, would be lying off the
+harbor out of range of the troops who would surely be summoned from the
+distant fort.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The project bristled with audacity, and that has ever been the soul of
+achievement.  Even the two wounded men from the <I>Andromeda</I> took heart
+when they listened to De Sylva's low-toned explanation, given under the
+shadow of a great rock ere the final advance was made.  If all went
+well at the beginning, the small garrison of the citadel would be
+astounded when they found themselves struggling against unknown
+adversaries.  Haste, silence, determination&mdash;these things were
+essential; each and all might be expected from men who literally
+carried their lives in their hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A keen breeze was blowing up there on the ridge.  A bank of cloud was
+rising in the southwest horizon, and, at that season, when the months
+of rain were normally at an end, the mere presence of clouds heralded
+another spell of broken weather, though the preceding gale had probably
+marked the worst of it.  Indeed, valuable auxiliary as the moon had
+proved during the march across rough country, it would be no ill hap if
+her bright face were veiled later.  The mere prospect of such an
+occurrence was a cheering augury, and it was in the highest spirits
+that the little band set out resolutely for the Curral.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here they encountered no difficulty whatever.  Perhaps the prevalent
+excitement had drawn its custodians to the town, since they found no
+one in charge save a couple of barking dogs, while, if there were
+people in the cattle-keepers' huts, they gave no sign of their
+presence.  A few stakes were pulled up; they even came upon a couple of
+axes and a heavy hammer.  Equipped with these weapons, eked out by
+three revolvers owned by the Brazilians and the dapper captain's sword,
+they hurried on, quitting the road instantly, and following a cow-path
+that wound about the base of a steep hill.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They met their first surprise when they tried to cross the road to the
+fort.  Quite unexpectedly, they blundered into a small picket stationed
+there.  Its object was to challenge all passers-by during the dark
+hours, and it formed part of the scheme already elaborated by the
+authorities for a complete search of every foot of ground.  But
+Brazilian soldiers are apt to be lax in such matters.  These men were
+all lying down, and smoking.  For a marvel, they happened to be silent
+when Marcel led his cohort into the open road.  They were listening, in
+fact, to the crackling of the undergrowth, though utterly unsuspicious
+of its cause, and the first intimation of danger was given by the
+startling challenge:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who goes there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was familiar enough to island ears, and the convict answered readily:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A friend!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Several friends, it would seem," laughed a voice.  "Let us see who
+these friends are."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Luckily, in response to De Sylva's sibilant order, most of the
+<I>Andromeda's</I> crew were hidden by the scrub from which they were about
+to emerge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldiers rose, and strolled nearer leisurely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now!" shouted De Sylva, leaping forward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a wild scurry, two or three shots were fired, and Hozier
+found himself on the ground gripping the throat of a bronzed man whom
+he had shoved backward with a thrust, for he had no time to swing his
+stake for a blow.  He was aware of a pair of black eyes that glared up
+at him horribly in the moonlight, of white teeth that shone under long
+moustachios of peculiarly warlike aspect, but he felt the man was as
+putty in his hands, and his fingers relaxed their pressure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He looked around.  The fight was ended almost as soon as it began.  The
+soldiers, six in all, were on their backs in the roadway.  Two of them
+were dead.  The Italian sailor had been shot through the body, and was
+twisting in his last agony.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bloodshed was bad enough, but those shots were worse.  They would
+set the island in an uproar.  The reports would be heard in town,
+citadel, and fort, and the troops would now be on the <I>qui vive</I>.  But
+De Sylva was a man of resource.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Strip the prisoners!" he cried.  "Take their arms and ammunition, but
+bind them back to back with their belts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Butt in there, me lads," vociferated Coke, who had accounted for one
+of the Brazilians with an ax.  "Step lively!  Now we've got some
+uniforms an' guns, we can rush that dam cittydel easy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier was busy relieving his man of his coat.  When the prone warrior
+realized that he was not to be killed, he helped the operation, but
+Philip was thinking more of Iris than of deeds of derring-do.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why attempt to capture the citadel at all?" he asked.  "Now that we
+can make sufficient display, is there any reason that we should not go
+straight for the launch?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?" said Coke to De Sylva.  "There's horse
+sense in it.  The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest of
+wasps till they find out wot the shots meant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think it is a good suggestion," came the calm answer, "provided,
+that is, the launch is in the harbor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's just as likely to be there now as later.  If she isn't, we must
+hark back to the first plan.  Now, you swabs, all aboard!  See to them
+buckles afore you quit."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A bell began to toll in the convict settlement.  Lights appeared in
+many houses scattered over the seaward slope.  In truth, Fernando
+Noronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied three
+years earlier because arrears of pay were not forthcoming.  It was
+impossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was at
+her berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck.
+Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel still
+remained with his leader.  Under these new circumstances, it certainly
+would be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of the
+launch.  So he hurried after them, struggling the while into a coat far
+too small, though fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was big
+in proportion to the rest of his body.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some few men were met, running from the town to the main road where
+they had located the shooting.  Each breathlessly demanded news, and
+was forthwith given most disconcerting information by a savage blow.
+The <I>Andromeda</I> had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now.
+They did not deliberately murder anyone, but they took good care that
+none of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to work
+mischief until the night was ended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they were
+descending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees and
+houses rendered it impossible to see the actual landing-place.  Hence,
+there was no course open but to race on at the utmost speed, though De
+Sylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace was
+necessarily that of its slowest members.  Among these was Coke, who had
+never walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate.  He
+swore copiously as he lumbered along, and, what between shortness of
+breath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability being
+added to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barely
+able to reach the water's edge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Happily, the launch was there, moored alongside a small quay.  From the
+nearest building it was necessary to cross a low wharf some fifty yards
+in width, and De Sylva's whispered commands could not restrain the
+eager men when escape appeared no longer problematical but assured.
+They broke, and ran, an almost fatal thing, as it happened, since the
+soldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board.  One
+of them noticed the inexplicable disorder among a body of men some of
+whom resembled his own comrades.  He had heard the firing, and was
+discussing it with others when this strange thing happened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He challenged.  San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill and
+unofficer-like.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The engines were started.  A man leaped to the wharf.  He was in the
+act of casting a mooring rope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shot
+him between the shoulder-blades.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On board, all of you!" shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At 'em, boys!" gasped Coke, though scarce able to stagger another foot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men needed no bidding.  Sheets of flame leaped from the vessel's
+deck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at these
+mysterious assailants who spoke in a foreign language.  But flame alone
+could not stop that desperate attack.  Some fell, but the survivors
+sprang at the Brazilians like famished wolves on their prey.  There was
+no more shooting.  Men grappled and fell, some into the water, others
+on deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in frantic
+struggle in the narrow cabin.  The fight did not last many seconds.  An
+engineer, finding a lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor to
+take the wheel, and already the launch was curving seaward when Hozier
+shouted:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is Marcel?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lyin' dead on the wharf," said Watts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you certain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shot
+rabbit."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No one.  D'ye think that this d&mdash;d President cares for anybody but
+hisself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw.  The
+lights on shore were gliding by.  The launch was leaving Fernando
+Noronha, and Iris was waiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill,
+waiting for the summons that would not reach her, for Marcel was dead,
+and Domingo, the one other man who could have gone to her, was lying in
+the cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap09"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Iris came back from the void to find herself lying on a truckle bed in
+a dimly-lighted hovel.  A cotton wick flickered in a small lamp of the
+old Roman type.  It was consuming a crude variety of castor oil, and
+its gamboge-colored flame clothed the smoke-darkened rafters and mud
+walls in somber yet vivid tints that would have gladdened the heart of
+a Rubens.  This scenic effect, admirable to an artist, was lost on a
+girl waking in affright and startled by unfamiliar surroundings.  She
+gazed up with uncomprehending eyes at two brown-skinned women bending
+over her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One, the elder, was chafing her hands; the other, a tall, graceful
+girl, was stirring something in an earthenware vessel.  She heard the
+girl murmur joyfully:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Graças a Deus, elh' abria lhes olhas!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris was still wandering in that strange borderland guarded by unknown
+forces that lies between conscious life and the sleep that is so close
+of kin to death.  If in full possession of her senses, she might not
+have caught the drift of the sentence, since it was spoken in a
+guttural patois.  But now she understood beyond cavil that because she
+had opened her eyes, the girl was giving thanks to the Deity.  The
+first definite though bewildering notion that perplexed her faculties,
+at once clouded and unnaturally clear, was an astonished acceptance of
+the fact that she knew what the strange girl had said, though the
+phrase only remotely resembled its Spanish equivalent.  She gathered
+its exact meaning, word for word, and it was all the more surprising
+that both women should smile and say something quite incomprehensible
+as soon as Iris lifted herself on an elbow and asked in English:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where am I?  How did I come here?"
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-172"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-172.jpg" ALT="&quot;How did I come here?&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="402" HEIGHT="583">
+<H3>
+[Illustration: "How did I come here?"]
+</H3>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Then she remembered, and memory brought a feeling of helplessness not
+wholly devoid of self-reproach.  It was bad enough that her presence
+should add so greatly to the dangers besetting her friends; it was far
+worse that she should have fainted at the very moment when such
+weakness might well prove fatal to them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Why did she faint?  Ah!  A lively blush chased the pallor from her
+cheeks, and a few strenuous heartbeats restored animation to her limbs.
+Of course, in thinking that she had yielded solely to the stress of
+surcharged emotions, Iris was mistaken.  What she really needed was
+food.  A young woman of perfect physique, and dowered with the best of
+health, does not collapse into unconsciousness because a young man
+embraces her, and each at the same moment makes the blissful discovery
+that the wide world contains no other individual of supreme importance.
+Iris's great-grandmother might have "swooned" under such
+circumstances&mdash;not so Iris, who fainted simply because of the strain
+imposed by failure to eat the queer fare provided by De Sylva and his
+associates.  She hardly realized how hungry she was until the girl
+handed her the bowl, which contained a couple of eggs beaten up in
+milk, while small quantities of rum and sugar-cane juice made the
+compound palatable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bom!" said the girl, "bebida, senhora!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It certainly was good, and the senhora drank it with avidity, the
+mixture being excellent diet for one who had eaten nothing except an
+over-ripe banana during thirty hours.  Indeed, it would be no
+exaggeration to extend that period considerably.  Iris had left
+practically untouched the meals brought her by the steward during the
+gale, and the early morning cup of coffee, which would have proved most
+grateful after a storm-tossed night, was an impossible achievement
+owing to the lack of water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Iris tackled the contents of the bowl with a vigorous appetite oddly
+at variance with the seeming weakness that ended in a prolonged
+fainting fit, and the hospitable Brazilians, to whom this fair English
+girl was a revelation in feature and clothing, bestirred themselves to
+provide further dainties.  But, excepting some fruit, Iris had the
+wisdom to refuse other food just then.  Her thoughts were rapidly
+becoming coherent, and she realized that a heavy meal might be
+absolutely disastrous.  If the men made good their project she would be
+called on within an hour to cross the island.  It seemed reasonable
+that, hungry though she was, she would be better fitted to climb the
+island hills at a fast pace if she ate sparingly.  Still, she longed
+for a drink of water, and taxed her small stock of Spanish to make
+known her desire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Agua, senhora," she said with a smile, and the delight of mother and
+daughter was great, since they thought she could speak their language.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Therein, of course, they were disappointed, but not more so than Iris
+when she tasted the brackish fluid alone procurable on the south coast
+of Fernando Noronha.  That was a fortunate thing in itself.  Only those
+who have endured real thirst can tell how hard it is to refrain from
+drinking deeply when water is ultimately obtained; but the mixture of
+milk and eggs had already soothed her parched mouth and palate, and she
+quickly detected an unpleasantly salt flavor in the beverage they gave
+her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then she set herself to discover her whereabouts.  The women were eager
+to impart information, but, alas, Iris's brain had regained its
+every-day limitations, and she could make no sense of their words.  At
+last, seeing that the door was barred and the hut was innocent of any
+other opening, she stood upright, and signified by a gesture that she
+wished to go out.  There could be no mistaking the distress, even the
+positive alarm, created by this demand.  The girl clasped her hands in
+entreaty, and the older woman evidently tried most earnestly to
+dissuade her visitor from a proceeding fraught with utmost danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Being quite certain that they meant to be friendly, Iris sat down
+again.  She knew, of course, that Marcel would come for her, if
+possible, and the relief displayed by her unknown entertainers was so
+marked that she resolved to await his appearance quietly.  She would
+not abandon hope till daylight crept through the chinks of the hut.
+How soon that might be she could not tell.  It seemed but a few seconds
+since she felt Hozier's arms around her, since her lips met his in a
+passionate kiss.  But, meanwhile, someone had brought her here.  Her
+dress, though damp, was not sopping wet.  Even the slight token of the
+beaten eggs showed how time must have sped while she was lying there
+oblivious of everything.  She tried again to question the women, and
+fancied that they understood her partly, as she caught the words "meia
+noite," but it was beyond her powers to ascertain whether they meant
+that she had come there at midnight, or were actually telling her the
+hour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At any rate, they were most anxious for her well-being.  The island
+housewife produced another dish, smiled reassuringly, and said,
+"Manioc&mdash;bom," repeating the phrase several times.  The compound looked
+appetizing, and Iris ate a little.  She discovered at once that it was
+tapioca, but her new acquaintance suggested "cassava" as an
+alternative.  The girl, however, nodded cheerfully.  She had heard the
+gentry at Fort San Antonio call it tapioca, and her convict father
+cultivated some of the finer variety of manioc for the officers' mess.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah," sighed Iris, smiling wistfully, "I am making progress in your
+language, slow but sure.  But please don't give me any mangroves."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl apparently was quite fascinated by the sound of English.  She
+began to chatter to her mother at an amazing rate, trying repeatedly to
+imitate the hissing sound which the Latin races always perceive in
+Anglo-Saxon speech.  Her mother reproved her instantly.  To make
+amends, the girl offered Iris a fine pomegranate.  Iris, of course,
+lost nothing of this bit of by-play.  It was almost the first touch of
+nature that she had discovered among the amazing inhabitants of
+Fernando Noronha.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+These small amenities helped to pass the time, but Iris soon noted an
+air of suspense in the older woman's attitude.  Though mindful of her
+guest's comfort, Luisa Gomez had ever a keen ear for external sounds.
+In all probability, she was disturbed by the distant reports of
+fire-arms, and it was a rare instance of innate good-breeding that she
+did not alarm her guest by calling attention to them.  Iris, amid such
+novel surroundings, could not distinguish one noise from another.
+Night-birds screamed hideously in the trees without; a host of crickets
+kept up an incessant chorus in the undergrowth; the intermittent
+roaring of breakers on the rocks invaded the narrow creek.  The medley
+puzzled Iris, but the island woman well knew that stirring events were
+being enacted on the other side of the hill.  Her husband was there&mdash;he
+had, indeed, prepared a careful alibi since Marcel visited him&mdash;and
+wives are apt to feel worried if husbands are abroad when bullets are
+flying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So, while the girl, Manoela, was furtively appraising the clothing worn
+by Iris, and wondering how it came to pass that in some parts of the
+world there existed grand ladies who wore real cloth dresses, and lace
+embroidered under-skirts, and silk stockings, and shining leather
+boots&mdash;wore them, too, with as much careless ease as one draped one's
+self in coarse hempen skirt and shawl in Fernando Noronha&mdash;her mother
+was listening ever for hasty footsteps among the trailing vines.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, with a muttered prayer, she went to the door, and unfastened
+the stout wooden staple that prevented intruders from entering unbidden.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was dark without.  Dense black clouds veiled the moon, and a gust of
+wind moaned up the creek in presage of a tropical storm.  Someone
+approached.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is that you, Manoel?" asked Luisa Gomez in a hushed voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no answer.  The woman drew back.  She would have closed the
+door, but a slim, active figure sprang across the threshold.  She
+shrieked in terror.  The new-comer was a Brazilian officer, one of
+those glittering beings whom she had seen lounging outside the
+Prindio[1] during her rare visits to the town.  She was hoping to greet
+her Manoel, she half expected to find Marcel, but to be faced by an
+officer was the last thing she had thought of.  In abject fear, she
+broke into a wild appeal to the Virgin; the officer merely laughed,
+though not loudly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be not afraid, senhora&mdash;I am a friend," he said with quiet confidence,
+and the fact that he addressed her so courteously was a wondrously
+soothing thing in itself.  But he raised a fresh wave of dread in her
+soul when he peered into the cabin and spoke words she did not
+understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think you are here, mademoiselle," he said in French.  "I am come to
+share your retreat for a little while.  Perchance by daybreak I may
+arrive at some plan.  At present, you and I are in difficulties, is it
+not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris recognized the voluble, jerky speech.  A wild foreboding gripped
+her heart until she was like to shudder under its fierce anguish.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You, Captain San Benavides?" she asked, and her utterance was
+unnaturally calm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I, mademoiselle," he said, "and, alas!  I am alone.  May I come in?
+It is not well to show a light at this hour, seeing that the island is
+overrun with infuriated soldiers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The concluding sentence was addressed to Luisa Gomez in Portuguese.
+Realizing instinctively that the man came as a friend, she stood aside,
+trembling, on the verge of tears.  He entered, and the door was closed
+behind him.  The yellow gleam of the lamp fell on his smart uniform,
+and gilded the steel scabbard of his sword.  In that dim interior the
+signs of his three days' sojourn on Grand-père were not in evidence,
+and he had not been harmed during the struggle on the main road or in
+the rush for the launch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He doffed his rakish-looking kepi and bowed low before Iris.  Perhaps
+the white misery in her face touched him more deeply than he had
+counted on.  Be that as it may, a note of genuine sympathy vibrated in
+his voice as he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am the only man who escaped, mademoiselle.  The others?  Well, it is
+war, and war is a lottery."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean that they have been killed, all killed?" she murmured with
+a pitiful sob.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I&mdash;I think so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You&nbsp;&#8230; think?  Do you not know?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He sighed.  His hand sought an empty cigarette case.  Such was the
+correct military air, he fancied&mdash;to treat misfortunes rather as jests.
+He frowned because the case was empty, but smiled at Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is so hard, mademoiselle, when one speaks these things in a strange
+tongue.  Permit me to explain that which has arrived.  We encountered a
+picket, and surprised it.  Having secured some weapons and
+accouterments, we hastened to the quay, where was moored the little
+steamship.  Unhappily, she was crowded with soldiers.  They fired, and
+there was a short fight.  I was knocked down, and, what do you call
+it?&mdash;<I>étourdi</I>&mdash;while one might count ten.  I rose, half blinded, and
+what do I see?  The vessel leaving the quay&mdash;full of men engaged in
+combat, while, just beyond the point, a warship is signaling her
+arrival.  It was a Brazilian warship, mademoiselle.  She showed two red
+rockets followed by a white one.  It was only a matter of minutes
+before she met the little steamship.  I tell you that it was bad luck,
+that&mdash;a vile blow.  I was angry, yes.  I stamp my foot and say foolish
+things.  Then I run!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris made no reply.  She hid her face in her hands.  She could frame no
+more questions.  San Benavides was trying to tell her that Hozier and
+the rest had been overwhelmed by fate at the very instant escape seemed
+to be within reach.  The Brazilian, probably because of difficulties
+that beset him in using a foreign language, did not make it clear that
+he had flung himself flat in the dust when he heard the order to fire
+given by someone on board the launch.  He said nothing of a tragic
+incident wherein Marcel, shot through the lungs, fell over him, and he,
+San Benavides, mistaking the convict for an assailant, wrestled
+furiously with a dying man.  He even forgot to state that had he
+charged home with the others, he would either have met a bullet or
+gained the deck of the launch, and that his failure to reach the vessel
+was due to his own careful self-respect.  For San Benavides was not a
+coward.  He could be brave spectacularly, but he had no stomach for a
+fight in the dark, when stark hazard chooses some to triumph and some
+to die.  That sort of devilish courage might be well enough for those
+crude sailors; a Portuguese gentleman of high lineage and proved mettle
+demanded a worthier field for his deeds of derring-do.  Saperlotte!  If
+one had a cigarette one could talk more fluently!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Believe me, mademoiselle," he went on, speaking with a proud humility
+that was creditable to his powers as an actor, "the tears came to my
+eyes when I understood what had happened.  For myself, what do I care?
+I would gladly have given my life to save my brave companions.  But I
+thought of you, solitary, waiting here in distress, so I hurried into
+the village, and my uniform secured me from interruption until I was
+able to leave the road and cross the hills."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the lightning of a woman's intuition pierced the abyss of despair.
+Surely there were curious blanks in this thrilling narrative.  As was
+her way when thoroughly aroused, Iris stood up and seized San Benavides
+almost roughly by the arm.  Her distraught eyes searched his face with
+a pathetic earnestness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why do you think that the launch did not get away?" she cried.  "It
+was dark.  The moon might have been in shadow.  If the launch met the
+warship and was seen, there must have been firing&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Chère mademoiselle, there was much firing," he protested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At sea?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The words came dully.  She was stricken again, even more shrewdly.  The
+gloom was closing in on her, yet she forced herself to drag the truth
+from his unwilling lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  Of course, I could not wait there in that open place.  I was
+compelled to seek shelter.  Troops were running from town and citadel.
+I avoided them by a miracle.  And my sole concern then was your safety."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, my safety!" she wailed brokenly.  "How does it avail me that my
+friends should be slain?  Why was I not with them?  I would rather have
+died as they died than live in the knowledge that I was the cause of
+their death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+San Benavides essayed a confidential hand on her shoulder.  She shrank
+from him; he was not pleased but he purred amiably:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle is profoundly unhappy.  Under such circumstances one says
+things that are unmerited, is it not?  If anyone is to blame, it is my
+wretched country, which cannot settle its political affairs without
+bloodshed.  Ah, mademoiselle, I weep with you, and tender you my most
+respectful homage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A deluge of tropical rain beat on the hut with a sudden fury.
+Conversation at once became difficult, nearly impossible.  Iris threw
+herself back on the trestle in a passion of grief that rivaled the
+outer tempest.  San Benavides, by sheer force of habit, dusted his
+clothes before sitting on the chair brought by Luisa Gomez.  The
+woman's frightened gaze had dwelt on Iris and him alternately while
+they spoke.  She understood no word that was said, but she gathered
+that the news brought by this handsome officer was tragic, woeful,
+something that would wring the heartstrings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Was there fighting, senhor?" she asked, close to his ear, her voice
+pitched in a key that conquered the storm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He nodded.  He was very tired, this dandy; now that Iris gave no
+further heed to him, he was troubled by the prospects of the coming day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Were they soldiers who fought?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He nodded again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No islanders?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then he raised a hand in protest, though he laughed softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your good man is safe, senhora," he said.  "Marcel told him to go to
+Sueste and tend his cattle.  When he comes home it will be his duty to
+inform the Governor that we are here.  He will be rewarded, not
+punished.  <I>Sangue de Deus</I>!  I may be shot at dawn.  I pray you, let
+me rest a while."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl, Manoela, weeping out of sympathy, crept to Iris's side and
+gently stroked her hair.  Like her mother, she could only guess that
+the English lady's friends were captured, perhaps dead.  Even her
+limited experience of life's vicissitudes had taught her what short
+shrift was given to those who defied authority.  The Republic of Brazil
+does not permit its criminals to be executed, but it shows no mercy to
+rebels.  Manoela, of course, believed that the Englishmen were helping
+the imprisoned Dom Corria to regain power.  She remembered how a mutiny
+was once crushed on the island, and her eyes streamed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile, Luisa Gomez was touched by the good-looking soldier's
+plight.  Never, since she came to Fernando Noronha to rejoin her
+convict husband, had she been addressed so politely by any member of
+the military caste.  The manners of the officers of the detachment at
+Fort San Antonio were not to be compared with those of Captain San
+Benavides.  Her heart went out to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must try to help you, Senhor Capitano," she said.  "If the others
+are dead or taken, you may not be missed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He threw out his hands in an eloquent gesture.  Life or death was a
+matter of complete indifference to him, it implied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We shall know in the morning," he said.  "Have you any cigarettes?  A
+milrei[2] for a cigarette!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But listen, senhor.  Why not take off your uniform and dress in my
+clothes?  You can cut off your mustaches, and wear a mantilha over your
+face, and we will keep you here until there is a chance of reaching a
+ship.  Certainly that is better than being shot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He glanced at Iris.  Vanity being his first consideration, it is
+probable that he would have refused to be made ridiculous in her eyes,
+had not a knock on the door galvanized him into a fever of fright.  He
+sprang up and glared wildly around for some means of eluding the
+threatened scrutiny of a search party.  Luisa Gomez flung him a rough
+skirt and a shawl.  He huddled into a corner near the bed,&mdash;in such
+wise that the figures of Iris and Manoela would cloak the rays of the
+lamp,&mdash;placed his drawn sword across his knees, and draped the two
+garments over his head and limbs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, greatly agitated, but not daring to refuse admittance to the
+dreaded soldiery, the woman unbarred the door.  A man staggered in.  He
+was alone, and a swirl of wind and rain caused the lamp to flicker so
+madly that no one could distinguish his features until the door was
+closed again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Iris knew him.  Though her eyes were dim with tears, though the
+new-comer carried a broken gun in his hands, and his face was
+blood-stained, she knew.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a shriek that dismayed the other women&mdash;who could not guess that
+joy is more boisterous than sorrow, she leaped up and threw her arms
+around him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Philip, Philip!" she sobbed.  "He told me you were dead&nbsp;&#8230; and
+I believed him!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The manner of her greeting was delightful to one who had faced death
+for her sake many times during the past hour, yet Hozier was so
+surprised by its warmth that he could find never a word at the moment.
+But he had the good sense to throw aside the shattered rifle and return
+her embrace with interest.  Long ago exhausted in body, his mind reeled
+now under the bewildering knowledge that this most gracious woman did
+truly love him.  When they parted in that same squalid hut at midnight,
+he took with him the intoxication of her kiss.  Yet he scarce brought
+himself to believe that the night's happenings were real, or that they
+two would ever meet again on earth.  And now, here was Iris quivering
+against his breast.  He could feel the beating of her heart.  The
+perfume of her hair was as incense in his nostrils.  She was clinging
+to him as if they had loved through all eternity.  No wonder he could
+not speak.  Had he uttered a syllable, he must have broken down like
+the girl herself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+San Benavides supplied a timely tonic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Throwing aside the rags which covered him, he tried to rise.  Philip
+caught a glimpse of the uniform, the sheen of the naked sword.  He was
+about to tear himself from Iris's clasp and spring at this new enemy
+when the Brazilian spoke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mil diabos!" he cried in a rage, "this cursed Inglez still lives, and
+here am I posing before him like an old hag."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His voice alone saved him from being pinned to the floor by a man who
+had adopted no light measures with others of his countrymen during the
+past half-hour, as the dented gun-barrel, minus its stock, well showed.
+But the captain's mortified fury helped to restore Philip's sanity.
+Lifting Iris's glowing face to his own, he whispered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me, sweetheart, how comes it that our Brazilian friend is here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He ran away when some shots were fired," which was rather unfair of
+Iris.  "He said the launch had been sunk by a man-of-war&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But he is wrong.  I saw no man-of-war.  We captured the launch.  By
+this time she is well out to sea.  Unfortunately, Marcel was killed,
+and Domingo badly wounded.  There was no one to come for you, so I
+jumped overboard and swam ashore.  I had to fight my way here, and it
+will soon be known that there are some of us left on the island.  I
+thought that perhaps I might take you back to the Grand-père cavern.
+These people may give us food.  I have some few sovereigns in my
+pocket.&#8230;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, yes!"  She was excited now and radiantly happy.  "Of course,
+Captain San Benavides must accompany us.  He says the soldiers will
+shoot him if they capture him.  I, too, have money.  Let me ask him to
+explain matters to this dear woman and her daughter.  They have been
+more than kind to me already."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned to the sulky San Benavides and told him what Hozier had
+suggested.  He brightened at that, and began a voluble speech to Luisa
+Gomez.  Interrupting himself, he inquired, in French, how Hozier
+proposed to reach the rock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On a catamaran.  There are two on the beach, and I can handle one of
+them all right," said Philip.  "But what is this yarn of a warship?
+When last I sighted the launch she was standing out of the harbor, and
+the first clouds of the storm helped to screen her from the citadel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris interpreted.  San Benavides repeated his story of the rockets.  In
+her present tumult, the girl forgot the touch of realism with regard to
+the firing that he had heard.  Certainly there was a good deal of
+promiscuous rifle-shooting after the departure of the launch, but
+warships use cannon to enforce their demands, and the boom of a big gun
+had not woke the echoes of Fernando Noronha that night.  Philip deemed
+the present no time for argument; he despised San Benavides, and gave
+no credence to him.  Just now the Brazilian was an evil that must be
+endured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Luisa Gomez promised to help in every possible way.  Her eyes sparkled
+at the sight of gold, but the poor woman would have assisted them out
+of sheer pity.  Nevertheless, the gift of a couple of sovereigns,
+backed by the promise of many more if her husband devoted himself to
+their service, spurred her to a frenzy of activity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was not a moment to be lost.  The squall had spent itself, and a
+peep through the chinks of the door showed that the moon would quickly
+be in evidence again.  It was essential that they should cross the
+channel while the scattering clouds still dimmed her brightness; so
+Manoela and her mother collected such store of food, and milk, and
+water, as they could lay hands on.  Well laden, all five hastened to
+the creek, and Hozier, Iris, and San Benavides, boarded the larger of
+the two catamarans.  The strong wind had partly dissipated the noisome
+odor, but it was still perceptible.  Iris was sure she would never like
+mangroves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having a degree of confidence in the queer craft that was lacking
+during their earlier voyage, they did not hesitate to stack jars and
+baskets against the curved prow in such a manner that the eatables
+would not become soaked with salt water.  Then, after a hasty farewell,
+during which Iris showed her gratitude to those kindly peasants by a
+hug and a kiss, Hozier pushed off and tried to guide the catamaran as
+Marcel had done.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oddly enough, he and Iris now saw the majestic outlines of the
+Grand-père for the first time.  The great rock rose above the water
+like some immense Gothic cathedral.  The illusion was heightened by a
+giant spire that towered grandly from the center of the islet.  It
+looked a shrine built by nature in honor of its Creator, a true temple
+of the infinite, and the semblance was no illusion to these three
+castaways, since they regarded it as a sanctuary to which alone, under
+Heaven, they might owe their lives.  Hozier, of course, realized that
+there was a certain element of risk in returning there.  The island
+authorities would surely endeavor to find out where the party of
+desperadoes had lain <I>perdu</I> between the sinking of the ship and the
+attack on the picket.  But the ill-starred Marcel had been confident
+that none could land on the rock who was not acquainted with the
+intricacies of the approach, and Philip was content to trust to the
+reef-guarded passage rather than seek shelter on the mainland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once embarked in the fairway, the management of the catamaran occupied
+his mind to the complete exclusion of all other problems.  He was
+puzzled by the discovery that the awkward craft was traveling too far
+to the westward, until he remembered that the tide had turned, and that
+the current was either slack or running in the opposite direction.
+Changing the paddle to the starboard side, he soon corrected this
+deviation in the route.  But he had been carried already a hundred
+yards or more out of the straight line.  To reach the two pointed rocks
+that marked the entrance to the secret channel, he was obliged to creep
+back along the whole shoreward face of the Grand-père; and to this
+accident was due a surprise that ranked high in a day replete with
+marvels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the catamaran rounded the last outlying crag, and they were all
+straining their eyes to find the sentinel pillars, they became aware
+that a small boat was being pulled cautiously toward them from the
+opposite side of the rock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris gasped.  She heard Hozier mutter under his breath, while San
+Benavides revealed his dismay by an oath and a convulsive tightening of
+the hands that rested on the girl's shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier strove with a few desperate strokes of the paddle to reach the
+shadows of the passage before the catamaran was seen by the boat's
+occupants.  He might have succeeded.  Many things can happen at night
+and on the sea&mdash;strange escapades and hair's-breadth 'scapes&mdash;thrills
+denied to stay-at-homes dwelling in cities, who seldom venture beyond a
+lighted area.  But there was even a greater probability that the
+unwieldy catamaran might be caught by the swell and dashed side-long
+against one of the half-submerged rocks that thrust their black fangs
+above the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Happily, they were spared either alternative.  At the very instant that
+their lot must be put to the test of chance, Coke's hoarse accents came
+to their incredulous ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let her go, Olsen," he was growling.  "We've a clear course now, an'
+that dam moon will spile everything if we're spotted."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In this instance hearing was believing, and Philip was the first to
+guess what had actually occurred.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Boat ahoy, skipper!" he sang out in a joyous hail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke stood up.  He glared hard at the reef.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did ye 'ear it?" he cried to De Sylva, who was steering.  "Sink me, I
+'ope I ain't a copyin' pore ole Watts, but if that wasn't Hozier's
+voice I'm goin' dotty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right, skipper," said Philip, sending the catamaran ahead
+with a mighty sweep.  "Miss Yorke is here&mdash;Captain San Benavides, too.
+I was sure you would look for us if you cleared the harbor safely."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Coke proclaimed his sentiments in the approved ritual of the high
+seas, while the big Norseman at the oars swung the boat's head round
+until both craft were traveling in company to the waiting launch.  But
+before anything in the nature of an explanation was forthcoming from
+the occupants of either the boat or the catamaran, a broad beam of
+white light swept over the crest of the island from north to south.  It
+disappeared, to return more slowly, until it rested on Rat Island, at
+the extreme northwest of the group.  It remained steady there, showing
+a wild panorama of rocky heights and tumbling sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A search-light, by G&mdash;d!" growled Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then there really <I>was</I> a warship," murmured Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ha!" said San Benavides, and his tone was almost gratified, for he had
+gathered that Hozier was skeptical when told of the rockets.  But in
+that respect, at least, he was not mistaken.  A man-of-war had entered
+the roadstead, and her powerful lamp was now scouring sea and coast for
+the missing launch.  And in that moment of fresh peril it was forgotten
+by all but one of the men who had survived so many dangers since the
+sun last gilded the peak of Fernando Noronha, that were it not for Iris
+having been left behind, and Philip's mad plunge overboard to go to
+her, and the point-blank refusal of the <I>Andromeda's</I> captain and crew
+to put to sea without an effort to save the pair of them, the launch
+would not now be hidden behind the black mass of the Grand-père rock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless, the fact was patent.  Had the little vessel sailed to the
+west, in the assumption that her only feasible course lay in that
+direction, she must have been discovered by the cruiser's far-seeing
+eye.  And what that meant needed no words.  The bones of the
+<I>Andromeda</I> supplied testimony at once silent and all-sufficing.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+[1] The Governor's residence.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+[2] The Brazilian milrei is worth 55 cents, or 2s. 3 1/2d.  The
+Portuguese is worth only one-tenth of a cent.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap10"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER X
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ON THE HIGH SEAS
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the
+sky.  But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base.
+The warship was in motion.  She was about to steam around the group of
+islands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange
+oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's
+hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech.  Under pressure of this new
+peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline.
+The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the
+<I>Andromeda's</I> crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when
+they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial.  It may
+be urged that they had suffered much.  Out of a ship's company of
+twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors.  Domingo was
+lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he
+lived or died.  With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from
+the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every
+Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he
+was best able.  Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that
+Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed.  He landed at the same
+moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except
+their own dangerous plight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Small wonder, then, if authority was cast to the winds now that capture
+seemed to be unavoidable.  Coke tried to still the tumult by thundering
+a command to Norrie, second engineer, to throw open the throttle valve.
+He took the wheel in person, meaning to shape a course due east, and
+thus endeavor to avoid the cruiser's baleful glance.  But some of the
+men realized instantly that this expedient would fail.  They were in no
+mood for half measures.  Norrie felt a bayonet under his left
+shoulder-blade.  Coke was roared down, and a hoarse voice growled:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Me for the tall timbers, maties.  It's each one for hisself now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Aye, aye!" came the chorus&nbsp;&#8230;  "Shove her ashore!&#8230;  Give us a
+chanst there&#8230;  We've none at sea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria, being something of a fatalist, did not interfere.  On this
+cockleshell of a craft, among these rude spirits of alien races, he was
+powerless.  On land a diplomat and strategist of high order, here he
+was a cipher.  Moreover, he was beaten to his knees, and he knew it.
+The arrival of the warship had upset his calculations.  After many
+months' planning of flight, he had been forced, by the events of a few
+hours, into an aggressive campaign.  His little cohort had done
+wonders, it is true, but of what avail were these ill-equipped
+stalwarts against a fast-moving fort, armed with heavy guns and
+propelled by thousands of steam horses?  None, absolutely none.  Dom
+Corria drew San Benavides aside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All is ended!" he said quietly.  "We shall never see Brazil again,
+Salvador <I>meu</I>!  Carmela must find another lover, it seems."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Salvador did not appear to be specially troubled by the new quest
+imposed on Carmela, but he was much perturbed by an uproar betokening
+disunion among the men who had already saved his life twice.  He was
+beginning to believe in them.  It was night, and they possessed a
+vessel under steam.  Why did they not hurry into the obscurity of the
+smooth dark plain that looked so inviting?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was left to Hozier to solve a problem that threatened to develop
+into a disastrous brawl.  Danger sharpens a brave man's wits, but love
+makes him fey.  To succor Iris was now his sole concern.  He swung a
+couple of the excited sailors out of his way and managed to stem the
+torrent of Coke's futile curses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give in to them!" he cried eagerly.  "Tell them they are going ashore
+in the creek.  That will stop the racket.  If they listen to me, I can
+still find a means of escape."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Avast yelpin', you swabs!" bellowed Coke.  "D'ye want to let every
+bally sojer on the island know where you are?  We're makin' for the
+creek.  Will <I>that</I> please you?  Now, Mr. Norrie, let her rip!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The head of the launch swung toward the protecting shadows.  The men
+knew the bearings of Cotton-Tree Bay, so the angry voices yielded to
+selfish thought.  If it was to be <I>sauve qui peut</I> when the vessel
+grounded, there was ample room for thought, seeing that each man's
+probable fate would be that of a mad dog.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier seized the precious respite.  He spoke loudly enough that all
+should hear, and he began with a rebuke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sorry that those of us who are left should have disgraced the
+fine record set up by the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew since the ship struck," he
+said.  "Your messmates who fell fighting would hardly believe St. Peter
+himself if he told them that we were on the verge of open mutiny.  I am
+ashamed of you.  Let us have no more of that sort of thing.  Sink or
+swim, we must pull together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was some discordant muttering, but he gained one outspoken
+adherent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bully for you!" said the man who had suggested tree-climbing as an
+expedient.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shut up!" was the wrathful answer.  "You've made plenty of row
+already.  I only hope you have not attracted attention on the island.
+You may not have been heard, owing to the disturbance on the other
+side, but no thanks to any of you for that.  Our skipper's first notion
+was to put to sea.  Wasn't it natural?  Do you want to be hunted over
+Fernando Noronha at daybreak?  But he would have seen the uselessness
+of trying to slip the cruiser before the launch had gone a cable's
+length.  Now, here is a scheme that strikes me as workable.  At any
+rate, it offers a forlorn hope.  There is a sharp bend in the creek
+just where the tidal water ends.  I fancy the launch will float a
+little higher up, but we must risk it.  We will take her in, unship the
+mast, tie a few boughs and vines on the funnel, and not twenty
+search-lights will find us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A rumble of approving murmurs showed that he had scotched the dragon.
+It was even ready to become subservient again.  He continued rapidly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No vessel of deep draught can come close in shore from the east.  The
+cruiser will have the Grand-père rock abeam within an hour, but, to
+make sure, two of you will climb the ridge and watch her movements.
+The rest will load up every available inch of space with wood and water
+and food.  How can we win clear of Fernando Noronha without fuel?  It
+is a hundred to one that the launch would not steam twenty miles on her
+present coal supply.  Such as it is, we must keep it for an emergency,
+even if we are compelled to tear up the deck and dismantle the cabin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Talks like a book!" snorted Coke, and some of the men grinned
+sheepishly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier was coolly reminding them of those vital things which frenzy had
+failed wholly to take into account.  Confidence was reborn in them.
+They wanted to cheer this fearless young officer who seemed to forget
+nothing, but the island promontories were so close at hand that
+perforce they were dumb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The simplicity of the project was its best recommendation.  Sailors
+themselves, the mind of the cruiser's commander was laid bare to them.
+He would soon be convinced that the launch had passed him in the dark
+ere the search-light looked out over the sea.  Long before the circuit
+of Fernando Noronha was completed he would be itching to rush at top
+speed along the straight line to Pernambuco.  It was a bold thing, too,
+to land on the island and stock their vessel for a voyage, the end of
+which no man could foresee.  The dare-devil notion fascinated them.  In
+that instant, the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew returned to their allegiance,
+which was as well, since it was fated to be stiffly tested many times
+ere they were reported inside 1 degree West again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unfortunately, Coke was in a raging temper.  Never before had his
+supremacy been challenged.  Having lost control over his men, he owed
+its restoration to Hozier.  Such a fact was gall and wormwood to a man
+of his character, and he was mean-souled enough to be vindictive.
+Promising himself the future joy of pounding to a jelly the features of
+every mother's son among the forecastle hands, he began to snarl his
+orders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Watts, you must leg it to the sky-line, an' pipe the cruiser.  Olsen,
+you go, too, an' see that Mr. Watts doesn't find a brewery.  Hozier,
+p'raps you'd like to rig the mistletoe.  Miss Yorke 'll 'elp, I'm sure.
+It's up to you, mister, an' his nibs with the sword, to parly-voo to
+the other convicts about the grub.  Is there a nigger's wood-pile
+handy?  If not, we must collar the hut.  I'll take care of the stowage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He meant each jibe to hurt, and probably succeeded, but Watts was too
+despondent, and Hozier and De Sylva too self-controlled, to say aught
+that would add to their difficulties.  Nevertheless, he was answered,
+from a quarter whence retort was least expected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must modify your instructions, Captain Coke," said Iris with quiet
+scorn.  "It would be a shameful act to destroy the house of those who
+befriended us.  They gave freely of their stores, as you will see by
+the supplies lashed to the catamaran, and will assist us further if
+Senhor De Sylva appeals to them&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can safely leave that to me," broke in Dom Corria.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Iris was not to be placated thus easily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know that," she said.  "I only wished Captain Coke to understand
+that if he cannot make clear his meaning he should obey rather than
+command."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The lady 'as 'ad the last word.  Now let's get busy," sneered Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier, who had not quitted his side since the incipient outbreak was
+quelled, gripped his shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a pile of wood near the cottage," he said in Coke's ear.  "I
+saw it there.  It must be paid for.  Have you any money?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A loose quid or two&mdash;no more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A sovereign will be ample.  Miss Yorke has already given the owners
+two pounds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot for?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For their kindness.  You are all there when it comes to a scrap,
+skipper, but at most other times you ought to be muzzled.  No, don't
+talk now.  We will discuss the point on some more suitable occasion,
+when we can deal with it fully, and Miss Yorke is not present."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip spoke in a whisper, but the low pitch of his voice did not
+conceal its menace.  He was longing to twine his fingers round Coke's
+thick neck, and some hint of his desire was communicated by the clutch
+of his hand.  Coke shook himself free.  He feared no man born, but it
+would be folly to attack Hozier then, and he was not a fool.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let go, you blank ijjit," he growled.  "I've no grudge ag'in you.  If
+we pull out of this mess you'll 'ave to square matters wi' David Verity
+an' that other ole ninny, Dickey Bulmer.  She's promised to 'im, you
+know.  Told me so 'erself, so there's no mistake.  I got me rag out, I
+admit, an' 'oo wouldn't after bein' 'owled down by those swine forrard.
+My godfather!  Watch me put it over 'em w'en I get the chanst.  Stop
+'er, Norrie!  There's plenty of way on 'er to round that bend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier reflected that he had chosen an odd moment to quarrel with his
+captain, whose mordant humor in the matter of the mistletoe was only
+accentuated by his reference to Iris's reported engagement.  The
+pungent smell of the mangrove swamp was wafted now to his nostrils.  It
+brought a species of warning that the disagreeable conditions of life
+in Fernando Noronha were yet active.  It was not pleasant to be thus
+suddenly reminded of pitfalls that might exist in England; meanwhile,
+here was the launch thrusting her nose into the mud and shingle of this
+malevolent island.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To his further annoyance, San Benavides, who depended on his compatriot
+for a summary of the latest scheme, asked Iris to accompany De Sylva
+and himself to the hut.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are stupid creatures, these peasants," he said.  "When they see
+you they will not be frightened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was so much reason in the statement that Iris was a ready
+volunteer.  Soon all hands were at work, and it was due to the girl's
+forethought that strips of linen were procured from Luisa Gomez, and
+healing herbs applied to the cuts and bruises of the injured men.
+Sylva was all for leaving the two soldiers on the island, but Coke's
+sailor-like acumen prevented the commission of that blunder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, that will never do," he said, with irritating offhandness.  "These
+jokers will be found at daylight, an' they'll be able to say exactly
+wot time we quit.  The wimmin can make out they was scared stiff an'
+darsent stir.  It 'ud be different with the sojers.  An' we ain't goin'
+to have such a 'eart-breakin' start, even if the cruiser clears away
+soon after two o'clock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where do you propose to make for?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where d'ye think, mister?  Nor'-east by nor', to be sure, until we
+sight some homeward-bound ship."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a pause.  The pair could talk unheard, since they were
+standing on the bank, and the men were either loading firewood and
+fruit and cassava, or stripping trees and vines to hide the
+superstructure of the launch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean to abandon everything, then?" said De Sylva.  He seemed to be
+watching the onward sweep of the search-light as the warship went to
+the north.  But Coke was shrewd.  He felt that there was something
+behind the words, and he suspected the ex-President's motives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't see any 'elp for it," he answered.  "Gord's trewth, wot is
+there to abandon?  I've lost me ship, an' me money, an' me papers, an'
+'arf me men.  Unless one was lookin' for trouble, this ain't no
+treasure island, mister."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet it might be made one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As how?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you not realize how greatly the members of the present Government
+fear my return to Brazil?  Here, I am their prisoner, practically
+friendless, almost alone.  They dare not kill me by process of law, yet
+they are moving heaven and earth to prevent my escape, or shoot me down
+in the act.  Why?  Because they know that the people are longing to
+hail me as President again.  Suppose you and your men took me to
+Pernambuco&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"S'pose hell!" snapped Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please listen.  You can but refuse when you look at the facts fairly.
+If, as I say, I were put ashore at Pernambuco, or at any other of half
+a dozen ports I can name, I should be among my own followers.  You,
+Captain Coke, and every officer and man of your ship, and her owners,
+and the relatives of those who have lost their lives, would not only be
+paid all just claims by the new Government, but adequately rewarded.
+In your own case, the recompense would be princely.  But, assuming that
+we board a vessel bound for Europe, what certainty have you that you
+will ever receive a penny?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, reely, that's comin' it a bit thick, mister," growled Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You believe I am exaggerating the difficulties of your position?  Pray
+consider.  Your vessel is broken up.  She was fired on while at anchor
+on the wrong side of the island, on the very day selected for my
+escape.  You and your men manage to dodge the bullets, and, under my
+leadership, assisted by Captain San Benavides, you overrun the place by
+night, kill several soldiers, seize a launch, despoil peasants of their
+crops and stores, and make off with a good deal of property belonging
+to the Brazilian Government, not to mention the presence in your midst
+of such a significant personage as myself.  Speaking candidly, Senhor
+Captain, what chance have you of convincing any international court of
+your innocence?  Who will believe that you were not a true filibuster?
+That is what Brazil will say you are.  How will you disprove it?  In
+any event, who will enforce your claims against my country?  English
+public opinion would never compel your Government to take action in
+such an exceedingly doubtful case, now would it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we was to try and land you in Brazil, we'd bust up our claim for
+good an' all," muttered Coke.  Though this was a powerful argument
+against De Sylva's theory, it revealed certain qualms of perplexity.
+The other man's brilliant eyes gleamed for an instant, but he guarded
+his voice.  He was in his element now.  When words were weapons he
+could vanquish a thousand such adversaries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think otherwise," he said slowly.  "A judge might well hold that in
+a small vessel like the launch you were entitled to make for the
+nearest land.  But I grant you that point; it is really immaterial.  If
+I fail, you lose everything.  Accept my offer, and you have a
+reasonable chance of winning a fortune."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot exactly is your offer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ample compensation officially.  Five thousand pounds to you in person."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Five thousand!"  Coke cleared a throat husky with doubt.  He scratched
+his head under the absurd-looking kepi which he was still wearing; for
+a moment, his lips set in grim calculation.  "That 'ud make things
+pretty easy for the missus an' the girls," he muttered.  "An' there's
+no new ship for me w'en Dickey Bulmer cocks 'is eye at Hozier.  It's a
+moral there'll be a holy row between 'im an' David.&#8230;  D'ye mean
+it, mister?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even if I fail, and my life is spared, I will pay you the money out of
+my own private funds," was the vehement reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, well, leave the job to me.  You sawr 'ow them tinkers jibbed
+just now.  I must 'umor 'em a bit, d&mdash;n 'em.  But wait till the next
+time some of 'em ships under me.  Lord luv' a duck, won't I skin 'em?
+Not 'arf!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva, with all his admirable command of English, could not follow
+the Coke variety in its careless freedom.  But he knew his man.  Though
+bewildered by strange names and stranger words, he was alive to the
+significance of things being made easy "for the missus and the girls."
+So, even this gnarled sea-dog had a soft spot in his heart!  On the
+very brink of the precipice his mind turned to his women-kind, just as
+De Sylva himself had whispered a last memory of his daughter to San
+Benavides when their common doom was seemingly unavoidable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He would urge no more, since Coke was willing to fall in with his
+designs, but he could not forbear from clinching matters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I promise on my honor&mdash;&mdash;" he began.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the nearer surface of the sea flashed into a dazzling distinctness,
+and Coke dragged him down to the launch.  The cruiser had rounded Rat
+Island, and was devoting one sweeping glance eastward ere she sought
+her prey in creek or tortuous channel.  The men were summoned hastily.
+Watts and Olsen had been warned to crouch behind the rocks on the
+crest, while those who remained near the launch were told to hide among
+the trees or crowd into the small cabin.  Movement of any kind was
+forbidden.  There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a
+sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay.
+Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the
+vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery.  The long, large-leafed
+vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this
+crisis.  Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened
+the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high
+above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess
+her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light
+as day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the <I>Andromeda</I> on
+Grand-pere.  She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in
+many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren.  It did not occur to
+anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on
+South Point.  De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright.  He
+whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship
+continued her scrutiny of the coast-line.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished.  Five minutes later,
+Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the
+roadstead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after
+five.  Now or never the launch must make her effort.  Ready hands tore
+away her disguise, she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every
+man on board, the engines throbbed, and she was afloat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur
+on the western horizon.  No sail or smudge of smoke broke the remainder
+of the far-flung circle.  The fugitives could breathe freely once more.
+They were not pursued.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris fell asleep when assured that the dreaded warship was not in
+sight.  Hozier, too, utterly exhausted by all that he had gone through,
+slept as if he were dead.  Coke, whose iron constitution defied
+fatigue, though it was with the utmost difficulty that he had walked
+across the narrow breadth of Fernando Noronha, took the first watch in
+person.  He chatted with the men, surprised them by his candor on the
+question of compensation, and announced his resolve to make for the
+three-hundred-mile channel between Fernando Noronha and the mainland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You see, it's this way, me lads," he explained affably.  "We're short
+o' vittles an' bunker, an' if we kep' cruisin' east in this latitood
+we'd soon be drawrin' lots to see 'oo'd cut up juiciest.  So we must
+run for the tramp's track, which is two hundred miles to the west.
+We'll bear north, an' that rotten cruiser will look south for sartin,
+seein' as 'ow they know we 'ave the next President aboard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke paused to take breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot a pity we can't give 'im a leg up," he added confidentially.  "It
+'ud be worth a pension to every man jack of us.  'Ere 'e is, special
+freight, so to speak.  W'y <I>'e'd sign anythink</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once the train was laid, it was a simple matter to fire the mine.  When
+Hozier awoke, to find the launch heading west, he was vastly astonished
+by Coke's programme.  It was all cut and dried, and there was really
+nothing to cavil at.  If they met a steamship, and she stopped in
+response to their signals, her captain would be asked to take care, not
+only of Miss Yorke, but of any other person who shirked further
+adventure.  As for Coke, and Watts, and the majority of the men, they
+were pledged to De Sylva.  Even Norrie, the engineer, a hard-headed
+Scot, meant to stick to the launch until the President that was and
+would be again was safely landed among his expectant people.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts let the cat out of the bag later.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those of us 'oo don't leave Dom Wot's-'is-name in the lurch are to get
+ten years' full pay, extry an' over an' above wot the court allows," he
+said.  "Just think of it!  Don't it make your mouth water?  Reminds me
+of a chap I wonst read about in a trac'.  It tole 'ow 'e took to booze.
+One 'ot Sunday, bein' out for a walk, 'e swiped 'arf a pint of ginger
+beer, the next 'e tried shandy-gaff, the third 'e went the whole hog,
+an' then 'e never stopped for ten years.  My godfather!  Ten years' pay
+an' a ten years' drunk!  It's enough to make a sinner of any man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier laughed.  Two days ago he would have asked no better luck than
+the helping of Dom Corria to regain his Presidentship.  Now, there was
+Iris to protect.  He would not be content to leave her in charge of the
+first grimy collier they encountered, nor was he by any means sure that
+she would agree to be thus disposed of.  He was puzzled by the singular
+unanimity of purpose displayed by his shipmates.  But that was their
+affair.  His was to insure Iris's safety; the future he must leave to
+Providence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And, indeed, Providence contrived things very differently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By nightfall the launch was a hundred miles west of the island.  Norrie
+got eight knots out of her, but it needed no special calculation to
+discover that she would barely make the coast of Brazil if she consumed
+every ounce of coal and wood on board.  The engines were strong and in
+good condition, but she had no bunker space for a long voyage.  Were it
+not for Hozier's foresight she would have been drifting with the Gulf
+Stream four hours after leaving the island.  As it was, unless they
+received a fresh supply of fuel from another ship, they must
+unquestionably take the straightest line to the mainland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the day they had sighted three vessels, but at such distances
+that signaling was useless, each being hull down on their limited
+horizon.  Moreover, they had to be cautious.  The cruiser, trusting to
+her speed, might try a long cast north and south of the launch's
+supposed path.  She alone, among passing ships, would be scouring the
+sea with incessant vigilance, and it behooved them, now as ever, not to
+attract her attention.  They were burning wood, so there was no smoke,
+and the mast was unstepped.  Yet the hours of daylight were tortured by
+constant fear.  Even Iris was glad when the darkness came and they were
+hidden.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At midnight a curious misfortune befell them.  The compass had been
+smashed during the fight, and not a sailor among them owned one of the
+tiny compasses that are often worn as a charm on the watchchain.  This
+drawback, of little consequence when sun or stars could be seen,
+assumed the most serious importance when a heavy fog spread over the
+face of the waters.  The set of the current was a guide of a sort, but,
+as events proved, it misled them.  Man is ever prone to over-estimate,
+and such a slight thing as the lap of water across the bows of a small
+craft was sure to be miscalculated; they contrived to steer west, it is
+true, but with a southerly inclination.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At four o'clock, by general reckoning, they were mid-way between island
+and continent.  They were all wide awake, too weary and miserable to
+sleep.  Suddenly a fog-horn smote the oppressive gloom.  It drew near.
+A huge blotch crossed their bows.  They could feel it rather than see
+it.  They heard some order given in a foreign language, and De Sylva
+whispered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The <I>Sao Geronimo</I>!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The wot-ah?" demanded Coke, who was standing beside him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The cruiser!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke listened.  He could distinguish the half-speed beating of twin
+screws.  He knew at once that the ex-President must have recognized the
+warship as she passed the creek, but, by some accident, had failed to
+mention her name during the long hours that had sped in the meantime.
+The sinister specter passed and the launch crept on.  Everyone on board
+was breathless with suspense.  Faces were shrouded by night and the
+fog, but some gasped and others mumbled prayers.  One of the wounded
+soldiers shouted in delirium, and a coat was thrust over his head with
+brutal force.  The fog-horn blared again, two cables' lengths distant.
+They were saved, for the moment!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a little while, perhaps twenty minutes, they heard another siren.
+It sounded a different note, a quaintly harsh blend of discords.
+Whatsoever ship this might be, it was not the <I>Sao Geronimo</I>.  And in
+that thrilling instant there was a coldness on one side of their faces
+that was not on the other.  Moist skin is a weather-vane in its way.  A
+breeze was springing up.  Soon the fog would be rolled from off the sea
+and the sun would peer at them in mockery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke's gruff voice reached every ear:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This time we're nabbed for keeps unless you all do as I bid you," he
+said.  "When the fog lifts, the cruiser will see us.  There's only one
+thing for it.  Somewhere, close in, is a steamer.  She's a tramp, by
+the wheeze of 'er horn.  We've got to board 'er an' sink the launch.
+If she's British, or American, O.K., as 'er people will stand by us.
+If she's a Dago, we've got to collar 'er, run every whelp into the
+forehold, an' answer the cruiser's signals ourselves.  That's the
+sittiwation, accordin' to my reckonin'.  Now, 'oo's for it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Butt right in, skipper," said a gentleman who claimed Providence,
+Rhode Island, as the place of his nativity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier, who had contrived to draw near Iris while Coke was speaking,
+breathed softly, so that none other could hear:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is rank piracy.  But what else can we do?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it wrong?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well&mdash;no, provided we kill no one.  We are justified in saving our own
+lives, and the average German or Italian shipmaster would hand us over
+to the Brazilians without scruple."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris was far from Bootle and its moralities.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't care what happens so long as you are not hurt," she whispered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Hozier," said Coke thickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You've got good eyes an' quick ears.  Lay out as far forrard as you
+can, an' pass the word for steerin'."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier obeyed.  The discordant bleat of a foghorn came again,
+apparently right ahead.  In a few seconds he caught the flapping of a
+propeller, and silenced the launch's engines.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are close in now," he said to Coke, after a brief and noiseless
+drift.  "Why not try a hail!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ship ahoy!" shouted Coke, with all the force of brazen lungs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The screw of the unseen ship stopped.  The sigh of escaping steam
+reached them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Holla</I>!  <I>Wer rufe</I>?" was the gruff answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sink me if it ain't a German!" growled Coke, <I>sotto-voce</I>, "Norrie,
+you must stick here till I sing out to you.  Then open your exhaust an'
+unscrew a sea-cock.&#8230;  Wot ship is that?" he vociferated aloud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some answer was forthcoming&mdash;what, it mattered not.  The launch bumped
+into the rusty ribs of a twelve-hundred ton tramp.  A rope ladder was
+lowered.  A round-faced Teuton mate&mdash;fat and placid&mdash;was vastly
+surprised to find a horde of nondescripts pouring up the ship's side in
+the wake of a short, thick, bovine-looking person who neither
+understood nor tried to understand a word he was saying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+These extraordinary visitors from the deep brought with them a girl and
+three wounded men.  By this time the captain was aroused; he spoke some
+English.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Vas iss diss?" he asked, surveying the newcomers with amazement, and
+their bizarre costumes with growing nervousness.  "Vere haf you coomed
+vrom?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke pushed him playfully into the cook's galley.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is too easy," he chortled.  "Set about 'em, you swabs.  Don't
+hurt anybody unless they ax for it.  Round every son of a gun into the
+fo'c'sle till I come.  Mr. Watts, the bridge for you.  Olsen, take the
+wheel.  Mr. Hozier, see wot you can find in their flag locker.  <I>Now</I>,
+Mr. Norrie!  Sharp for it.  You're wanted in the engine-room."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the
+nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock
+forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap11"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Coke and his merry men became pirates during the early morning of
+Thursday, September 2d; the curious reader can ascertain the year by
+looking up "Brazil" in any modern Encyclopedia, and turning to the
+sub-division "Recent History."  On Monday, September 6th, David Verity
+entered his office in Exchange Buildings, Liverpool, hung his hat and
+overcoat on their allotted pegs, swore at the office boy because some
+spots of rain had come in through an open window, and ran a feverish
+glance through his letters to learn if any envelopes bearing the
+planetary devices of the chief cable companies had managed to hide
+themselves among the mass of correspondence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The act was perfunctory.  Well he knew that telephone or special
+messenger would speedily have advised him if news of the <I>Andromeda</I>
+had arrived since he left the office on Saturday afternoon.  But it is
+said that drowning men clutch at straws, and the metaphor might be
+applied to Verity with peculiar aptness.  He was sinking in a sea of
+troubles, sinking because the old buoyancy was gone, sinking because
+many hands were stretched forth to push him under, and never one to
+draw him forth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no cablegram, of course.  Dickey Bulmer, who had become a
+waking nightmare to the unhappy shipowner, had said there wouldn't
+be&mdash;said it twelve hours ago, after wringing from Verity the astounding
+admission that Iris was on board the <I>Andromeda</I>.  It was not because
+the vessel was overdue that David confessed.  Bulmer, despite his
+sixty-eight years, was an acute man of business.  Moreover, he was
+blessed with a retentive memory, and he treasured every word of the
+bogus messages from Iris concocted by her uncle.  They were lucid at
+first, but under the stress of time they wore thin, grew disconnected,
+showed signs of the strain imposed on their author's imagination.
+Bulmer, a typical Lancashire man, blended in his disposition a genial
+openhandedness with a shrewd caution.  He could display a princely
+generosity in dealing with Verity as the near relative and guardian of
+his promised wife; to the man whom he suspected of creating the
+obstacles that kept her away from him he applied a pitiless logic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The storm had burst unexpectedly.  Bulmer came to dinner, ate and drank
+and smoked in quiet amity until David's laboring muse conveyed his
+niece's latest "kind love an' good wishes," and then&mdash;&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell you wot," said Dickey, "there's another five thousand due
+to-morrow on the surveyor's report."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is," said Verity, knowing that his guest and prospective partner
+alluded to the new steamer in course of construction on the Clyde.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, it won't be paid."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David lifted his glass of port to hide his face.  Was this the first
+rumbling of the tempest?  Though expected hourly, he was not prepared
+for it.  His hand trembled.  He dared not put the wine to his lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's up now?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're playin' some underhand game on me, David, an' I won't stand
+it," was the unhesitating reply.  "You're lyin' about Iris.  You've bin
+lyin' ever since she disappeared from Bootle.  Show me 'er letters an'
+their envelopes, an' I'll find the money.  But, of course, you can't.
+They don't exist.  Now, own up as man to man, an' I'll see if this
+affair can be settled without the lawyers.  You know wot it means once
+<I>they</I> take hold."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then David set down the untasted wine and told the truth.  Not
+all&mdash;that was not to be dreamed of.  In the depths of his heart he
+feared Bulmer.  The old man's repute for honesty was widespread.  He
+would fling his dearest friend into prison for such a swindle as that
+arranged between Coke and the shipowner.  But it was a positive relief
+to divulge everything that concerned Iris.  From his pocket-book David
+produced her frayed letter, and Bulmer read it slowly, aloud, through
+eyeglasses held at a long focus.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, given certain definite circumstances, an honest man and a rogue
+will always view them differently.  David had interpreted the girl's
+guarded phrases in the light of his villainous compact with Coke.
+Dickey, unaware of this disturbing element, was inwardly amazed to
+learn that Verity had lied so outrageously with the sole object of
+carrying through a commercial enterprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tell him I shall marry him when the <I>Andromeda</I> returns to England
+from South America,'" he read.  And again&nbsp;&#8230;  "'The vessel is due
+back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not have
+long to wait.'"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If, in the first instance, David had not been swept off his feet by the
+magnitude of the catastrophe, if he had not commenced the series of
+prevarications before the letter reached him, he might have adopted the
+only sane course and taken Bulmer fully into his confidence.  It was
+too late now.  Explanation was useless.  The only plea that occurred to
+him was more deadly than silence, since it was her knowledge of the
+contemplated crime that made Iris a stowaway.  He had never guessed how
+that knowledge was attained and the added mystery intensified his
+torture.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dickey rose from the table.  His movements showed his age that night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll think it over, David," he said.  "There's more in this than meets
+the eye.  I'll just go home an' think it over.  Mebbe I'll call at your
+place in the mornin'."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So here was Verity, awaiting Bulmer's visit as a criminal awaits a
+hangman.  There was no shred of hope in his mind that his one-time
+crony would raise a finger to save him from bankruptcy.  Some offenses
+are unforgivable, and high in the list ranks the folly of separating a
+wealthy old man from his promised bride.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now that a reprieve was seemingly impossible, he faced his misfortunes
+with a dour courage.  It had been a difficult and thankless task during
+the past month to stave off pressing creditors.  With Iris in Bootle
+and Bulmer her devoted slave, Verity would have weathered the gale with
+jaunty self-confidence.  But that element of strength was lacking; nay,
+more, he felt in his heart that it could never be replaced.  He was no
+longer the acute, blustering, effusive Verity, who in one summer's
+afternoon had secured a rich partner and forced an impecunious sailor
+to throw away a worn-out ship.  The insurance held good, of course, and
+there simply <I>must</I> be some sort of tidings of the <I>Andromeda</I> to hand
+before the end of September.  Yet things had gone wrong, desperately
+wrong, and he was quaking with the belief that there was worse in store.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He began to read his letters.  They were mostly in the same vein, duns,
+more or less active.  His managing clerk entered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's an offer of 5s. 6d. Cardiff to Bilbao and Bilbao to the Tyne
+for the <I>Hellespont</I>.  It is better than nothing.  Shall we take it,
+sir?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Hellespont</I> was the firm's other ship.  She, too, was old and
+running at a loss.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  Wot is it, coal or patent fuel?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Coal, with a return freight of ore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wish it was dynamite, with fuses laid on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The clerk grinned knowingly.  Men grow callous when money tilts the
+scale against human lives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's no news of the <I>Andromeda</I>, and <I>her</I> rate is all right," he
+said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David scowled at him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"D&mdash;n the rate!" he cried.  "I want to 'ear of the ship.  Wot the&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But his subordinate vanished.  David read a few more letters.  Some
+were from the families of such of the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew as lived in
+South Shields, the Hartlepools, Whitby.  They asked as a great favor
+that a telegram might be sent when&mdash;&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, curse my luck!" groaned the man, quivering under the conviction
+that the <I>Andromeda</I> was lost "by the act of God" as the charter-party
+puts it.  The belief unnerved him.  Those words have an ominous ring in
+the ears of evil-doers.  He could show a bold front to his fellowmen,
+but he squirmed under the dread conception of a supernatural vengeance.
+So, like every other malefactor, David railed against his "luck."
+Little did he guess the extraordinary turn that his "luck" was about to
+take.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The office boy announced a visitor, evidently not the terrible Bulmer,
+since he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gennelman to see yer, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oo is it?" growled the shipowner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gennelman from the noospaper, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can't be bothered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'E sez hit's most himportant, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot is?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I dunno, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, show 'im in.  I'll soon settle 'im."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A quiet-mannered young man appeared.  He ignored David's sharp, "Now,
+wot can I do for you?" and drew up a chair, on which he seated himself,
+uninvited.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May I ask if you have received any private news of the <I>Andromeda</I>?"
+he began.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In that case, you must prepare yourself for a statement that may give
+you a shock," said the journalist.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David creaked round in his chair.  His face, not so red as of yore,
+paled distinctly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is she lost?" said he in a strangely subdued tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I&mdash;I fear she is.  But there is much more than an ordinary shipwreck
+at issue.  Several telegrams of the gravest import have reached us this
+morning.  Perhaps, before I ask you any questions, you ought to read
+them.  They are in type already, and I have brought you proofs.  Here
+is the first."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David took from the interviewer's outstretched hand a long strip of
+white paper.  For an appreciable time his seething brain refused to
+comprehend the curiously black letters that grouped themselves into
+words on the limp sheet.  And, indeed, he was not to be blamed if he
+was dull of understanding, for this is what he read:
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+"REVOLUTION IN BRAZIL.
+<BR><BR>
+"SERIOUS POSITION.
+<BR><BR>
+"STARTLING ESCAPADE OF A BRITISH SHIP.<BR>
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"RIO DE JANEIRO, September 5th.  A situation of exceptional gravity has
+evidently arisen on the island of Fernando do Noronha, whence, it is
+said, ex-President De Sylva recently attempted to escape.  A battleship
+and two cruisers have been despatched thither under forced draught.  No
+public telegrams have been received from the island during the past
+week, and the authorities absolutely refuse any information as to
+earlier events, though the local press hints at some extraordinary
+developments not unconnected with the appearance off the island of a
+British steamship known as the <I>Andromeda</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Later</I>&mdash;De Sylva landed last night at the small port of Maceio in the
+province of Alagoas, a hundred miles south of Pernambuco.  It is
+currently reported that Fernando Noronha was captured by a gang of
+British freebooters.  De Sylva's return is unquestionable.  To-day he
+issued a proclamation, and his partisans have seized some portion of
+the railway.  Excitement here is at fever heat."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Verity glared at the journalist.  He laughed, almost hysterically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The <I>Andromeda</I>!" he gasped.  "Wot rot!  Wot silly rot!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Better withhold your opinion until you have mastered the whole story,"
+was the unemotional comment.  "Here is a more detailed message.  It is
+printed exactly as cabled.  We have not added a syllable except the
+interpolation of such words as 'that' and 'the.'  You will find it
+somewhat convincing, I imagine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The shipowner grasped another printed slip.  This time he was able to
+read more lucidly:
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"PERNAMBUCO, September 4th.  Public interest in the abortive attempt to
+reinstate Dom Corria De Sylva as President was waning rapidly when it
+was fanned into fresh activity by news that reached this port to-day.
+It appears that on the 31st ulto. a daring effort was made to free De
+Sylva, who, with certain other ministers expelled by the successful
+revolution of two years ago, is a prisoner on the island of Fernando do
+Noronha.  Lloyd's agent on that island reports that the British steamer
+<I>Andromeda</I>, owned by David Verity &amp; Co. of Liverpool, put into South
+Bay, on the southeast side of Fernando do Noronha, early on the morning
+of August 31st, and it is alleged that her mission was to take De Sylva
+and his companions on board.  The garrison, forewarned by the central
+government, and already on the <I>qui vive</I> owing to the disappearance of
+their important prisoners from their usual quarters, opened fire on the
+<I>Andromeda</I> as soon as she revealed her purpose by lowering a boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The steamer, being unarmed, made no attempt to defend herself, and was
+speedily disabled.  She sank, within five minutes, off the Grand-père
+rock, with all on board.  With reckless bravado, her commander ran up
+the vessel's code signals and house flag while she was actually going
+down, thus establishing her identity beyond a shadow of doubt.  A note
+of pathos is added to the tragedy by the undoubted presence of a lady
+on board&mdash;probably De Sylva's daughter, though it was believed here
+that the ex-President's family were in Paris.  Telegrams from the
+island are strictly censored, and the foregoing statement is
+unofficial, but your correspondent does not question its general
+accuracy.  Indeed, he has reason to credit a widespread rumor that the
+island is still in a very disturbed condition.  No one knows definitely
+whether or not De Sylva has been recaptured.  It is quite certain that
+he has not landed in Brazil, but the reticence of the authorities as to
+the state of affairs on Fernando Noronha leads to the assumption that
+he and a few stanch adherents are still in hiding in one of the many
+natural fastnesses with which the island abounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The British community on the littoral is deeply stirred by the drastic
+treatment received by the <I>Andromeda</I>.  It is pointed out that another
+ship, the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I>, believed to have been chartered by the
+insurgents, is under arrest at Bahia, and the similarity between the
+two names is regarded as singular, to say the least.  Were it not that
+Lloyd's agent, whose veracity cannot be questioned, has stated
+explicitly that the <I>Andromeda</I> put in to South Bay&mdash;a point
+significantly far removed from the regular track of trading vessels&mdash;it
+might be urged that a terrible mistake had been made.  In any event,
+the whole matter must be strictly inquired into, and one of His
+Majesty's ships stationed in the South Atlantic should visit the island
+at the earliest date possible.  <I>Delayed in transmission</I>."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Something buzzed inside Verity's head and stilled all sense of
+actuality.  He was unnaturally calm.  Though the weather was chilly for
+early September, great beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead.
+His eyes were dull; they lacked their wonted shiftiness.  He gazed at
+the reporter unblinkingly, as though thought itself refused to act.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is that the lot?" he inquired mechanically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nearly all, at present.  These cablegrams reached us through London,
+and the agency took the earliest measures to substantiate their
+accuracy.  The Brazilian Embassy pooh-poohs the whole story, but
+Embassies invariably do that until the news is stale.  By their own
+showing, Ambassadors are singularly ill-informed men, especially in
+matters affecting their own countries.  Here, however, is a short
+telegram from Paris which is of minor interest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Verity read again:
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"PARIS, September 6th.  The members of Dom Corria De Sylva's family,
+seen early this morning at the Hotel Continental, deny that any lady
+connected with the cause of Brazilian freedom took part in the
+attempted rescue of the ex-President.  They are much annoyed by the
+unfounded report, and hold strongly to the opinion that the revolution
+would now have been a <I>fait accompli</I> had not a traitor revealed the
+destination of the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> and thus led to that vessel's
+detention at Bahia."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+The lady!  Iris Yorke!  At last David's supercharged mind was beginning
+to assimilate ideas.  He was conscious of a fierce pain in the region
+of his heart.  The buzzing in his head continued, and the journalist's
+voice came to him as through a dense screen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will observe that the former President's relatives tacitly admit
+that there was a plot on foot," the other was saying.  "It is important
+to note, too, that the long message from Pernambuco, marked 'delayed in
+transmission' seems to imply a prior telegram which was suppressed.  It
+alludes to a revolt of which nothing is known here.  Now, Mr. Verity, I
+want to ask you&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The door was flung open.  In rushed Dickey Bulmer with a speed
+strangely disproportionate to his years.  In his hands he held a
+crumpled newspaper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You infernal blackguard, have you seen this?" he roared, and his
+attitude threatened instant assault on the dazed man looking up at him.
+The reporter moved out of the way.  Here, indeed, was "copy" of the
+right sort.  Bulmer held a position of much local importance.  That he
+should use such language to the owner of the <I>Andromeda</I> promised
+developments "of the utmost public interest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David stood up.  His chair fell over with a crash.  He held on to the
+table to steady himself.  Even Bulmer, white with rage, could not fail
+to see that he was stunned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Dickey was not minded to spare him on that account.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Answer me, you scoundrel!" he shouted, thrusting the paper almost into
+David's face.  "You are glib enough when it suits your purpose.  Were
+<I>you</I> in this?  Is this the reason you didn't tell me Iris was on board
+till I forced the truth out of you last night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The managing clerk came in.  Behind him, a couple of juniors and the
+office boy supplied reënforcements.  They all had the settled
+conviction that their employer was a rogue, but he paid them in no
+niggardly fashion, and they would not suffer anyone to attack him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This incursion from the external world had a restorative effect on
+Verity.  Being what is termed a self-made man, he had a fine sense of
+his own importance, and his subordinates' lack of respect forthwith
+overcame every other consideration.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Get out!" he growled, waving a hand toward the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, sir&mdash;please, gentlemen&mdash;&mdash;" stuttered the senior clerk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Get out, I tell you!  D&mdash;n yer eyes, 'oo sent for any of you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Undoubtedly David was recovering.  The discomfited clerks retired.
+Even Dickey Bulmer was quieted a little.  But he still shook the
+newspaper under David's nose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now!" he cried.  "Let's have it.  No more of your flamin' made-up
+tales.  Wot took you to shove the <I>Andromeda</I> into a rat-trap of this
+sort?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David staggered away from the table.  He seemed to be laboring for
+breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Arf a mo'.  No need to yowl at me like that," he protested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He fumbled with the lock of a corner cupboard, opened it, and drew
+forth a decanter and some glasses.  A tumbler crashed to the floor, and
+the slight accident was another factor in clearing his wits.  He swore
+volubly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Same thing 'appened that Sunday afternoon," he said, apparently
+obvious of the other men's presence.  "My poor lass upset one, she did.
+Wish she'd ha' flung it at my 'ed.&#8230;  Did it say 'went down with
+all 'ands,' mister?" he demanded suddenly of the reporter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Mr. Verity."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it true?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I trust not, but Lloyd's agent&mdash;well, I needn't tell you that Lloyd's
+is reliable.  Was your niece on board?  Is she the lady mentioned in
+the cablegram?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Bulmer woke up to the fact that there was a stranger present.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Ello!" he cried angrily.  "Wot are you doin' ere?  'Oo are you?  Be
+off, instantly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not going until Mr. Verity hears what I have to ask him, and
+answers, or not, as he feels disposed," was the firm reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Leave 'im alone, Dickey.  It's all right.  Wot does it matter now 'oo
+knows all there is to know?  Just gimme a minnit."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Verity poured out some brandy.  Man is but a creature of habit, and the
+hospitable Lancastrian does not drink alone when there is company.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Ave a tiddly?" he inquired blandly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Both Bulmer and the journalist believed that David was losing his
+faculties.  Never did shipowner behave more queerly when faced by a
+disaster of like magnitude, involving, as did the <I>Andromeda's</I> loss,
+not only political issues of prime importance, but also the death of a
+near relative.  They refused the proffered refreshment, not without
+some show of indignation.  Verity swallowed a large dose of neat
+spirit.  He thought it would revive him, so, of course, the effect was
+instantaneous.  The same quantity of prussic acid could not have killed
+him more rapidly than the brandy rallied his scattered forces, and, not
+being a physiologist, he gave the brandy all the credit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah!" he said, smacking his lips with some of the old-time relish,
+"that puts new life into one.  An' now, let's get on with the knittin'.
+I was a bit rattled when this young party steers in an' whacks 'is
+cock-an'-bull yarn into me 'and.  'Oo ever 'eard of a respectable
+British ship mixin' 'erself up with a South American revolution?  The
+story is all moonshine on the face of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think otherwise, Mr. Verity, and Mr. Bulmer, I take it, agrees with
+me," said the reporter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot," blazed David, into whose mind had darted a notion that dazzled
+him by its daring, "d'ye mean to insiniwate that I lent my ship to this
+'ere Dom Wot's-'is-name?  D'ye sit there an' tell me that Jimmie Coke,
+a skipper who's bin in my employ for sixteen year, would carry on that
+sort of fool's business behind 'is owner's back?  Go into my clerk's
+office, young man, an' ax Andrews to show up a copy of the ship's
+manifest.  See w'en an 'ow she was insured.  Jot down the names of the
+freighters for this run, and skip round to their offices to verify.
+An' if that don't fill the bill, well, just interview yourself, an' say
+if you'd allow your niece, a bonnie lass like my Iris, to take a trip
+that might end in 'er bein' blown to bits.  It's crool, that's wot it
+is, reel crool."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David was not simulating this contemptuous wrath.  He actually felt it.
+His harsh voice cracked when he spoke of Iris, and the excited words
+gushed out in a torrent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The reporter glanced at Bulmer, who was watching Verity with a tense
+expectancy that was not to be easily accounted for, since his manner
+and speech on entering the room had been so distinctly hostile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The lady referred to was Miss Iris Yorke, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Oo else?  I've on'y one niece.  My trouble is that she went without
+my permission, in a way of speakin'.  'Ere, you'd better 'ave the fax.
+She was engaged to my friend, Mr. Bulmer, but, bein' a slip of a girl,
+an' fond o' romancin', she just put herself aboard the Andromeeda
+without sayin' 'with your leave' or 'by your leave.'  She wrote me a
+letter, w'ich sort of explains the affair.  D'you want to see it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I may."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," said Bulmer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," blustered Verity, fully alive now to the immense possibilities
+underlying the appearance in print of Iris's references to her
+forthcoming marriage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An' I say 'no,' an' mean it," said the older man.  "Go slow, David, go
+slow.  I was not comin 'ere as your enemy when I found this paper bein'
+cried in the streets.  It med me mad for a while.  But I believe wot
+you've said, an' I'm not the man to want my business, or my future
+wife's I 'ope, to be chewed over by every Dick, Tom, an' 'Arry in
+Liverpool."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The reincarnation of David was a wonderful spectacle, the most
+impressive incident the journalist had ever witnessed, did he but know
+its genesis.  The metamorphosis was physical as well as mental.  Verity
+burgeoned before his very eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, that makes a h&mdash; a tremenjous difference," said the
+shipowner.  "You 'ave my word for it, an' that is enough for most men.
+Mr. Andrews 'll give you all the information you want.  I'll cable now
+to Rio an' Pernambewco, an' see if I can get any straight news from the
+shippin' 'ouses there.  I'll let you know if I 'ear anything, an' you
+might do the same by me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The reporter gave this promise readily.  He scented a possible scandal,
+and meant to keep in touch with Verity.  Meanwhile, he was in need of
+the facts which the managing clerk could supply, so he took himself off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bulmer went to the window and looked out.  A drizzle of sleet was
+falling from a gray sky.  The atmosphere was heavy.  It was a day
+singularly appropriate to the evil tidings that had shocked him into a
+fury against the man who had so willfully deceived him.  David picked
+up the proof slips and reread them.  He compared them with the
+paragraphs in the newspaper brought by Bulmer, and thrown by him on the
+table after his first outburst of helpless wrath.  They were identical
+in wording, of course, but, somehow, their meaning was clearer in the
+printed page: and David, despite his uncouth diction, was a clever man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He wrinkled his forehead now in analysis of each line.  Soon he hit on
+something that puzzled him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dickey," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no answer.  The old man peering through the window seemed to
+have bent and whitened even since he came into the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look 'ere, Dickey," went on David, "this dashed fairy-tale won't hold
+water.  <I>You</I> know Coke.  Is 'e the kind o' man to go bumpin' round
+like a stage 'ero, an' hoisting Union Jacks as the ship sinks?  I ax
+you, is 'e?  It's nonsense, stuff an' nonsense.  An', if the Andromeeda
+was scrapped at Fernando Noronha, 'oo were the freebooters that
+collared the island, an' 'ow did this 'ere De Sylva get to Maceio?  Are
+you listenin'?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," said Bulmer, turning at last, and devouring Verity with his
+deep-set eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, wot d'ye think of it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you send the ship to Fernando Noronha?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It is needless to place on record the formula of David's denial.  It
+was forcible, and served its purpose&mdash;that should suffice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Under ordinary conditions she would 'ave passed the island about the
+31st?" continued Bulmer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  Confound it, 'aven't I bin cablin' there every two days for a
+fortnight or more?  B'lieve me or not, Dickey, it cut me to the 'eart
+to keep you in the dark about Iris.  But I begun it, like an ijjit, an'
+kep' on with it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To sweeten me on account of the new ships, I s'pose?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that's it.  No more lyin' for me.  I'm sick of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For the same reason you wanted that letter published?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well&mdash;yes.  There!  You see I'm talkin' straight."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So am I.  If&mdash;if Iris is alive, the partnership goes on.  If&mdash;she's
+dead, it doesn't."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"D'ye mean it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I always mean wot I say."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The click of an indicator on the desk showed that Verity's private
+telephone had been switched on from the general office.  By sheer force
+of routine, David picked up a receiver and placed it to his ear.  The
+sub-editor of the newspaper whose representative had not been gone five
+minutes asked if he was speaking to Mr. Verity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," said David, "wot's up now?" and he motioned to Bulmer to use a
+second receiver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A cablegram from Pernambuco states specifically that the captain and
+crew of the <I>Andromeda</I> fought their way across the island of Fernando
+Noronha, rescued Dom De Sylva, seized a steam launch, attacked and
+captured the German steamship <I>Unser Fritz</I>, and landed the insurgent
+leader at Maceio.  The message goes on to say that the captain's name
+is Coke, and that he is accompanied by his daughter.&#8230;  Eh?  What
+did you say?&#8230;  Are you there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I'm 'ere, or I think I am," said David with a desperate calmness.
+"Is that all?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All for the present."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It doesn't say that Coke is a ravin', tearin', 'owlin' lunatic, does
+it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No.  Is that your view?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bulmer's hand gripped David's wrist.  Their eyes met.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was thinkin' that the chap who writes these penny novelette wires
+might 'ave rounded up his yarn in good shape," said Verity aloud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But there is not the slightest doubt that something of the kind has
+occurred," said the voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a put-up job!" roared David.  "Them bloomin' Portygees 'ave sunk
+my ship, an' they're whackin' in their flam now so as to score first
+blow.  A year-old baby 'ud see that if 'is father was a lawyer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub-editor laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I'll ring you up again when the next message comes through," he
+said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But to Bulmer, David said savagely:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot's bitten Coke?  'E must 'ave gone stark, starin' mad."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Iris is alive!" murmured Bulmer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nice mess she med of things w'en she slung 'er 'ook from Linden
+'Ouse," grunted her uncle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't blame 'er.  She meant no 'arm.  She's on'y a bit of a lass,
+w'en all is said an' done.  Mebbe it's my fault, or yours, or the fault
+of both of us.  An' now, David, I'll tell you wot I 'ad in me mind in
+comin' 'ere this morning.  You're hard up.  You don't know where to
+turn for a penny.  If you're agreeable, I'll put a trustworthy man in
+this office an' give 'im full powers to pull your affairs straight.
+Mind you, I'm doin' this for Iris, not for you.  An' now that we know
+wot's 'appening in South America, you an' I will go out there and look
+into things.  A mail steamer will take us there in sixteen days, an'
+before we sail we can work the cables a bit so as to stop Iris from
+startin' for 'ome before we arrive.  The trip will do us good, an'
+we'll be away from the gossip of Bootle.  Are you game?  Well, gimme
+your 'and on it."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-238"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-238.jpg" ALT="&quot;Well, gimme your 'and on it&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="394" HEIGHT="589">
+<H3>
+[Illustration: "Well, gimme your 'and on it"]
+</H3>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap12"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE LURE OF GOLD
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"Philip, I want to tell you something."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Something pleasant?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then why tell me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because, unhappily, it must be told.  I hope you will forgive me,
+though I shall never forgive myself.  Oh, my dear, my dear, why did we
+ever meet?  And what am I to say?  I&mdash;well, I have promised to marry
+another man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Disgraceful!" said Philip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though Iris's faltered confession might fairly be regarded as
+astounding, Philip was unmoved.  The German captain had given him a
+cigar, and he was examining it with a suspicion that was pardonable
+after the first few whiffs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Philip dear, this is quite serious," said Iris, momentarily
+withdrawing her wistful gaze from the far-away line where sapphire sea
+and amber sky met in harmony.  Northeastern Brazil is a favored clime.
+Bad weather is there a mere link, as it were, between unbroken weeks of
+brilliant sunshine, when nature lolls in the warmth and stirs herself
+only at night under the moon and the stars.  That dingy trader, the
+<I>Unser Fritz</I>, ostensibly carrying wool and guano from the Argentine to
+Hamburg, was now swinging west at less than half speed over the long
+rollers which alone bore testimony to the recent gale.  Already a deep
+tint of crimson haze over the western horizon was eloquent, in nature's
+speech, of land ahead.  At her present pace, the <I>Unser Fritz</I> would
+enter the harbor at Pernambuco on the following morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, her troubled face resting on her hands, her elbows propped on the
+rails of the poop on the port side, looked at Philip with an intense
+sadness that was seemingly lost on him.  His doubts concerning the
+cigar had grown into a certainty.  He cast it into the sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I really mean what I say," she continued in a low voice that vibrated
+with emotion, for her obvious distress was enhanced by his evident
+belief that she was jesting.  "I have given my word&mdash;written
+it&mdash;entered into a most solemn obligation.  Somehow, the prospect of
+reaching a civilized place to-morrow induces a more ordered state of
+mind than has been possible since&mdash;since the <I>Andromeda</I> was lost."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is he?" demanded Hozier darkly.  "Coke is married.  So is Watts.
+Dom Corria has other fish to fry than to dream of committing bigamy.
+Of course, I am well aware that you have been flirting outrageously
+with San Benavides&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please don't make my duty harder for me," pleaded Iris.  "Before I met
+you, before we spoke to each other that first day at Liverpool, I had
+promised to marry Mr. Bulmer, an old friend of my uncle's&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh,&mdash;he?&#8230;  I am sorry for Mr. Bulmer, but it can't be done,"
+interrupted Hozier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Philip, you do not understand.  I&mdash;I cared for nobody then&nbsp;&#8230; and
+my uncle said he was in danger of bankruptcy&nbsp;&#8230; and Mr. Bulmer
+undertook to help him if I would consent.&#8230;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," agreed Philip, with an air of pleasant detachment, "I see.  You
+are in a first-rate fix.  I was always prepared for that.  Coke told me
+about Bulmer&mdash;warned me off, so to speak.  I forgot his claims at odd
+times, just for a minute or so, but he is a real bugbear&mdash;a sort of
+matrimonial bogey-man.  If all goes well, and we enter Pernambuco
+without being fired at, you will be handed over to the British Consul,
+and he will send a rousing telegram about you to England.  Bulmer, of
+course, will cause a rare stir at home.  Who wouldn't?  No wonder you
+are scared!  It seems to me that there is only one safe line of action
+left open."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris did not respond to his raillery.  She was despondent, nervous,
+uncertain of her own strength, afraid of the hurricane of publicity
+that would shortly swoop down on her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish you would realize how I feel in this matter," she said, with a
+persistence that was at least creditable to her honesty of purpose.  "A
+woman's word should be held as sacred as a man's, Philip."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned and met her eyes.  There was a tender smile on his lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So you really believe you will be compelled to marry Mr. Bulmer?" he
+cried.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, don't be horrid!" she almost sobbed.  "I cuc&mdash;cuc&mdash;can't help it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have given some thought to the problem myself," he said, for, in
+truth, he was beginning to be alarmed by her tenacity, though
+determined not to let her perceive his changed mood.  "Curiously
+enough, I was thinking more of your dilemma than of the signals when we
+were overhauled by the <I>Sao Geronimo</I> this morning.  Odd, isn't it, how
+things pop into one's mind at the most unexpected moments?  While I was
+coding our explanation that we were putting into Pernambuco for
+repairs, and that no steam yacht had been sighted between here and the
+River Plate, I was really trying to imagine what the cruiser's people
+would have said if I had told them the actual truth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His apparent gravity drew the girl's thoughts for an instant from
+contemplating her own unhappiness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How could you have done that?" she asked.  "We are going there to suit
+Senhor De Sylva's ends.  We have suffered so much already for his sake
+that we could hardly betray him now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier spread wide his hands with a fine affectation of amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wasn't talking about De Sylva," he cried.  "My remarks were strictly
+confined to the question of your marriage.  I know you far too well,
+Iris, to permit you to go back to Bootle to be lectured and browbeaten
+by your uncle.  I have never seen him, but, from all accounts, he is a
+rather remarkable person.  He likes to have his own way, irrespective
+of other folks' feelings.  I am a good guesser, Iris.  I have a pretty
+fair notion why Coke meant to leave our poor ship's bones on a South
+American reef.  I appreciate exactly how well it would serve Mr. David
+Verity's interests if his niece married a wealthy old party like
+Bulmer.  By the way how old is Bulmer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nearly seventy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even Iris herself smiled then, though her tremulous mirth threatened to
+dissolve in tears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, that's a pity," said Hozier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is very unkind of you to treat me in this manner," she protested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I am trying to help you.  I say it is a pity that Bulmer should be
+a patriarch, because his only hope of marrying you is that I shall die
+first.  Even then he must be prepared to espouse my widow.  By the way,
+is it disrespectful to describe him as a patriarch?  Isn't there some
+proverb about three score years and ten?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Philip, if only you would appreciate my dreadful position&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do.  It ought to be ended.  The first parson we meet shall be
+commandeered.  Don't you see, dear, we really must get married at
+Pernambuco?  That is what I wanted to signal to the cruiser: 'The
+<I>Unser Fritz</I> is taking a happy couple to church.'  Wouldn't that have
+been a surprise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris clenched her little hands in despair.  Why did he not understand
+her misery?  Though she was unwavering in her resolution to keep faith
+with the man who had twitted her with taking all and giving nothing in
+return, she could not wholly restrain the tumult in her veins.  Married
+in Pernambuco!  Ah, if only that were possible!  Yet she did not flinch
+from the lover-like scrutiny with which Philip now favored her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sure we would be happy together," she said, with a pathetic
+confidence that tempted him strongly to take her in his arms and kiss
+away her fears.  "But we must be brave, Philip dear, brave in the
+peaceful hours as in those which call for another sort of courage.
+Last night we lived in a different world.  We looked at death, you and
+I together, not once but many times, and you, at least, kept him at
+bay.  But that is past.  To-day we are going back to the commonplace.
+We must forget what happened in the land of dreams.  I will never love
+any man but you, Philip; yet&mdash;I cannot marry you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will marry me&mdash;in Pernambuco."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will not because I may not.  Oh, spare me any more of this!  I
+cannot bear it.  Have pity, dear!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Iris, let us at least look at the position calmly.  Do you really
+think that fate's own decree should be set aside merely to keep David
+Verity out of the Bankruptcy Court?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have given my promise, and those two men are certain I will keep it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, they shall release you.  What then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do not know my uncle, or Mr. Bulmer.  Money is their god.  They
+would tell you that money can control fate.  We, you and I, might
+despise their creed, but how am I to shirk the claims of gratitude?  I
+owe everything to my uncle.  He rescued my mother and me from dire
+poverty.  He gave us freely of his abundance.  Would you have me fail
+him now that he seeks my aid?  Ah, me!  If only I had never come on
+this mad voyage!  But it is too late to think of that now.  Perhaps&mdash;if
+I had not promised&mdash;I might steel my heart against him&mdash;but, Philip,
+you would never think highly of me again if I were so ready to rend the
+hand that fed me.  We have had our hour, dear.  Its memory will never
+leave me.  I shall think of you, dream of you, when, it may be, some
+other girl&mdash;oh, no, I do not mean that!  Philip, don't be angry with me
+to-day.  You are wringing my heart!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was in Hozier's mind to scoff in no measured terms at the absurd
+theory that he should renounce his oft-won bride because a pair of
+elderly gentlemen in Bootle had made a bargain in which she was staked
+against so many bags of gold.  But pity for her suffering joined forces
+with a fine certainty that fortune would not play such a scurvy trick
+as to rob him of his divinity after leading him through an Inferno to
+the very gate of Paradise.  For that is how he regarded the perils of
+Fernando Noronha.  He was young, and the ethics of youth cling to
+romance.  It seemed only right and just that he should have been proved
+worthy of Iris ere he gained the heaven of her love.  There might be
+portals yet unseen, with guardian furies waiting to entrap him, and he
+would brave them all for her dear sake.  But his very soul rebelled
+against the notion that he had become her chosen knight merely to
+gratify the unholy ardor of some decrepit millionaire.  He laughed
+savagely at the fantasy, and his protest burst into words strange on
+his lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall never give you up to any other man," he said.  "I have won you
+by the sword, and, please God, I shall keep you against all claimants.
+Twenty-two men sailed out of Liverpool on board the Andromeda, and it
+was given to me among the twenty-two that I should pluck you from
+darkness into light.  I had only seen you that day on the wharf, yet I
+was thinking of you constantly, little dreaming that you were within a
+few yards of me all the time.  I was planning some means of meeting you
+again when our surly-tempered skipper bade me burst in the door that
+kept you from me.  And that is what I have been doing ever since,
+Iris&mdash;breaking down barriers, smashing them, whether they were flesh
+and blood or nature's own obstacles, so that I might not lose you.
+Give you up!  Not while I live!  Why, you yourself dragged me away from
+certain death when I was lying unconscious on the <I>Andromeda's</I> deck.
+A second time, you saved not me alone but the ten others who are left
+out of the twenty-two, by bringing us back to Grand-père in the hour
+that our escape seemed to be assured had we put out to sea.  We are
+more than quits, dear heart, when we strike a balance of mutual
+service.  We are bound by a tie of comradeship that is denied to most.
+And who shall sever it?  The man who gains three times the worth of his
+ship by reason of the very dangers we have shared!  To state such a mad
+proposition is to answer it.  Who is he that he should sunder those
+whom God has joined together?  And what other man and woman now
+breathing can lay better claim than we to have been joined by the
+Almighty?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The strange exigencies of their lives during the past two days had
+ordained that this should be Philip's first avowal of his feelings.
+Under the stress of overpowering impulse he had clasped Iris to his
+heart when they were parting on the island.  In obedience to a stronger
+law than any hitherto revealed to her innocent consciousness the girl
+had flown to his arms when he came to the hut.  And that was all their
+love-making, two blissful moments of delirium wrenched from a time of a
+gaunt tragedy, and followed by a few hours of self-negation.  Yet they
+sufficed&mdash;to the man&mdash;and the woman is never too ready to count the
+cost when her heart declares its passion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the morrow was not to be denied.  Its bitter awakening had come.
+In the very agony of a sublime withdrawal Iris realized what manner of
+man this was whom she had determined to thrust aside so that she might
+keep her troth.  She dared not look at him.  She could not compel her
+quivering lips to frame a word of excuse or reiterated resolve.  With a
+heart-breaking cry of sheer anguish she fled from him, running away
+along the deck with the uncertain steps of some sorely stricken
+creature of the wild.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He did not try to restrain her.  Heedless of the perplexed scowl with
+which Coke was watching him from the bridge, he looked after her until
+she vanished in the cabin which had been vacated for her use by the
+chief engineer of the vessel.  Even her manifest distress gave him a
+sense of riotous joy that was hardly distinguishable from the keenest
+spiritual suffering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give you up!" he muttered again.  "No, Iris, not if Satan brought
+every dead Verity to aid the living one in his demand."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke, to whom tact was anathema, chose that unhappy instant to summon
+him to take charge of the ship.  The German master and crew had not
+caused trouble to their conquerors after the first short struggle.
+They washed their hands of responsibility, professed to be satisfied
+with the written indemnity and promise of reward given by De Sylva, and
+otherwise placed the resources of the vessel entirely at his disposal.
+A more peaceable set of men never existed.  Though they numbered
+sixteen, three more than the usurpers, it was quite certain that the
+thought of further resistance never entered their minds.  If anything,
+they hailed the adventure with decorous hilarity.  It formed a welcome
+break in the monotony of their drab lives.  Of course, they were
+utterly incredulous as to the ability of a scarecrow like Dom Corria to
+fulfil his financial pledges.  Therein they erred.  He was really a
+very rich man, having followed the illustrious example set by
+generations of South American Presidents in accumulating a fine
+collection of gilt-edged scrip during his tenure of office, which said
+scrip was safely lodged in London, Paris, and New York.  But the world
+always refuses to associate rags with affluence, and these worthy
+Teutons regarded De Sylva and Coke as the leaders of a gang of
+dangerous lunatics who should be humored in every possible way until a
+port was reached.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was precisely that question of a port which had engaged Coke in
+earnest consultation with De Sylva and San Benavides on the bridge
+while Iris and Hozier were lacerating each other's feelings on the poop.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Apparently, the point was settled when Hozier joined the triumvirate.
+Coke glanced at the compass, and placed the engine-room telegraph at
+"Full Speed Ahead," for the <I>Unser Fritz</I> had once been a British ship,
+and still retained her English appliances.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Keep 'er edgin' south a bit," said he to Hozier.  "There's no knowin'
+w'en that crimson cruiser will show up again, but we must try and steal
+a knot or two afore sundown."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The order roused Hozier from his stupor of wrathful bewilderment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why south?" he asked.  "If anything, Pernambuco lies north of our
+present course."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We're givin' Pernambuco the go-by.  It's Maceio for us, quick as we
+can get there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier was in no humor for conciliatory methods.  He turned on his
+heel, and walked straight to where De Sylva was leaning against the
+rails.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Captain Coke tells me that we are not making for Pernambuco," he said,
+meeting the older man's penetrating gaze with a glance as firm and
+self-contained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is what we have arranged," said Dom Corria.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It does not seem to have occurred to you that there is one person on
+board this ship whose interests are vastly more important than yours,
+senhor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Meaning Miss Yorke?" asked the other, who did not require to look
+twice at this stern-visaged man to grasp the futility of any words but
+the plainest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She will be safer at Maceio than at Pernambuco.  Our only danger at
+either place will be encountered at the actual moment of landing.  At
+Maceio there is practically no risk of finding a warship in the harbor.
+That is why we are going there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And not because you are more likely to find adherents there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a much smaller town than Pernambuco, and my strength lies
+outside the large cities, I admit.  But there can be no question as to
+our wisdom in preferring Maceio, even where the young lady's well-being
+is concerned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think differently.  At Maceio there are few, if any, Europeans.  At
+Pernambuco the large English-speaking community will protect her, no
+matter what President is in power.  I must ask you to reconsider your
+plan.  Land Miss Yorke and me at Pernambuco, and then betake yourself
+and those who follow you where you will."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke jerked himself into the dispute.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Ere, wot's wrong now?" he demanded angrily.  "Since w'en 'as a second
+officer begun to fix the ship's course?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not your second officer, nor are you my commander," said Philip.
+"At present we are fellow-pirates, or, at best, running the gravest
+risk of being regarded as pirates by any court of law.  I don't care a
+cent personally what port we make, but I do care most emphatically for
+Miss Yorke's safety."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We've argied the pros an' cons, an' it's to be Maceio," growled Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria's precise tones broke in on what threatened to develop into
+a serious dispute.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You would have been asked to join in the discussion, if, apparently,
+you were not better engaged at the moment, Mr. Hozier," he said.  "I
+assure you, on my honor, that there are many reasons in favor of Maceio
+even from the exclusive point of view of Miss Yorke's immediate future.
+She will be well cared for.  I promise to make that my first
+consideration.  The army is mainly for me, and Senhor San Benavides's
+regiment is stationed at Maceio.  The navy, on the other hand, supports
+Dom Miguel Barraca, who supplanted me, and we shall surely meet a
+cruiser or gunboat at Pernambuco.  You see, therefore, that common
+prudence&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I see that, whether willing or not, we are to be made the tools of
+your ambition," interrupted Hozier curtly.  "It is also fairly evident
+that I am the only man of the <I>Andromeda's</I> company whom you have not
+bribed to obey you.  Well, be warned now by me.  If circumstances fail
+to justify your change of route, I shall make it my business to settle
+at least one revolution in Brazil by cracking your skull."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+San Benavides, hearing the names of the two ports, understood exactly
+why the young Englishman was making such a strenuous protest.  He moved
+nearer, laying an ostentatious hand on the sword that clanked
+everlastingly at his heels.  He had never been taught, it seemed, that
+a man who can use his fists commands a readier weapon than a sword in
+its scabbard.  Hozier eyed him.  There was no love lost between them.
+For a fraction of a second San Benavides was in a position of real
+peril.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Dom Corria said coldly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No interference, I pray you, Senhor Adjudante.  Kindly withdraw."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His tone was eminently official.  San Benavides saluted and stepped
+back.  The dark scar on De Sylva's forehead had grown a shade lighter,
+but there was no other visible sign of anger in his face, and his
+luminous eyes peered steadily into Hozier's.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let me understand!" he said.  "You hold my life as forfeit if any
+mischance befalls Miss Yorke?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I accept that.  Of course, you no longer challenge my direction of
+affairs?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am no match for you in argument, senhor, but I do want you to
+believe that I shall keep my part of the compact."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke, familiar with De Sylva's resources as a debater, and by no means
+unwilling to see Hozier "taken down a peg," as he phrased it; eager,
+too, to witness the Brazilian officer's discomfiture if the second mate
+"handed it to him," thought it was time to assert himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm goin' to 'ave a nap," he announced.  "Either you or Watts must
+take 'old.  W'ich is it to be?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No need to ask Mr. Hozier any such question," said the suave Dom
+Corria.  "You can trust him implicitly.  He is with us now&mdash;to the
+death.  Captain San Benavides, a word with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"South a bit," repeated the skipper.  "Call me at two bells in the
+second dog."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was turning to leave the bridge with the Brazilians when a cheery
+voice came from a gangway beneath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yah, yah, mine frent&mdash;that's the proper lubricant.  I wouldn't give
+you tuppence a dozen for your bloomin' lager.  Well, just a freshener.
+Thanks.  Ik danky shun!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You spik Tcherman vare goot," was the reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Talk a little of all sorts.  Used to sing a Jarman song once.  What
+was that you was a-hummin' in your cabin?  Nice chune.  I've a musical
+ear meself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Someone sang a verse in a subdued baritone, tremulous with sentiment.
+The melody was haunting, the words almost pathetic under the conditions
+of life on board the disheveled <I>Unser Fritz</I>.  They told of Vienna,
+the city beloved of its sons.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+Es gibt nur eine Kaiser Stadt,<BR>
+Es gibt nur eine Wien.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"Shake, me boy!" cried the enraptured Watts to the ship's captain.  "I
+do'n' know wot it's all about, but it's reel fine.  Something to do
+with a gal, I expect.  Well, 'ere's one of the same kidney:
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+I know a maiden fair to see,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Take care!</SPAN><BR>
+She can both false and friendly be,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Beware, beware!</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Trust her not,</SPAN><BR>
+She is fooling thee!"<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Watts was both charmed and surprised when the friendly skipper
+joined in the concluding lines in his own language.  But his pleasure
+was short-lived.  Coke's inflamed visage glowered into the mess room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sink me if you ain't a daisy!" he roared, pouncing on a three-quarters
+filled bottle of rum.  "D'you fancy we're goin' to land you at Maceio
+cryin' drunk?  No, sir, not this time.  Over it goes, an' if you ain't
+dam careful, over you go after it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts could have wept without the artificial stimulus of the rum.  To
+see good liquor slung into the sea in that fashion&mdash;well, it was a sin,
+that's wot it was!  But Coke's furious eye quelled him; and revel and
+song ceased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Above, on the bridge, Hozier smiled sourly at the squall which had so
+suddenly beset the fair argosy of the convivial-minded Watts.  He tried
+to invest the incident with an excess of humor.  Any excuse would serve
+to still certain disquieting doubts that were springing into alarming
+activity.  Had he gone the best way to work in allaying Iris's
+conscience-stricken qualms?  Was he justified in adopting such a bold
+line with De Sylva?  Could it be possible&mdash;no, he refused to harbor any
+mean thought of Iris.  She loved him, he was sure; his love for her was
+at once a torment and an excruciating bliss, and both of these wearing
+sensations sadly detracted from the efficiency of the officer of the
+watch.  So our distracted Philip pulled himself up sharply, paced back
+and forth between port and starboard, and surveyed ship, binnacle, and
+horizon with alert vigilance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the fore-deck groups of sailors and firemen belonging to both
+vessels were fraternizing.  There could be little room for speculation
+as to the subject of their broken talk.  It was of De Sylva, of
+Brazil's new dictator, of the gold he would control when he became
+President again.  The slow-moving Teutonic mind was beginning to
+assimilate the notion that there was money in this escapade.  That the
+tatterdemalion then closeted with the <I>Unser Fritz's</I> captain could
+obtain a certified check for a million sterling, and twenty-five times
+as many millions of francs, and even then remain a man of means, was
+unbelievable; but if he regained power, that was different.  <I>Ende gut,
+alles gut</I>.  There might be pickings in it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon after sunset Iris reappeared.  She walked on the after deck with
+San Benavides, and seemed to be listening with great attention to
+something he was telling her.  Hozier was often compelled to look that
+way in order to make certain that the <I>Sao Geronimo</I> was not
+overhauling the ship in one of her circling flights over the wide
+channel.  He wondered what in the world San Benavides was saying that
+his chatter should be so interesting, and he acknowledged with a pang
+that Iris was deliberately avoiding his own occasional glances in her
+direction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There is no saying what would have happened had he known that the
+Brazilian was relating the scene that took place on the bridge,
+suppressing its prime motive, and twisting it greatly to Hozier's
+detriment, though with an adroit touch that deprived Iris of any power
+to resent his words.  Indeed, she read her own meaning into Philip's
+anxiety to reach Pernambuco, whereas San Benavides was striving to
+instill the belief that she would find excellent friends at Maceio.
+She was far too loyal-hearted to suspect Philip of a hidden purpose in
+urging that the voyage should end in one port rather than another.  But
+she could not forget that he said repeatedly they would be married in
+Pernambuco.  Indeed, the promise had a glamour of its own, even though
+it could never be fulfilled.  More than once her cheeks glowed with a
+rush of color that San Benavides attributed to his own delightful
+personality, and, when she paled again, his voice sank to a deeply
+sympathetic note.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And here came Watts, rejuvenated, having imbibed many pints of the
+despised lager, and humming gaily:
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Beware, Beware!</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Trust her not!</SPAN><BR>
+She is foo-oo-ooling thee!<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Confound the fellow.  Why could he not chant the piratical doggerel
+that Coke abhorred?  That, at least, would have been more appropriate
+to present surroundings?  But would it?  Ah, Philip felt a twinge then.
+"Touché!" chortled some unseen imp who plied a venomous rapier.  Thank
+goodness, a sailor was standing by the ship's bell, with his hand on a
+bit of cord tied to the clapper.  It would soon be seven o'clock.  Even
+the companionship of the uncouth skipper was preferable to this
+brooding solitariness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Hozier was relieved, and summoned to a meal in the saloon with
+Norrie and some of the ship's own officers, Iris was nowhere visible.
+He went straight to her cabin, and knocked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is it?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I, Philip.  Will you be on deck in a quarter of an hour?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But this time <I>I</I> want to tell <I>you</I> something."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Philip, dear, I am weary.  I must rest&mdash;and&mdash;I dare not meet you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dare not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid of myself.  Please leave me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He caught the sob in her voice, and it unmanned him; he stalked off,
+raging.  He remembered how the fiend, in Gounod's incomparable opera,
+whispered in the lover's ear: "Thou fool, wait for night and the moon!"
+and he was wroth with himself for the memory.  While off duty he kept
+strict watch and ward over the gangway in which Iris's cabin was
+situated.  It was useless; she remained hidden.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Unser Fritz</I> was now heading southwest, and "reeling off her ten
+knots an hour like clockwork," as Norrie put it.  The Recife, that
+enormous barrier reef which blockades hundreds of miles of the
+Brazilian coast, caused no anxiety to Coke.  He was well acquainted
+with these waters, and he held on stoutly until the occulting light of
+Maceio showed low over the sea straight ahead.  It was then after
+midnight, and the land was still ten miles distant, but the ship
+promptly resumed her role of lame duck, lest a prowling gunboat met and
+interrogated her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Coke had told Iris she might expect to be ashore about two o'clock,
+she waited until half-past one ere coming on deck.  Despite her
+unalterable decision to abide by the hideous compact entered into with
+her uncle and Bulmer, her first thought now was to find Hozier.  Though
+the sky was radiant with stars, a slight haze on the surface of the sea
+shrouded the ship's decks and passages in an uncanny darkness.  Coke's
+orders forbade the display of any lights whatsoever, except those in
+the engine-room and the three essential lamps carried externally.  So
+the <I>Unser Fritz</I> was gloomy, and the plash of the sea against her worn
+plates had an ominous sound, while the glittering white eye of the
+lighthouse winked evilly across the black plain in front.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a word Iris was thoroughly wretched, and not a little disturbed by
+the near prospect of landing in a foreign country, which would probably
+be plunged into civil war by the mere advent of De Sylva.  It need
+hardly be said that, under these circumstances, Hozier was the one man
+in whose company she would feel reasonably safe.  But she could not see
+him anywhere.  Coke and Watts, with the Brazilians and a couple of
+Germans, were on the bridge, but Hozier was not to be found.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last she hailed one of the <I>Andromeda's</I> men whom she met in a
+gangway.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Hozier, miss?" said he.  "Oh, he's forrard, right up in the bows,
+keepin' a lookout.  This is a ticklish place to enter without a pilot,
+an' we've passed two already."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This information added to her distress.  She ought not to go to him.
+Full well she knew that her presence might distract him from an
+all-important task.  So she sat forlornly on the fore-hatch, waiting
+there until he might leave his post, reviewing all the bizarre
+procession of events since she climbed an elm-tree in the garden of
+Linden House on a Sunday afternoon now so remote that it seemed to be
+the very beginning of life.  The adventures to which that elm-tree
+conducted her were oddly reminiscent of the story of Jack and the
+Beanstalk.  For once, the true had outrivaled the fabulous.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The steamer crept on lazily, and Iris fancied the hour must be nearer
+five o'clock than two when she heard Hozier's voice ring out clearly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Buoy on the port bow!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a movement among the dim figures on the bridge.  A minute
+later Hozier cried again:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Buoy on the starboard bow!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She understood then that they were in a marked channel.  Already the
+road was narrowing.  Soon they would be ashore.  At last Hozier came.
+He saw her as he jumped down from the forecastle deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why are you here, Iris?" was all he said.  She looked so bowed, so
+humbled, that he could not find it in his heart to reproach her for
+having avoided him earlier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wanted to be near you," she whispered.  "I&mdash;I am frightened, Philip.
+I am terrified by the unknown.  Somehow, on the rock our dangers were
+measurable.  Here, we shall soon be swallowed up among a whole lot of
+people."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They heard Coke's gruff order to the watch to clear the falls of the
+jolly-boat.  The <I>Unser Fritz</I> was going dead slow.  On the starboard
+side were the lights of a large town, but the opposite shore was somber
+and vague.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are we going to land at once, in a small boat?" said Iris timidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I fancy there is a new move on foot.  A gunboat is moored half a mile
+down stream.  You missed her because your back was turned.  She has
+steam up, and could slip her cables in a minute.  They saw her from the
+bridge, of course, but I did not report her, as there was a chance that
+my hail might be heard, and we came in so confidently that we are
+looked on as a local trader.  Come, let us buy a programme."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He took her by the arm with that masterful gentleness that is so
+comforting to a woman when danger is rife.  Even his jesting allusion
+to their theatrical arrival in port was cheering.  They reached the
+bridge.  Some sailors were lowering a boat as quietly as possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria approached with outstretched hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good-by, Miss Yorke," he said.  "I am leaving you for a few hours, not
+longer.  When next we meet I ought to have a sure grip of the
+Presidential ladder, and I shall climb quickly.  Won't you wish me
+luck?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish you all good fortune, Dom Corria," said Iris.  "May your plans
+succeed without bloodshed!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, this is South America, remember.  Our conflicts are usually short
+and fierce.  <I>Au revoir</I>, Mr. Hozier.  By daybreak we shall be better
+friends."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+San Benavides also bade them farewell, with an easy grace not wholly
+devoid of melodramatic pathos.  The dandy and the man of rags climbed
+down a rope ladder, the boat fell away from the ship's side, and the
+night took them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What did he mean by saying you would be 'better friends'?" whispered
+the girl.  "Have you quarreled?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We had a small dispute as to the wisdom of landing you here," said
+Philip.  "Perhaps I was wrong.  He is a clever man, and he surely knows
+his own country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Hozier!" cried Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is all clear forrard to let go anchor?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give her thirty.  You go and see to it, will you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier made off at a run.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris recalled the last time she heard similar words.  She shuddered.
+Would that placid foreshore blaze out into a roar of artillery, and the
+worn-out <I>Unser Fritz</I>, like the worn-out <I>Andromeda</I>, stagger and
+lurch into a watery grave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the only noise that jarred the peaceful night was the rattle of the
+cable and winch.  The ship fell away a few feet, and was held.  There
+was no moving light on the river.  Not even a police boat or Customs
+launch had put off.  Maceio was asleep; it was quite unprepared for the
+honor of a Presidential visit.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap13"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE NEW ERA
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+A swaggering officer and a man habited like a beggar landed unobserved
+at a coal wharf, moored a ship's boat to a bolt, and passed swiftly
+through a silent town till they reached the closed gates of an infantry
+barrack perched on a hill that rose steeply above the clustering roofs
+of Maceio.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though the seeming mendicant limped slightly, his superior stature
+enabled him to keep pace with the officer.  The pair neither lagged nor
+hesitated.  The officer knocked loudly on a small door inset in the big
+gates.  After some delay it was opened.  A sentry challenged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Capitão San Benavides," announced the officer, and the man stood to
+attention.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Enter, my friend," said San Benavides to his ragged companion.  The
+latter stepped within; the wicket was locked, and the click of the bolt
+was suggestive of the rattle of the dice with which Dom Corria De Sylva
+was throwing a main with fortune.  Perhaps some thought of the kind
+occurred to him, but he was calm as if he were so poor that he had
+naught more to lose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is the officer of the guard?" San Benavides asked the soldier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Senhor Tenente [Lieutenant] Regis de Pereira, senhor capitão."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell him, with my compliments, that I shall be glad to meet him at the
+colonel's quarters in fifteen minutes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The queerly-assorted pair moved off across the barrack square.  The
+sentry looked after them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My excellent captain seems to have been brawling," he grinned.  "But
+what of the <I>mendigo</I>?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+What, indeed?  A most pertinent question for Brazil, and one that would
+be loudly answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The colonel's house was in darkness, yet San Benavides rapped
+imperatively.  An upper window was raised.  A voice was heard, using
+profane language.  A head appeared.  Its owner cried, "Who is
+it?"&mdash;with additions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"San Benavides."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Christo!  And the other?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One whom you expect."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The head popped in.  Soon there was a light on the ground floor.  The
+door opened.  A very stout man, barefooted, who had struggled into a
+pair of abnormally tight riding-breeches, faced them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can it be possible?" he exclaimed, striking an attitude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria spoke not a word.  He knew the value of effect, and could
+bide his time.  The three passed into a lighted apartment.  De Sylva
+placed himself under a chandelier, and took off a frayed straw hat
+which he had borrowed from someone on board the <I>Unser Fritz</I>.  The
+colonel, a grotesque figure in his present <I>deshabillé</I>, bowed low
+before him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My President!&mdash;I salute you," he murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you, General," said Dom Corria, smiling graciously.  "I knew I
+could depend on you.  How soon can you muster the regiment?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In half an hour, Excellency."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See that there is plenty of ammunition for the machine guns.  What of
+the artillery?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The three batteries stationed here are with us heart and soul."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Colonel San Benavides, as chief of the staff, is acquainted with every
+detail.  You, General, will assume command of the Army of Liberation.
+Some trunks were sent to you from Paris, I believe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are in the room prepared for your Excellency."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let me go there at once and change my clothing.  I must appear before
+the troops as their President, not as a jail-bird.  For the moment I
+leave everything to you and San Benavides.  Let Senhor Pondillo be
+summoned.  He will attend to the civil side of affairs.  You have my
+unqualified approval of the military scheme drawn up by you and my
+other friends.  There is one thing&mdash;a gunboat lies in the harbor.  Is
+she the <I>Andorinha</I>?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The newly-promoted general smote his huge stomach with both
+hands&mdash;"beating the drum," he called it&mdash;and the rat-tat signified
+instant readiness for action.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The guns will soon scare that bird," he exclaimed.  As <I>Andorinha</I>
+means "swallow" in English there was some point to the remark.  Nor was
+he making a vain boast.  The most astounding feature of every
+revolution in a South American republic is the alacrity with which the
+army will fire on the navy, <I>et vice versâ</I>.  The two services seem to
+be everlastingly at feud.  If politicians fail to engineer a quarrel,
+the soldiers and sailors will indulge in one on their own account.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was so now at Maceio.  Dawn was about to peep up over the sea when
+twelve guns lumbered through the narrow streets, waking many startled
+citizens.  A few daring souls, who guessed what had happened, rushed
+off on horseback or bicycle to remote telegraph offices.  These
+adventurers were too late.  Every railway station and post-office
+within twenty miles was already held by troops.  Revolts are conducted
+scientifically in that region.  Their stage management is perfect, and
+the cumbrous methods of effete civilizations might well take note of
+the speed, thoroughness, and efficiency with which a change of
+government is effected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For instance, what could be more admirable than the scaring of the bird
+by General Russo?  He drew up his three batteries on the wharf opposite
+the unsuspecting <I>Andorinha</I>, and endeavored to plant twelve shells in
+the locality of her engine-room without the least hesitation.  There
+was no thought of demanding her surrender, or any quixotic nonsense of
+that sort.  In the first place, no man would act as herald, since he
+would be shot or stabbed the instant his errand became known; in the
+second, as Hozier had explained to Iris, the gunboat could slip her
+cable very quickly, and Russo's artillerists might miss a moving object.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As it was, every gun scored, though the elevation was rather high.  The
+shells made a sad mess of the superstructure, but left the engines
+intact.  The sailors, on their part, knew exactly what had happened.
+Every man who escaped death or serious injury from the bursting
+missiles ran to his post.  A wire hawser and mooring rope were severed
+with axes, the screw revolved, and the <I>Andorinha</I> was in motion.
+Though winged, she still could fly.  The second salvo of projectiles
+was less damaging; again the gunners failed to reach the warship's
+vitals.  Her commander got his own armament into action, and managed to
+demolish a warehouse and a grain elevator.  Then he made off down the
+coast toward Rio de Janeiro.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sudden uproar stirred Maceio from roof to basement.  Its
+inhabitants poured into the Plaza.  Every man vied with his neighbor in
+yelling: "The revolution is here!  <I>Viva Dom Corria</I>!  <I>Abajo São
+Paulo</I>!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That last cry explained a good deal.  The State of São Paulo had long
+maintained a "corner" in Brazilian Presidents.  De Sylva, a native of
+Alagoas, was the first to break down the monopoly.  Hence the cabal
+against him; hence, too, the readiness of Maceio, together with many of
+the smaller ports and the whole of the vast interior, to espouse his
+cause.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the purposes of this story, which is mainly concerned with the
+lives and fortunes of a few insignificant people unknown to history, it
+is not necessary to follow in detail the trumpetings, proclamations,
+carousals, and arrests that followed Dom Corria's first success.  It is
+a truism that in events of international importance the very names of
+the chief actors ofttimes go unrecorded.  Future generations will ask,
+perhaps:&mdash;Who blew up the <I>Maine</I>?  Who persuaded the Tsar to break his
+word anent Port Arthur?  Who told Paul Kruger that the Continent of
+Europe would support the Boers against Great Britain?   Such instances
+could be multiplied indefinitely, and the rule held good now in Brazil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If any polite Pernambucano, Maceio-ite, or merchant of Bahia were
+informed that President De Sylva's raid was alone rendered possible by
+the help of a truculent British master-mariner and a dozen or so of his
+hard-bitten crew, he (the said Brasileiro) might be skeptical, or, at
+best, indifferent.  But let the name of some puppet politician hailing
+from São Paulo be mentioned, and his eyes would flash with angry
+recognition; yet the <I>Andromeda's</I> small contingent achieved more than
+a whole army of conspirators.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The one incident, then, of a political nature, in which the victors of
+the tussle on Fernando Noronha were publicly concerned, was the outcome
+of a message cabled by Dom Corria while the smoke of Russo's cannon
+still clung about the quay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was written in German, addressed to a Hamburg shipping firm, and ran
+as follows: "Have sold <I>Unser Fritz</I> to Senhor Pondillo of this port as
+from September 1st, for 175,000 marks.  If approved, cable
+confirmation, and draw on Paris branch Deutsche Bank at sight.  Franz
+Schmidt, care German Consul, Maceio."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This harmless commercial item was read by many officials hostile to De
+Sylva, yet it evoked no comment.  Its first real effect was observable
+in the counting-house of the Hamburg owners.  There it was believed
+that Captain Schmidt had either become a lunatic himself or was in
+touch with a rich one.  Schmidt was so well known to them that they
+acted on the latter hypothesis.  They cabled him their hearty
+commendation, "drew" on the Paris bank by the next post, and awaited
+developments.  To their profound amazement, the money was paid.  As
+they had obtained 8,750 pounds for a vessel worth about one-quarter of
+the sum, they had good reason to be satisfied.  It mattered not a jot
+to them that the sale was made "as from September 1st," or any other
+date.  They signed the desired quittance, cabled Schmidt again to ask
+if Senhor Pondillo was in need of other ships of the <I>Unser Fritz</I>
+class, and the members of the firm indulged that evening in the best
+dinner that the tip-top restaurant of Hamburg could supply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were puzzled next day by certain statements in the newspapers, and
+were called on to explain to a number of journalists that the ship had
+left their ownership.  She was at Maceio.  Where was Maceio?  Somewhere
+in South America.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Es ist nicht von Bedeutung</I>," said the senior partner to his
+associates.  "Schmidt will write full particulars; when all is said and
+done, we have the money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yet it did matter very greatly, as shall be seen.  Here, again, was an
+instance of an humble individual becoming a cog in the wheel of world
+politics.  Within less than a month Schmidt was vituperated by half the
+chancelleries of Europe.  A newspaper war raged over him.  He became
+the object of an Emperor's Jovian wrath.  "What's the matter with
+Schmidt?  He's&mdash;all&mdash;right!" thundered the whole press of the United
+States.  And all because he had made a good bargain at a critical
+moment!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But no one on board the <I>Unser Fritz</I> was vexed by aught save present
+tribulations when De Sylva and his <I>aide</I> quitted the ship.  Be sure
+that not a soul thought of sleep.  Every man, and the one woman whom
+chance had thrown in their midst, remained on deck and watched the
+slumbering town.  It was only a small place.  The <I>Andorinha</I> lay at
+one end of the harbor, the <I>Unser Fritz</I> at the other.  They were
+barely half a mile apart, and Maceio climbed the sloping shore between
+the two points.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier, of course, had forgiven Iris for her aloofness, and Iris, with
+that delightful inconsistency which ranks high among the many charms of
+her sex, found that "Philip dear," though she might not marry him, was
+her only possible companion.  He, having acquired an experience
+previously lacking, took care to fall in with her mood.  She, weary of
+a painful self-repression, cheated the frowning gods of "just this one
+night."  So they looked at the twinkling lights, spoke in whispers lest
+they should miss any tokens of disturbance on shore, elbowed each other
+comfortably on the rails of the bridge, and uttered no word of love or
+future purpose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were discussing nothing more important than the sufferings of
+Watts&mdash;whom Coke would not allow to go out of his sight&mdash;when a
+lightning blaze leaped from the somber shadows of some buildings on the
+quay lower down the river.  Again, and many times again, the sudden
+jets of flame started out across the black water.  Iris, or Hozier, for
+that matter, had never seen a field-piece fired by night, but before
+the girl could do other than grip Philip's arm in a spasm of fear, the
+thunder of the artillery rolled across the harbor, and the worn plates
+of the <I>Unser Fritz</I> quivered under the mere concussion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By jove, they're at it!" cried Philip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris felt the thrill that shook him.  She could not see his face, but
+she knew that his blue eyes were shining like bright steel.  She was
+horrified at the thought of red war being so near, yet she was proud of
+her lover.  At these mortal crises, the woman demands courage in the
+man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!" she gasped, and clung to him more tightly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Under such circumstances it was only to be expected that his arm would
+clasp her round the waist; Disraeli's famous epigram was coined for
+diplomacy, not for love-making.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier strained his eyes through the gloom to try and discover the
+effect of the cannonade on the gunboat.  He was quickly alive to the
+significance of the answering broadside.  Then the black hull grew dim
+and vanished.  His sailor's sympathies went with the escaping ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She has got away!  I am jolly glad of it," he cried.  "It was a dirty
+trick to open fire on her in that fashion.  Just how they served the
+<I>Andromeda</I>, the hounds, only we had never a gun to tickle them up in
+return."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you think that many of the poor creatures have been killed?" asked
+Iris tremulously.  The din of ordnance and bursting shells had ceased
+as suddenly as it began.  Lights appeared in nearly every house.
+Shouting men were running along the neighboring wharf.  Maceio, never a
+heavy sleeper in bulk, dreamed for a second of earthquakes, leaped out
+of bed, and ran into the streets in the negligent costume which the
+Italians describe by the delightful word, <I>confidenza</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't suppose so," Hozier reassured her.  "If the artillery had made
+good practice at that short range the gunboat must have sunk at her
+moorings.  Her men naturally couldn't miss the town.  There was a rare
+old rattle among the crockery behind the soldiers.  Did you hear it?  I
+wonder what went over?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was as excited as a schoolboy, almost jubilant.  Poor Iris!  Though
+she was now a veteran in scenes of death and disaster, she realized
+that fate had erred in choosing her as a heroine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke and Watts drew near.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dom Wot's-'is-name wasn't long in gettin' busy," chuckled Coke.  "Gev'
+her a dose of the <I>Andromeda's</I> physic, eh?  I'm sorry the blighters
+managed to 'ook it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though he had just uttered an opinion directly contrary to his
+captain's, Hozier deemed it wise to be non-committal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The guns must have been laid badly," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mebbe, an' wot's more, d&mdash;n 'em, they knew there was something in
+front that could shoot back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Coke was at least impartial.  He cared not a jot how the Brazilians
+slaughtered each other so long as De Sylva established the new regime
+speedily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I never was a fightin' man meself," murmured Watts weakly.  "That sort
+of thing gives me a sinkin' sensation in me innards."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot you want is a drink, me boy," said Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts brightened.  He drew a deep breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I reelly believe that's wot's wrong with me," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I'll just ax the cook to 'urry up with the corfee," guffawed the
+unfeeling skipper.  "We'll all be the better for a snack an' somethink
+'ot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris managed to choke down an hysterical laugh.  Coke was incorrigible,
+yet she was conscious of a growing appreciation of his crude chivalry.
+He boasted truly that he feared neither man nor devil.  His chief
+defect lay in being born several centuries too late.  Had he flourished
+during the Middle Ages, Coke would have carved out a kingdom.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even while the men were thus callously discussing the tragedy that had
+been enacted before their eyes, the miracle of the dawn was
+transforming night into day.  In the tropics there is no hesitancy
+about sunrise.  The splendid imagery of Genesis is literally exact.
+"Let there be light; and there was light&nbsp;&#8230; and God divided the
+light from the darkness."  Long before the <I>Andorinha</I> had crept round
+the southern headland of the Macayo estuary she became visible again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About six o'clock a grand review was held in the Plaza, or chief
+square.  Dom Corria, a resplendent personage on horseback, made a fine
+speech.  He was vociferously applauded, by both troops and populace.
+General Russo, also mounted, assured him that Brazil was pining for
+him.  In effect, when he was firmly established in the Presidency, the
+people would be allowed to vote for him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have borne two years of misrule," vociferated the
+commander-in-chief, "but it has vanished before the fiery breath of our
+guns.  We hail your Excellency as our liberator.  Long live Dom Corria!
+Down with&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fierce "Vivas" of the mob, combined with the general's weight,
+proved too much for his charger, which plunged violently.  Russo was
+held on accidentally by his spurs.  There was a lively interlude until
+an orderly seized the bridle, and the general was able to disengage the
+rowels from the animal's ribs.  When tranquillity was restored, the
+soldiers marched off to their quarters, and Colonel San Benavides
+boarded the <I>Unser Fritz</I>.  He invited Iris, Schmidt, Coke, and Hozier
+to breakfast with the President at the principal hotel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts was not included in the list of guests.  Being indignant, he
+expressed himself freely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nice thing!" he said to Norrie.  "We're not good enough to be axed.
+It was a bit of all right w'en we 'elped 'im out of quod, but now 'e's
+a bloomin' toff we're low-down sailormen&mdash;that's wot we are."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Man, ye're fair daft," growled the Scot.  "It's as plain as the neb on
+yer face that he canna dae wi' a', so he just picked the twa skippers
+and the lassie; he kent weel she wadna stir an inch withoot Hozier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Norrie was right, as it happened, but Watts added another grudge to his
+score against De Sylva.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, though dynasties totter and empires crash, the first thing a woman
+thinks of when bidden to a public gathering is her attire.  Iris
+declared most emphatically that to expect her to go ashore and meet
+certain military and civic dignitaries while she was wearing a costume
+originally purchased for mountaineering, which had endured the rough
+usage of the past two days, was "for to laugh."  She was speaking
+French, and that was the literal phrase she used.  The courteous San
+Benavides smiled away her protest.  His Excellency had foreseen the
+difficulty.  Those who knew Dom Corria best would not credit that he
+should forget anything.  The Senhora Pondillo awaited Iris at the hotel
+with a supply of new clothing.  Captain Schmidt, of course, could
+depend on his own wardrobe, but Captain Coke and the Senhor Hozier
+would find a tradesman in their rooms who had guaranteed to equip them
+suitably.  Moreover, the same outfitter would visit the ship during the
+morning and make good the lost raiment and boots of the other officers
+and men of the <I>Andromeda</I>.  San Benavides spoke like the ambassador of
+a prince, and, in the sequel, there was no stint of deeds to give
+effect to his promises.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the way to the hotel Iris saw a large building labeled "Casa do
+Correio e Telegraphia."  It was not surprising that she had not thought
+earlier of the necessity of cabling to Liverpool.  She blushed, and
+looked involuntarily at Hozier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must send a message to my uncle," she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Were Philip a professed spiritualist, the spectral shapes of David
+Verity and Dickey Bulmer could not have been more effectually
+"projected" into his astral plane at Maceio than they were at that
+instant.  He had not set eyes on either of the men, but the girl's
+words conjured them into being, and the vision was vastly disagreeable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+San Benavides, of course, was anxious to oblige Iris in this as in
+every other respect.  He procured the requisite form, told her the
+cost, which led to a condensed version of the original draft, smoothed
+away the slight hindrance of foreign money tendered in payment, and
+arranged the due delivery of a reply.  Perhaps he smiled when he read
+what she had written.  The words were comprehensible even to one who
+did not understand English:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Andromeda</I> lost.  Arrived here safely.  Address, Yorke, Maceio."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a space at the foot of the form on which it was necessary to
+subscribe her name and local address.  So she wrote, "Iris Yorke,
+steamship <I>Unser Fritz</I>, Maceio harbor."  Hozier was standing by her
+side as she printed the words legibly.  She looked up at him with a
+curiously tense expression that he did not fathom immediately.  They
+were in the busy main street again ere its meaning occurred to him.
+The cable committed her irrevocably.  She felt that she was signing her
+own condemnation!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Among the four people, therefore, who entered the Hotel Grande in the
+Rua do Sul there were two whose feelings were the reverse of cheerful.
+But convention is stronger than the primal impulses&mdash;sometimes it
+triumphs over death itself&mdash;and convention was all-powerful now.  It
+led Iris away captive in the train of the smiling and voluble Senhora
+Pondillo, and it immersed Hozier in a tangle of fearsome words which
+turned out to be the stock in trade of a clothier.  The mere male of
+Maceio decks himself with gay plumage.  Philip was hard put to it
+before he secured some garments which did not irresistibly recall the
+heroes of certain musical comedies popular in England.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke experienced worse vicissitudes.  Even the variety and richness of
+a master mariner's vocabulary was taxed to its utmost resources when he
+was coaxed into "trying on" a short jacket apparently intended for a
+toreador.  Such minor troubles, however, were overcome in time.  A
+razor and a hot bath were by no means the least important items of the
+rejuvenating process, and when the two men entered the salon where Dom
+Corria was holding an impromptu reception they looked like a couple of
+coffee-planters from the Argentine.  Schmidt was there already.  For
+some reason, the new President seemed to be so fond of the <I>Unser
+Fritz's</I> commander that he refused to be parted from him.  It was not
+until long afterward that Hozier discovered the reason of this mushroom
+friendship.  The German consul was in the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The appearance of Iris caused something akin to a sensation.  The Dona
+Pondillo could not create English clothes, nor bad copies of French,
+but her own daughters dressed in the height of local fashion, and Dom
+Corria's earnest request had made them generous.  The dark-eyed,
+olive-complexioned women of Alagoas are often exceedingly beautiful,
+but few of those present had ever seen a brown-haired, brown-eyed,
+fair-faced Englishwoman.  Iris was remarkably good-looking, even among
+the pretty girls of her own county of Lancashire.  Her large, limpid
+eyes, well-molded nose, and perfectly formed mouth were the dominant
+features of a face that had all the charm of youth and health.  Her
+smooth skin, brown with exposure to sun and air, glowed into a rich
+crimson when she found herself in the midst of so many strangers.  The
+slightly delicate semblance induced by the hardships and loss of rest
+which fell to her lot since the <I>Andromeda</I> went to pieces on the
+Grand-père rock in no wise detracted from her appearance.  She wore the
+elegant costume of a Maceio belle with ease and distinction.  If she
+was flurried by the undisguised murmur of admiration that greeted her,
+she did not show it beyond the first rush of color.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria, dragging Schmidt with him, hurried to meet her.  Surprise
+at his gala attire helped to conquer her natural timidity, for the
+President was gorgeous in blue and gold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My good wishes are soon changed into congratulations, Senhor," she
+said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, my dear young lady, I am overjoyed that you should be here to
+witness my success," he cried.  Then, as if he had waited for this
+moment, he turned to the assembled company and delivered an eloquent
+panegyric of the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew and their <I>deusa deliciosa</I>&mdash;for
+that is what he called Iris&mdash;a delightful goddess.  He had made many
+speeches already that day, but none was more heartfelt than this.  His
+eulogy was unstinted.  Luckily for Iris, she was so conscious of the
+attention she attracted that she kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on the
+carpet.  Otherwise, having a well-developed sense of humor, she must
+have laughed outright had she seen Coke's face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He, of course, understood no word that was said.  But De Sylva's
+animated gestures and flashing eyes were enough.  Ever and anon, the
+excitable citizens of Maceio would turn and gaze at one or other of the
+three, while loud cries of "Bravo!" punctuated the President's oratory.
+When Coke's turn came for these demonstrations, he tried to grin, but
+was only able to scowl.  For once in his stormy life he was nonplused.
+His brick-red countenance glowed with heat and embarrassment.  At the
+close of the speech he muttered to Hozier:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wish I'd ha' known wot sort of beano I was comin' to.  Dam if I ain't
+meltin'."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This ordeal ended, déjeuner was served.  The President took in Iris and
+the Dona Pondillo.  They were the only ladies present.  The three
+sailors, some staff officers, and a few local celebrities, made up the
+rest of the company.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hozier, though by no means indifferent to the good fare provided, was
+wondering how many hours would elapse before Iris's cablegram reached
+Verity's office, when some words caught his ear that drove all other
+considerations from his mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, there is not the slightest
+chance of your message reaching England to-day, Miss Yorke," the
+President was saying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But why not?" she asked, with an astonishment that was not wholly the
+outcome of regret.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The cable does not land here, and the transmitting stations will be
+closely watched, now that my arrival in Brazil is known.  Even the
+simplest form of words will be twisted into a political significance.
+No, I think it best to be quite candid.  Until I control Pernambuco,
+which should be within a week or ten days, you may rest assured that no
+private cablegrams will be forwarded."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, dear, I fully expected a reply to-day," she said, and now that she
+realized the effect of a further period of anxiety on the Bootle
+partnership she was genuinely dismayed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may be sure it will not come," said Dom Corria.  "Indeed I may as
+well take this opportunity of explaining to you&mdash;and to my other
+English friends"&mdash;with the interpolated sentence his glance dwelt
+quietly on Hozier and Coke&mdash;"the exact position locally.  You see,
+Maceio is a small place, and easily approached from the sea.  A hostile
+fleet could knock it to pieces in half an hour, and it would be a poor
+reward for my supporters' loyalty if my presence subjected them to a
+bombardment.  I have no strong defenses or heavy guns to defy attack,
+and my troops are not more than a thousand men, all told.  It is
+obvious that I must make for the interior.  There, I gather strength as
+I advance, the warships cannot pursue, and I can choose my own
+positions to meet the half-hearted forces that Dom Miguel will collect
+to oppose me.  In fact, I and every armed man in Maceio march
+up-country this afternoon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, by this time, was thoroughly frightened, and Hozier, who read
+more in De Sylva's words than was possible in her case, was watching
+the speaker's calm face with a fixity that might have disconcerted many
+men.  Dom Corria seemed to be unaware of either the girl's distress or
+Philip's white anger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You naturally ask how I propose to safeguard the companions of my
+flight from Fernando Noronha," he went on.  "I answer at once&mdash;by
+taking them with me.  The Senhora Pondillo and her family will
+accompany her husband to my <I>quinta</I> at Las Flores.  A special train
+will take all of us to the nearest railway station this afternoon.
+Thence my estate is but a day's march.  You and my other friends from
+both ships will be quite safe and happy there until order is restored.
+You must come.  The men's lives, at any rate, would not be worth an
+hour's purchase if my opponent's forces found them here, and I feel
+certain that one or more cruisers will arrive off Maceio to-night.  For
+you, this excursion will be quite a pleasant experience, and you can
+absolutely rely on my promise to send news of your safety to England at
+the very first opportunity."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris could say nothing under the shock of this intelligence.  She
+looked at Philip, and their eyes met.  They both remembered the glance
+they had exchanged at the post-office.  Preoccupied by their own
+thoughts, neither of them had noticed the smile San Benavides indulged
+in on that occasion, nor did they pay heed to the fact that he was
+smiling again now, apparently at some story told him by General Russo.
+But San Benavides was sharp-witted.  He needed no interpreter to make
+clear the cause of the chill that had fallen on the President's end of
+the table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has told them," he thought, perhaps.  And, if further surmise were
+hazarded as to his views, they might well prove to be concerned with
+the wonderful things that can happen within a week or ten
+days&mdash;especially when things are happening at the rate taken by events
+just then in Brazil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of course, as a philosopher, San Benavides was right; it was in the
+role of prophet that he came to grief, this being the pre-ordained fate
+of all false prophets.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap14"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CARMELA
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Among the many words borrowed by the Brazilians from their
+Spanish-speaking neighbors, that for "to-morrow" is perhaps the most
+popular.  The Spaniard's <I>Mañana</I> is so elastic that it covers any
+period of time between the next twenty-four hours and the indefinite
+future.  When, therefore, Dom Sylva spoke of controlling Pernambuco
+before the month of September was barely half sped, he was either too
+sanguine, or too literal in his translation of easy-going Portuguese
+into vigorous English.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His <I>quinta</I>, or country house, was situated on the upper watershed of
+the river Moxoto.  There he raised his standard, thither flocked rebels
+galore, and in that direction, with due caution, President Barraca
+pushed columns of troops by road and rail from Bahia, from Pernambuco,
+and from Maceio itself.  For Barraca held the sea, and the wealthy and
+enterprising south was strongly opposed to war, while Dom Corria
+trusted to the mountains and drew his partisans from the less energetic
+north.  This bald statement has an unconvincing sound in the ears of
+races which dwell north of the equator, but it must be remembered that
+Brazil, in more respects than one, is the land of topsy-turveydom.
+Were it not that the mass of the people was heartily sick of a corrupt
+regime, De Sylva would have been dead or in irons on his way back to
+Fernando Noronha well within the time allotted for the consolidation of
+his rule.  As it was, minor insurrections were breaking out in the
+southern provinces, the reigning President could trust only in the
+navy, and the conservatism of commerce and society, as represented by
+the great landowners of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Minas Geraes,
+alone stifled the upgrowth of an overwhelming national movement in Dom
+Corria's favor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a word, De Sylva commanded public sympathy but small resources;
+Barraca was unpopular but controlled the navy and part of the army.
+Given such conditions&mdash;with the added absurdity that the troops on both
+sides were most unwilling to face long-range rifle fire but would
+cheerfully hack each other to mince-meat with knives&mdash;and a tedious,
+indeterminate campaign is the certain outcome.  De Sylva had said that
+local conflicts were usually "short and fierce."  Applied to such
+upheavals as had taken place in the capital during recent years, the
+phrase was strictly accurate.  He himself had been bundled out of
+office between Mass and Vespers on a memorable Sunday.  But a convict
+on a remote island cannot organize such a perfect example of a
+successful revolt.  He had done much in gaining a good foothold; the
+rest must be left to time and chance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few indecisive but sanguinary engagements were fought in the
+neighborhood of Pesqueira, a town in the hills about one hundred miles
+from the seaboard.  These proved that General Russo was a valiant
+fighter but a poor tactician&mdash;and that was all.  He was opposed by a
+commander of little courage but singular skill in strategy.  To restore
+the balance, Dom Corria took the field in person, and Dom Miguel
+Barraca hastened from Rio de Janeiro to witness the crushing of his
+arch-enemy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The position was complicated by the arrival at Pernambuco of a German
+squadron bearing a telegraphic cartel from the Emperor.  A German ship
+had been seized on the high seas.  Why?  And by whom?  And how could
+anybody dare?  Then Brazil quivered, for every South American knows in
+his heart that the great navy of Germany is being created not so much
+to destroy England as to dispute the proud doctrine of the United
+States that no European power shall ever again be allowed to seize
+territory on the American continent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So there were strenuous days and anxious nights at Las Flores, where
+President De Sylva sought to equip and discipline his levies, and at
+Carugru, where President Barraca called on all the gods to witness that
+De Sylva was a double-dyed traitor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Under such circumstances it is not surprising that a grand display of
+money and audacity, backed by sundry distant roars of the British lion,
+should enable two elderly Britons and a young Brazilian lady to pass
+through the lines of the Exercito Nacional, as Barraca had christened
+his following, in opposition to De Sylva's army of Liberation.  Lest
+too many people should become interested, the adventure was essayed on
+the night of October 2d.  Early next day the travelers and their guides
+reached the rebel outposts.  The young lady, who seemed to be at home
+in this wild country, at once urged her horse into a pace wholly beyond
+the equestrian powers of her staid companions.  They protested vainly.
+She waved a farewell hand, cantered over several miles of a rough road,
+and dashed up to the Liberationist headquarters about eight o'clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no hesitancy about her movements.  She drew rein in approved
+Gaucho style, bringing her mount to a dead stop from a gallop.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is the President?" she asked breathlessly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There, senhora," said an orderly, pointing to a marquee, open on every
+side, wherein De Sylva sat in conference with his staff.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So many officers and mounted soldiers were coming and going, so great
+was the bustle of preparation for some important movement then in
+train, that no one specially noted her arrival.  She dismounted, and
+drew the reins across the horse's head ere she tied him to a tree.  She
+saw a tall young man emerge from the tent, jump on a charger held by a
+soldier, and ride off at a fast pace toward the house of Las Flores,
+which stood in a large garden on the slope of a neighboring hill.  His
+appearance seemed to puzzle her momentarily.  His attire was that of
+Brazil, but neither his manner nor horsemanship was typical of the
+Brasileiro.  In walking, he moved with an air of purposeful
+concentration that differed singularly from the languorous stroll of
+the average Brazilian officer, while his seat in the saddle, though
+confident enough, could not be mistaken for that of a man who never
+walks a yard if there is an animal to bestride.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The new arrival was, however, at once too weary and too excited to give
+further heed to one who was an utter stranger.  She pushed her way
+through knots of smoking loungers, entered the tent, and uttered a
+little scream of delight when the President, who was writing at a big
+table, happened to glance at her.  De Sylva rose hastily, with an
+amazed look on his usually unemotional face; forthwith the girl flung
+herself into his arms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Father!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Carmela!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+San Benavides, whose back was turned, heard the joyous cries of the
+reunited father and daughter.  They were locked in each other's
+embrace, and the eyes of every man present were drawn to a pathetic and
+unexpected meeting.  For that reason, and because none gave a thought
+to him, the pallor that changed the bronze of his forehead and cheeks
+into a particularly unhealthy-looking tint of olive green passed
+unnoticed.  He swallowed something.  It must have been a curse, for it
+seemed to taste bitter.  But he managed to recover some shred of
+self-control ere the Senhora De Sylva was able to answer her father's
+first eager questions; then, with a charming timidity, she found breath
+to say:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what of Salvador&mdash;is he not here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yes, Salvador was there&mdash;by her side&mdash;striving most desperately to look
+lover-like.  They clasped hands.  Brazilian etiquette forbade a more
+demonstrative greeting, and Carmela attributed Salvador's manifest
+sallowness to the hardships of campaigning no less than the shock of
+her sudden appearance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the business of red war gave little scope for the many confidences
+that a girl who had journeyed more than four thousand miles for this
+reunion might naturally exchange with a father and a lover.  Some
+important move was toward, and the President and his chief-of-staff had
+no time to spare.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have come to bring me luck, Carmela meu," said De Sylva, stroking
+his daughter's hair affectionately.  "To-day we make our first real
+advance.  Salvador and I are going to the front now, almost this
+instant.  But there will be no fighting&mdash;an affair of outposts at the
+best&mdash;and when everything is in order we shall return here to sleep.
+Expect us, then, soon after sunset.  Meanwhile, at the <I>quinta</I> you
+will find the young English lady of whose presence you are aware.  Give
+her your friendship.  She is worthy of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Adeos, senhora!" echoed San Benavides, bringing his heels together
+with a click, and saluting.  He gathered a number of papers from the
+table with nervous haste, and at once began to issue instructions to
+several officers.  De Sylva renewed the signing of documents.  Russo
+and he conversed in low tones.  A buzz of talk broke out in the tent.
+Carmela felt that she had no part in this activity, that her mere
+presence was a positive hindrance to the work in hand.  A trifle
+disappointed, yet not without a thrill of high resolve to create for
+herself an indispensable share in the movement of which her father was
+the central figure, she went out, unhitched her tired horse, and walked
+to the house.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In Brazil, a <I>quinta</I>, or farm, may range from a palace to a hovel.
+Dom Corria was rich; consequently Las Flores attained the higher level.
+It was a straggling, roomy structure, planned for comfort and
+hospitality rather than display, and the gardens, to whose beauty and
+extent was due the Spanish name, used to be famous throughout the
+province.  Carmela had not seen the place during five years; she
+expected to find changes, but was hardly prepared for the ravages made
+by neglect, aided by unchecked tropical growth, as the outcome of her
+father's two years in prison.  The flowers were gone, the rarer shrubs
+choked by rank weeds, the trees disfigured by rampant climbers.  But,
+in front of the long, deep veranda, even the attention of a month had
+restored much of its beauty to a widespread lawn.  Here, at that early
+hour, the air was cool and the shade abundant; indeed, so embossed in
+towering trees was the wide greensward, that it seemed to flow abruptly
+into the veranda without ever a path or garden gate to break the solid
+walls of foliage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Filled with tumultuous memories, her heart all throbbing at the
+prospect of her father's fortunes being restored, the Senhora De Sylva
+was entering a gate that led to the left front of the house, when the
+young man came out whom she had seen leaving the headquarters tent.
+Again he rode like one in a hurry, and she noted that he emerged from a
+side path which gave access to the lawn.  He gave her a sharp glance as
+he passed.  She received an impression of a strong face, with
+stern-looking, bright, steel-blue eyes, a mouth tensely set, an aspect
+at once confident yet self-contained.  She was sure now he was not a
+Brazilian, and he differed most materially from the mental picture of
+Captain James Coke created by the many conversations in which he had
+figured during her long voyage from Southampton in company with David
+Verity and Dickey Bulmer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Carmela wondered now who he could be, nor was her wonder lessened
+when she peered through the screen of trees, and saw a girl, whom she
+recognized instantly as Iris, furtively dabbing her tear-stained face
+with a handkerchief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unhappily, the President's daughter was not attractive in appearance.
+She had fine eyes, and she moved with the natural elegance of her race,
+but her features were somewhat angular for one of pure-blooded
+Portuguese descent, and a too well-defined chin was more effectual as
+an index of character than as an element of personal charm.  Close
+acquaintance with the cosmopolitan society of Paris and London had
+familiarized her with many types of European and American beauty, and
+her surprise that such an uncommonly good-looking girl should be the
+niece of David Verity was not unmingled with pique at finding her
+already installed in remote Las Flores.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The veranda seemed to be a hive of feminine industry.  The Dona
+Pondillo and her daughters, together with the female relatives of
+several noted men among the insurgents, were cutting and stitching most
+industriously.  Iris Yorke's advice, perhaps her assistance, was
+evidently in demand.  Assuming that the young man who rode thither so
+rapidly had gone to see her, she could not have been absent from the
+sewing party more than five minutes, yet half a dozen ladies were
+clamoring for her already.  The truth was that many of them had never
+plied a needle before in their lives.  They had to be taught
+everything.  One peasant woman would have accomplished more real work
+than any five of the Librationist <I>grandes dames</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Despite her firm chin, Carmela De Sylva did not contemn the
+meretricious aid of dress.  Iris looked fresh and cool in soft muslin,
+whereas the newcomer was travel-stained and disheveled.  The pack-mules
+were lagging on the road, but a wash and general tidying of
+dust-covered garments would help the President's daughter to regain the
+assurance, now sadly lacking, which would be necessary ere she won her
+rightful place in a community largely composed of strangers.  As she
+led her horse back into the main avenue, she was sorry that her father
+or Salvador could not spare even the few minutes that would have
+sufficed for an introduction.  At any rate, she would probably find an
+old servant at the back of the house&mdash;some family retainer whose
+welcome would charm away this displeasing sense of intrusion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the way to the stables she heard a man singing.  The words were in
+English.  They were also quaint, for they dealt with life from a point
+of view which differed widely from that presented by Dom Corria's
+<I>finca</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+"Oh, it's fine to be a sailor" [sang Watts],<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">"an' to cross the ragin' main,</SPAN><BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">From Hooghly bar to New Orleens to roam,</SPAN><BR>
+But I 'ope that my old woman will put me on the chain<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Next time I want to quit my 'umble 'ome."</SPAN><BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Possibly the verse was an original effort, because there followed a
+marked change in tune and meter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Mid pleasures an' palaces&mdash;&mdash;'" he began, when Senhora De Sylva came
+upon him as he sat on a fence, pipe in hand, with his back braced
+comfortably against a magnificent rosewood tree.  He stopped, grinned
+sheepishly, and, not recognizing the lady, tried to cover his confusion
+by lighting the pipe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you one of the <I>Andromeda's</I> men?" asked Carmela, speaking in the
+clear and accurate English used by her father.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was well for Watts that the tree prevented him from falling
+backwards.  He was quite sober, but cheerful withal, as he had nothing
+to do but sleep, smoke, eat, and drink the light wine of the district,
+of which his only complaint was that "one might mop up a barrel of it
+an' get no forrarder."  Nevertheless, he received a positive shock when
+addressed in his own language by a young woman who was obviously of
+Brazil.  He stared at her so hard that he forgot the steady progress of
+the slow-burning tand-stikkor match recently ignited.  Its sulphurous
+flame reached his fingers and reminded him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My godfather!" he howled, springing from the rail, and recovering his
+wits instantly.  "Beg pardon, mum, but you took me aback all standin'
+as the saying is.  Christopher, didn't that match wake me up!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid it is my fault," said Carmela, who could look sympathetic
+where Iris would want to laugh.  "I have just arrived here, and
+everybody seems to be so full of troubles that I am glad to hear you
+singing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, that's just hummin', mum.  If you're fond of music you ought to
+'ear Schmidt, Captain Schmidt of the <I>Unser Fritz</I>&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela struck an attitude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot, d'ye know 'im?" asked Watts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, it is something&mdash;rather important.  I must go back to my father.
+Ah, I ought to explain.  I am the Senhora De Sylva, Dom Corria's
+daughter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you really, mum,&mdash;miss?" exclaimed Watts, highly interested.  "'Ow
+in the world did ye manage to come up from the coast?  Accordin' to all
+accounts&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, what were you going to say?" for the man hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, some of our chaps will 'ave it that we're runnin' close-hauled
+on a lee shore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela knit her brows.  The Watts idioms were not those of her
+governess.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We had no great difficulty in passing through Dom Barraca's lines, if
+that is what you mean," she said.  "Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer had
+obtained special permits, but in my case&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. 'oo, did you say, miss?" demanded Watts, whose lower jaw actually
+dropped from sheer amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Verity, the owner of the <I>Andromeda</I>.  You are one of the crew, I
+suppose?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm the chief officer.  Watts is my name, miss.  But d'you mean to
+tell me that ole David Verity 'as come 'ere&mdash;to Brazil&mdash;to this rotten&#8230;
+Sorry, miss, but you gev' me a turn, you did.  An' Dickey
+Bulmer&mdash;is <I>'e</I> 'ere too?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, or he soon will be here.  I rode on in advance of the others."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well&mdash;there&mdash;if that don't beat cock-fightin'!" cried Watts.  "Wot'll
+Coke say?  W'y, 'e'll 'ave a fit.  An' Miss Iris!  She's to marry ole
+Dickey.  Fancy 'im turnin' up!  There'll be the deuce an' all to pay,
+now, wot between 'im an' Hozier an' the dashin' colonel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The horse, trying to nibble some grass at Carmela's feet, suddenly
+threw his head up, for the cruel South American bit had tightened under
+a jerk of the reins.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is Mr. Hozier?" asked the girl calmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is, or was, our second mate, but since the colonel an' 'e got to
+loggerheads 'e took an' raised a corps of scouts.  Some of our fellows
+joined, but not me.  Killin' other folks don't agree with me a little
+bit.  I don't mind a shine in a snug or a friendly scrap over an extry
+drink, but w'en it comes to them long knives&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And the colonel&mdash;what is <I>his</I> name?" broke in Carmela, turning to
+loosen the surcingle.  She could control her voice but not her eyes,
+and she did not wish to startle this open-mouthed gossip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"San Benavides, miss.  Captain 'e was on Fernando Noronha; 'e took a
+mighty quick jump after we kem ashore.  But I ax your pardon for
+ramblin' on in this silly way.  Won't you go inside?  There's a useful
+ole party there, name of Maria&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, Maria&mdash;dear, good Maria&mdash;she at least will not have forgotten me,"
+sobbed Carmela in her own tongue, and Watts afterwards informed Coke
+that although the inhabitants of China were noted for their peculiar
+ways, when it came to a show-down in that qualification, the average
+woman could beat any Chinky ever born.  Had he but known more, Watts
+was also in a position to state that he had squared accounts with the
+scornful President.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the Senhora De Sylva might have been seized with mortal illness if
+judged solely by the manner in which she staggered into her father's
+house, threw her arms around the neck of an elderly woman whom she
+petrified by her appearance, and almost fainted&mdash;not quite, but on the
+verge, much nearer than such a strong-minded young lady would have
+thought possible an hour earlier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria screamed loudly.  Tongue-tied at first, she was badly scared when
+Carmela collapsed on her ample bosom.  Restoratives and endearments
+followed.  Carmela asked to be taken to a room where she might wash and
+shake the dust from her hair and clothes.  Maria considered ways and
+means.  Every room in the big house was crowded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is in my own apartment?" demanded Carmela.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even before the answer was forthcoming she guessed the truth.  The
+Senhora Ingleza, of course.  Those fine eyes of hers flashed
+dangerously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What, then?  Does this woman come here and take all?" she cried.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, <I>pequinina</I>, do not be angry," said Maria.  "Who save the good God
+could tell that you would come from Paris to-day?  And the Senhora
+Ingleza will be glad to give place to you.  She is so kind, so
+unselfish.  All the men adore her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I hear," murmured Carmela, trying to still the passion that
+throbbed in her heart, since she was aware that neither Maria nor any
+other among the old domestics at Las Flores knew of her engagement, and
+pride was now coming to her aid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She will have no word to say to any of them," gabbled Maria.  "There
+is a young Englishman&mdash;well, it is no affair of mine, but I am told she
+loves him, yet is promised to another, an old man, too.  <I>Santa Mãe</I>!
+That would not suit me if I were her age!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This home-coming of Carmela was quite an important event in its way.
+At first sight it bore the semblance of a mere disillusionment such as
+any girl might experience under like circumstances.  She had been taken
+from Las Flores to occupy a palace at Rio de Janeiro, and was driven
+from the palace to the hotel life of the Continent.  During two years
+she had not seen either father or lover; and lovers of the San
+Benavides ilk are apt to console themselves during these prolonged
+intervals.  Yet Carmela's shattered romance was the pivot on which
+rested the future of Brazil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Had she gone straight to Iris on leaving her father, and made known the
+astounding tidings that Verity and Bulmer were riding up the Moxoto
+Valley barely three miles away, Iris would surely have devised some
+means of acquainting Philip Hozier with the fact.  In that event,
+assuming that he awaited their arrival, the first march of an extended
+reconnaissance which he thought desirable would necessarily be
+postponed.  And then&mdash;well, the recent history of Brazil would have to
+be re-written, since there cannot be the slightest doubt that Dom
+Corria De Sylva would never have occupied the Presidential chair a
+second time.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It would be idle now to inquire too closely into the springs of
+Philip's resolve to take service under a foreign flag.  Perhaps the
+irksome state of affairs at Las Flores, where there was no mean between
+loafing and soldiering, was intolerable to a spirited youngster.
+Perhaps San Benavides, constantly riding in from the front, irritated
+him beyond endurance by his superior airs.  Or it may be that a growing
+belief in Iris's determination to sacrifice herself by redeeming her
+bond made him careless as to what happened in the near future.  The
+outcome of one or all of these influences was that he sought, and was
+readily given, a commission in the Army of Liberation.  Like all
+sailors, he preferred the mounted arm, and De Sylva, having the highest
+opinion of his thoroughness, actually appointed him to command a branch
+of the Intelligence Department.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip, trained to pin his faith in maps and charts, came to the
+conclusion that Las Flores could be attacked from the rear, which lay
+to the northwest.  The Brazilians laughed at the notion.  Where were
+the troops to come from?  Barraca must bring all his men by sea.  There
+were none stationed in those wild mountains.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Better go and make sure," quoth Philip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He ascertained the President's intentions as to the next twenty-four
+hours, assembled his little body of scouts, saw to their forage and
+equipment, took leave of Iris, and hurried off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When two stout and elderly fellow-countrymen of his climbed the last
+mile of the rough valley beneath the Las Flores slope, Philip and his
+troop were a league or more beyond the Moxoto's watershed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile, Carmela De Sylva proved that her resolute chin was not
+deceptive as a guide to temperament.  The Dona Pondillo deemed her a
+spirit when she appeared on the veranda, but Carmela's impetuous kiss
+soon disabused the worthy dame of her error.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris, wondering why the lively chatter of her Brazilian friends was so
+suddenly stilled, to be succeeded by a hubbub of excited words as the
+older ladies present gathered around the new-comer, asked one of the
+Pondillo girls what had happened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is Carmela, the President's daughter," giggled the other.  "Mother
+says she is engaged to San Benavides.  What fun!  But where has she
+come from?  When last I heard of her she was in Paris."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A month of close companionship with people who spoke Portuguese all day
+long, and often far into the night, had familiarized Iris with many of
+the common phrases.  Thus, she gathered one fact as to Carmela, and
+more than suspected another.  For a reason that every woman will
+understand, she felt a subtle thrill of fear.  If San Benavides were
+really Carmela's accepted lover, then, indeed, Iris had good cause for
+foreboding.  Though the Brazilian had never directly avowed his
+passion, since he knew quite well that she would refuse to listen, she
+could not be blind to his infatuation.  Only the threat of her dire
+displeasure had restrained Hozier from an open quarrel with him.  Her
+position, difficult enough already, would become intolerable if De
+Sylva's daughter became jealous, and she had no doubt whatsoever that
+San Benavides would seek to propitiate the woman he loved by callously
+telling the woman he had promised to marry that his affections were
+bestowed elsewhere.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her heart sank when she discovered this new maelstrom in her sea of
+troubles; but here was Carmela herself speaking to her, and in English:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So you are Iris Yorke!" the girl was saying.  "I have heard so much of
+you, yet you are so utterly different from what I imagined."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have heard of <I>me</I>?" repeated Iris, and surprise helped her to
+smile with something of her wonted self-possession.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, on board the steamer.  We sailed from Southampton, and had little
+else to talk of during the voyage.  But, of course, you cannot
+understand.  Among my fellow-passengers were your uncle and Mr. Bulmer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris had long relinquished any hope of communicating with Bootle until
+the present deadlock in the operations of the two armies was a thing of
+the past.  Completely mystified now by Carmela's glib reference to the
+two men whose names were so often in her thoughts though seldom on her
+lips, she could only gaze at the Senhora De Sylva in silent
+bewilderment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela, feeling that she was gaining ground rapidly, affected a note
+of polite regret.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please forgive me for being so abrupt.  Perhaps I ought to have
+prepared you.  But it is quite true.  Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer came
+with me from Europe.  We all reached Pernambuco the day before
+yesterday.  Indeed, if it were not for them, and the assistance they
+gave me, I would not be here now.  No one recognized me, fortunately,
+and&mdash;I hope you will not be vexed&mdash;I passed as Mr. Verity's niece.  In
+fact, I took your place for the time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A notable feature of the De Sylva utterance was its clearness.
+Carmela's concluding words could not possibly be mistaken for anything
+else.  Their meaning, on the other hand, was capable of varying shades
+of significance; but Iris was far too amazed to seek depths beneath
+their literalness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer are in Brazil&mdash;&mdash;" she began tremulously,
+but Carmela broke in with a shrill laugh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no 'if.'  Look below there, near my father's tent!  They have
+arrived.  They are asking for you.  Come, let us meet them!  I must see
+my father before he departs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris's swimming eyes could not discern the figures to which Carmela was
+pointing.  But this strange girl's triumphant tone rang like a knell in
+her heart.  She was not thinking now of the complications that might
+arise between San Benavides and his discarded flame.  She only knew
+that, by some miracle, her uncle had come to bring her home, and with
+him was the man to whom she was plighted, while Philip, only half an
+hour ago, had told her he would not see her again until the following
+evening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So this was the end of her dream.  Bitter-sweet it had been, and long
+drawn out, but forthwith she must awake to the gray actualities of life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She felt Carmela dragging her onward, irresistibly, vindictively.  She
+saw, as through a mist, David Verity's fiery-hued face, and heard his
+harsh accents.  Yes, there was no mistake.  Here was Bootle transported
+to Brazil, Linden House to Las Flores!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By gum, lass," he was bellowing, with a touch of real sentiment in his
+voice, "you've given us a rare dance afore we caught up wi' you.  But
+'ere you are, bright as a cherry, an' 'ere is Dickey an' meself come to
+fetch you.  Dash my wig, there's life in the old dogs yet, or we'd
+never ha' bin able to ride forty mile through this God-forgotten
+country.  An' damme if that isn't Coke, red as a lobster.  Jimmie, me
+boy, put it there!  Man, but you're a dashed long way from port!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Happily, Iris was too stunned to betray herself.  She extended a hand
+to the sun-browned, white-haired old man standing by her uncle's side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Bulmer," she said simply.  And, in that
+hour of searing agony, she meant it, for it is easier to look back on
+suffering than to await it, and she had been living in dread of this
+meeting for many a weary day.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap15"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Two thousand five hundred years ago the prophet Jeremiah expressed
+incredulity as to the power of an Ethiopian to change his skin or a
+leopard his spots.  The march of the centuries has fully justified the
+seer's historic doubt, so it makes but slight demand on the critical
+faculties to assume that two years' residence in Europe had not cooled
+the hot southern blood flowing in Carmela's veins.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She had hated Iris before she set eyes on her; she hated her now that she
+had seen her rare beauty; she gloated on the suffering inflicted by the
+presence of the faded old man who claimed her as his bride.  Though it
+was of the utmost importance that she should hasten to her father, she
+returned to Las Flores in her rival's company, their arms linked in
+seeming friendship, and the Brazilian girl's ears alert to treasure every
+word that told of Bulmer's wooing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Therein she greatly miscalculated the true gentility of one whom his
+cronies described as "a rough diamond."  Bulmer realized that Iris was
+overwrought.  Vague but sensational items in newspapers had prepared him
+in some measure for the story of her wanderings since last they met in
+quiet, old-fashioned Bootle.  He felt that she was altered, that their
+ways in life had deviated with a sharpness that was not to be brought
+back into parallel grooves simply because he had traveled many thousands
+of miles to find her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So Dickey contented himself by listening to Coke's Homeric account of the
+<I>Andromeda's</I> wrecking, and if he interposed an occasional question, and
+thus drew the girl's sweet voice into the talk, it was invariably germane
+to the strange history of the ship and her human freight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke's narrative was picturesque and lurid.  At times, he called himself
+to order; at times, both Iris and Carmela affected not to have heard him.
+But Carmela's interest never flagged.  Nor did Bulmer's.  As the yarn
+progressed&mdash;for Watts and Schmidt and Norrie had joined them, and the
+whole party was seated in an inner room where an impromptu meal was
+provided&mdash;both the woman of Brazil and the man of Lancashire seized on
+the same unspoken <I>motif</I>.  Every incident centered in the striking
+personality of Philip Hozier.  From the instant the second shell struck
+the winch, and laid him apparently dead on the forecastle, to the very
+hour of this coming together at Las Flores, Hozier held the stage.  It
+was he who took Iris on his shoulders and brought her to safety through
+the spume of the wrathful sea, he who carried her to the hut, he who
+crossed Fernando Noronha alone to protect her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke was impartial.  He would have minimized his own singular bravery in
+running up the ship's signals had not Iris given him a breathing-space
+while she enthralled the others with her description.  Otherwise, Coke
+skipped no line of his epic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'll rec'lect," he wheezed, in a voice that rasped like a file,
+"you'll rec'lect, Mr. Verity, as I said to you that Hozier was good
+enough to take charge of the bridge of a battleship.  By&mdash;well, any 'ow,
+if I'd said the Channel Fleet I shouldn't 'ave bin talkin' through me
+'at.  Look at 'im now.  'E's the on'y reel live man Dom Wot's-'is-name
+'as got.  Sink me! if it wasn't for the folks at 'ome, an' the fac' that
+the <I>Andromeeda's</I> skipper ought to keep clear of politics in this
+crimson country, I'd 'ave a cut in at the game meself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It might be hoped that Carmela's mood would soften when she discovered
+her rival's hapless love, but that would be expecting something which her
+bursting southern heart could not give.  A volcano pours forth lava, not
+water.  It scorches, not heals.  Iris, willing or not, had sapped her
+Salvador's allegiance.  Carmela wanted to see those curved lips writhing
+in pain, those brown eyes dimmed, that smooth brow wrung with the grief
+that knows no remedy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A fierce joy leaped up in her when Verity spoke of an early departure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You see, Iris," he explained, "these Brazilian bucks may be months in
+settlin' their differences.  Dickey an' me, 'elped a lot by our Consul,
+squeezed a pass out of the President&mdash;beg pardon, miss, but 'e is
+President, in Pernambuco, at all events," he said in an apologetic
+"aside" to Carmela&mdash;"an' the sooner we make tracks for ole England the
+better it'll be for all of us.  Wot do you say to an early start
+to-morrow?  We'd be off to-night, on'y I'm feared my rheumaticky bones
+wouldn't stand the racket."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The color ebbed from Iris's face, but she said at once:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall be ready, uncle dear.  I promised Dom Corria to look after the
+hospital appliances that are so much needed by the poor soldiers, but the
+Senhora De Sylva will attend to that much more effectually than I."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good!  Then that's settled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David pursed out his thick lips with a sigh of relief.  Though he had
+watched the spoken record of the <I>Andromeda</I> and her company for craftier
+hints than was suspected by his fellow travelers, he was not deaf to
+Coke's appreciation of Hozier.  The silence of his niece on that same
+topic was alarming, but the position could not be so bad if she was
+willing to leave for the coast without seeing him again.  No secret was
+made of Philip's errand into the interior.  The homeward-bound cavalcade
+would be at Pesqueira ere he returned to the <I>finca</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela, of course, did not believe in a woman's complacency in such a
+vital matter.  She was ever prepared to spring, to strike, to wrench
+their plans to suit her own ends; but, contrive as she might, she could
+not succeed in leaving Iris alone with Bulmer.  Full of device, she was
+foiled at each turn.  The day wore, the sun went down, the starlit sky
+made beautiful a parched earth, but never a word in privacy did Iris
+exchange with her husband-to-be.  Carmela's malice was not hidden from
+her, but she despised it.  There was some ease for her tortured brain in
+defeating it.  If the Senhora De Sylva had only understood how thoroughly
+the Englishwoman loathed her petty jealousy, it was possible that the few
+remaining hours of their enforced intimacy might have been rendered less
+irksome.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But, by this time, fate had gathered the slackened strings of their
+destinies.  Thenceforth they became her puppets.  Permitted for a little
+while to play the tragi-comedy of life according to their own
+inclinations, now the stern edict had gone forth that they were to act
+their allotted parts in one of those fascinating if blood-stained dramas
+that the history of nations so often puts on the stage.  The future is
+the most cunning of playwrights.  No man may tell what the next scene
+shall be.  And no man, nor any woman, could guess the mad revel of hate
+and war that would rage that night around the placid homestead of Las
+Flores.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Behind the veranda was a huge ballroom, converted, by the exigencies of
+the campaign, into a dining hall for the many inmates of the <I>finca</I>.
+The Brazilian ladies, the sailors, some sick or wounded officers who were
+not confined to bed, even the household servants, took their meals there
+in common.  Supper was served soon after nine o'clock.  When cigars and
+cigarettes were lighted, and the company broke up into laughing,
+gossiping, noisy groups, the place looked more like a popular Continental
+cafe than a room in a private mansion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though De Sylva, General Russo, San Benavides, and some score of members
+of the President's staff who usually dined at the <I>finca</I>, were now
+absent, there was no lack of lively chatter.  A very Babel of tongues
+mixed in amity.  The prevalent note was one of cheery animation.  Carmela
+exerted herself to win popularity, and a President's daughter need not
+put forth very strenuous efforts in that direction to be acclaimed by
+most.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Iris was listening, with real interest, to Verity's description of the
+finding of Macfarlane in the <I>Andromeda's</I> boat by a Cardiff-bound
+collier three days after he had drifted away from Fernando Noronha.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The yarn kem to us through the Consul at Pernambuco," he said.
+"Evidently, from wot you tell me, it's all right.  Poor ole Mac 'ad a bad
+time afore 'e was picked up, but 'e was alive, an' I'm jolly glad of it,
+for 'e'll be a first-rate witness w'en this business comes up in court."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wot court?" demanded Coke sharply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The court that settles our claim, of course," retorted Verity, with a
+quick ferret look at his fellow-conspirator.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There'll be no claim.  The President means to stump up in style.  You
+take my tip, an' shut up about courts," said Coke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It'll cost Brazil a tidy penny," remarked Bulmer thoughtfully.  "Nobody
+would ever imagine wot bags of gold an' parcels of di'monds sailors an'
+firemen carry around in their kit-bags till a ship is lost an' a
+Gover'ment 'as to pay."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watts deemed this an exquisite joke.  He laughed loudly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That reminds me," he cried.  "W'en the <I>Gem of the Sea</I> turned turtle on
+the James an' Mary&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A <I>criado</I>, a nondescript man-servant attached to the household, stooped
+over Iris and whispered something.  She gathered that she was wanted in
+the <I>patèo</I>, or court-yard, which, owing to the construction of the
+house, stood on one side instead of in front, where the lawn usurped its
+usual position.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is it?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The voice sank even lower.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Colonel San Benavides, Senhora."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She had gathered sufficient of Brazilian ways to understand that the man
+had been bribed to convey this request to her without attracting
+attention.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell him to wait," she said, hoping to gain a moment wherein to decide
+how best to act.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is urgent, Senhora&mdash;<I>ao mesmo tempo</I>, the colonel said."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go!  That is my answer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man's unwillingness to obey showed how imperative were his
+instructions.  She rose, and the <I>criado</I> hurried out, satisfied that she
+would follow.  But Iris had no wish to meet San Benavides.  If she were
+seen with him in the dark <I>patèo</I> at this late hour, fuel would be added
+to the fire of Carmela's foolish spite.  She was aware of Carmela's
+covert glance watching her from the other end of the long room.  What was
+to be done?  Why not send Carmela in her stead?  They were almost of the
+same height, and dressed somewhat alike in flowered muslin.  It would be
+an amusing mistake, though annoying, perhaps, to San Benavides; at any
+rate, Carmela would not object, and Iris was fully resolved not to keep
+the tryst in person.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She walked straight to her enemy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Colonel San Benavides awaits you in the <I>patèo</I>," she said in English.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Awaits <I>me</I>!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no mistaking the gleam in those jet-black eyes.  The smoldering
+fire flamed into furnace heat at the implied indignity of such a mandate
+being delivered by Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose so," said Iris carelessly.  "A servant brought the message.
+He came to me in the first instance, but I am just going to my room to
+pack my few belongings.  We leave here at daybreak, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela tried to smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall be sorry to lose you," she said, "though I admit it will be
+pleasant to occupy my own room again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Iris was genuinely distressed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I had not the least notion&mdash;&mdash;" she began, but Carmela nodded and made
+off, saying as she went:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What matter&mdash;for one night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So, at last, she would learn the truth.  Salvador was out there, alone.
+She would soon judge him.  If he were innocent, she would know.  If he
+had merely been made the sport of a designing woman, she was ready to
+forgive.  In a more amiable mood than she had displayed at any moment
+since her arrival at Las FIores, Carmela hastened along a dark corridor,
+crossed a bare hall, passed through a porch, and searched the shadows of
+the patèo for the form of her one-time lover.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A voice whispered, in French:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come quickly, Senhora, I pray you!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It startled her to find San Benavides talking French, until it occurred
+to her that Iris and he must converse in that language or hardly at all.
+The thought was disquieting.  The volcano stirred again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Senhora, je vous prie!" again pleaded the man, who was on horseback
+under the trees.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did not hesitate, but ran to him.  Without a word of explanation, he
+bent sideways, caught her in his arms, drew her up until she was seated
+on the holsters strapped to a gaucho saddle, and wheeled his horse into a
+gallop.  Filled with a grim determination, she uttered no protest.  Not a
+syllable crossed her lips lest he should strive to amend his woeful
+blunder.  She noticed that they were not going toward the camp, but
+circling round the enclosed land in the direction of the hills.  Though
+the night was dark, the stars gave light enough for the horse to move
+freely.  Carmela's head was bent.  A gauze-like mantilla covered her
+black hair, and, strange though it may seem, one woman's small waist and
+slim figure can be amazingly like the same physical attributes in another
+woman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But San Benavides wondered why the cold Ingleza had surrendered so
+silently.  He expected at least a scream, a struggle, an impassioned
+demand to be released.  He was prepared for anything save a dumb
+acceptance of this extraordinary raid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So he began to explain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One word, Senhora!" he muttered.  "You must think me mad.  I am not.
+All is lost!  Our army is defeated!  In an hour Las Flores will be in
+flames!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl quivered in his arms.  A moaning cry came from her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is true, I swear it!" he vowed.  "I mean you no ill.  I fought till
+the end, and my good horse alone carried me in advance of the routed
+troops.  Dom Corria may reach the <I>finca</I> alive, but, even so, he and the
+rest will be killed.  I refused to escape without you.  Believe me or
+not, you are dearer than life itself.  In the confusion we two may not be
+missed.  Trust yourself wholly to me, I beseech you!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He spoke jerkily, in the labored phrase of a man who has to pick and
+choose the readiest words in an unfamiliar language.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela, with a sudden movement, raised her face to his, and threw aside
+her veil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Salvador!" she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His eyes glared into hers.  His frenzied clutch at the reins pulled the
+horse on to its haunches.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My God!&#8230;  Carmela!" he almost shrieked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  So you are running away, Salvador&mdash;running away with the English
+miss&mdash;deserting my father in the hour of his need!  But she will die with
+the others, you say.  Well, then&mdash;join her!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During that quick twist on the horse's withers, she had plucked a
+revolver from a holster.  She meant to shatter that false face of his
+utterly, to blast him as with lightning&nbsp;&#8230; but the lock snapped
+harmlessly, for San Benavides had, indeed, borne himself gallantly in the
+fray.  He struck at her now in a whirl of fury.  She winced, but with
+catamount activity drew back her arm and hit him on the temple with the
+heavy weapon.  He collapsed limply, reeled from off the saddle, and they
+fell together.  The frightened horse, finding himself at liberty,
+galloped to the camp, where already there was an unusual commotion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela flung herself on the man's body.  She was capable of extremes
+either of grief or passion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Salvador, my love! my love!" she screamed.  "What have I done?  Speak to
+me, Salvador!  It is I, Carmela!  Oh, Mary Mother, come to my aid!  I
+have killed him, killed my Salvador!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He looked very white and peaceful as he lay there in the gloom.  She
+could not see whether his lips moved.  She was too distraught to note if
+his heart was beating.  It seemed incredible that she, a weak woman,
+should have crushed the life out of that lithe and active frame with one
+blow.  Then a dark stain appeared on the white skin.  Her hands, her
+lips, were covered with blood.  She tasted it.  The whole earth reeked of
+it.  It scorched her as with vitriol.  She rose and ran blindly.  The
+darkness appalled her.  No matter now what fate befell, she must have
+light, the sound of human voices.&#8230;  And she sobbed piteously as she
+ran:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Salvador!  Oh, God in heaven, my Salvador!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It is not the crime, but the conscience, that scourges erring humanity.
+Carmela needed some such flogging.  It was just as well that her fright
+at the horrible touch of blood was not balanced by the saner knowledge
+that a ruptured vein was nature's own remedy for a man jarred into
+insensibility.  Long before Carmela reached the <I>finca</I>, San Benavides
+stirred, groaned, squirmed convulsively, and raised himself on hands and
+knees.  He turned, and sat down, feeling his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The spit-fire!" he muttered.  "The she-devil!  And that other!  Would
+that I could wring <I>her</I> neck!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A sputtering of rifles crackled in the valley.  There was a blurred
+clamor of voices.  He looked at the sky, at the black summits of the
+hills.  He stood up, and his inseparable sword clanked on the stony
+ground.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, well," he growled, "I have done with women.  They have had the best
+of my life.  What is left I give to Brazil."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So he, too, made for Las Flores, but slowly, for he was quite exhausted,
+and his limbs were stiff with the rigors of a wild day in the saddle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela went back to a household that paid scant heed to her screaming.
+Dom Corria was there, bare-headed, his gorgeous uniform sword-slashed and
+blood-bespattered.  General Russo, too, was beating his capacious chest
+and shouting:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"God's bones, let us make a fight of it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A sprinkling of soldiers, all dismounted cavalry or gunners, a few
+disheveled officers, had accompanied De Sylva in his flight.  With
+reckless bravery, he and Russo had tried to rally the troops camped at
+headquarters.  It was a hopeless effort.  Half-breeds can never produce a
+military caste.  They may fight valiantly in the line of battle&mdash;they
+will not face the unknown, the terrible, the harpies that come at night,
+borne on the hurricane wings of panic.  Unhappily, De Sylva and his
+bodyguard were the messengers of their own disaster.  The cowardly genius
+at Pesqueira had planned a surprise.  He would not lead it, of course,
+but in Dom Miguel Barraca he found an eager substitute.  It was a coup of
+the Napoleonic order; an infantry attack along the entire front of the
+Liberationist position cloaked the launching against the center of a
+formidable body of cavalry.  The project was to thrust this lance into
+the rebel position, probe it thoroughly, as a surgeon explores a gunshot
+wound, and extract the offender in the guise of Dom Corria.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The scheme had proved eminently successful.  The Liberationists were
+crumpled up, and here was Dom Corria making his last stand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He deserved better luck, for he was magnificent in failure.  Calm as
+ever, he tried to be shot or captured when the reserves in camp failed
+him.  Russo and the rest dragged him onward by main force.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They want me only," he urged.  "My death will end a useless struggle.  I
+shall die a little later, when many more of my friends are killed.  Why
+not die now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They would not listen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is night!" they cried.  "The enemy's horses are spent.  A determined
+stand may give us another chance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But it was a forlorn hope.  As San Benavides lurched into the <I>patèo</I>,
+the horses of the first pursuing detachment strained up the slope between
+house and encampment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela, all her fire gone, the pallid ghost of the vengeful woman who
+would have shattered her lover's skull were the revolver loaded, was the
+first to see him.  She actually crouched in terror.  Her tongue was
+parched.  If she uttered some low cry, none heard her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria, striving to dispose his meager garrison as best he could, met
+his trusted lieutenant.  His face lit with joy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, my poor Salvador!" he cried.  "I thought we had lost you at the
+ford!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," said San Benavides.  "I ran away!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even in his dire extremity, De Sylva smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would that others had run like you, my Salvador!" he said.  "Then we
+should have been in Pernambuco to-morrow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Brazilian looked around.  His eye dwelt heedlessly on the cowering
+Carmela.  He was searching for Iris, who had been compelled by Coke and
+Bulmer and her uncle to take shelter behind the score of sailors who
+still remained at Las Flores.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is true, nevertheless," he said laconically.  "I knew the game was
+lost, so I came here to try and save a lady."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah&mdash;our Carmela?  You thought of her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the spell passed from Carmela.  She literally threw herself on her
+lover.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, it is true!" she shrieked.  "He came to save me, but I preferred to
+die here&mdash;with you, father&mdash;and with him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria did not understand these fire-works, but he had no time for
+thought.  Bullets were crashing through the closed Venetians.  Light they
+must have, or the defense would become an orgy of self-destruction, yet
+light was their most dangerous foe when men were shooting from the somber
+depths of the trees.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The assailants were steadily closing around the house.  Their rifles
+covered every door and window.  Each minute brought up fresh bands in
+tens and twenties.  At last, Barraca himself arrived.  Some members of
+his staff made a hasty survey of the situation.  There were some three
+hundred men available, and, in all probability, Dom Corria could not
+muster one-sixth of that number.  It was a crisis that called for vigor.
+The cavalry lance was twenty miles from its base, and there was no
+knowing what accident might reunite the scattered Liberationists.  One
+column, at least, of the Nationalists had failed to keep its rendezvous,
+or this last desperate stand at Las Flores would have proved a sheer
+impossibility.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the house must be rushed, no matter what the cost.  This was a war of
+leaders.  Let Dom Corria fall, and his most enthusiastic supporters would
+pay Dom Miguel's taxes without further parley.  A scheme of concerted
+action was hastily arranged.  Simultaneously, five detachments swarmed
+against the chosen points of assault.  One crossed the <I>patèo</I> to the
+porch, another made for the stable entrance, a third attacked the garden
+door, a fourth assailed the servants' quarters, and the fifth, strongest
+of all, and inspired by Dom Miguel's presence, battered in the shutters
+and tore away the piled up furniture of the ballroom.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Nationalist leader's final order was terse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Spare the women; shoot every rebel; do not touch the foreigners unless
+they resist!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With yells of "Abajo De Sylva!" "Morto por revoltados!" the assailants
+closed in.  Neither side owned magazine rifles, so the fight was with
+machetes, swords, and bayonets when the first furious hail of lead had
+spent itself.  No man thought of quarter, nor ceased to stab and thrust
+until he fell.  Not even then did some of the half-savage combatants
+desist, and a many a thigh was gashed and boot-protected leg cut to the
+bone by those murderous hatchet knives wielded by hands which would soon
+stiffen in death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When three hundred desperadoes meet fifty of like caliber in a
+hand-to-hand conflict&mdash;when the three hundred mean to end the business,
+and the fifty know that they must die&mdash;fighting for choice, but die in
+any event&mdash;the resultant encounter will surely be both fierce and brief.
+And never was fratricidal strife more sanguinary than during the earliest
+onset within the walls.  Each inch of corridor, each plank of the
+ballroom floor, was contested with insane ferocity.  This was not
+warfare.  It savored of the carnage of the jungle.  Its sounds were those
+of wild beasts.  It smelled of the shambles.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By one of those queer chances which sometimes decide the hazard between
+life and death, the window nearest that end of the room where the sailors
+strove to protect a few shrieking women had not been broken in.  Here,
+then, was a tiny bay of refuge; from it the men of the <I>Andromeda</I> and
+the <I>Unser Fritz</I>, Bulmer, Verity, Iris, and such of the Brazilian ladies
+as had not fled to the upper rooms at the initial volley, looked out on
+an amazing butchery.  De Sylva, no longer young, and never a robust man,
+had been dragged from mortal peril many times by his devoted adherents.
+Carmela had snatched a machete from the fingers of a dying soldier, and
+was fighting like one possessed of a fiend.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once, when a combined rush drove the defenders nearly on top of the
+non-combatants, Iris would have striven to draw the half-demented girl
+into the little haven with the other women.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Coke thrust her back, shouting:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Leave 'er alone.  She'll set about you if you touch her!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dickey Bulmer, too, who was displaying a fortitude hardly to be expected
+in a man of his years and habits, thought that interference was useless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let 'er do what she can," he said.  "She doesn't know wot is 'appenin'
+now.  If she was on'y watchin' she'd be a ravin' lunatic.  God 'elp us
+all, we've got ourselves into a nice mess!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Somehow, the old man's Lancashire drawl, with its broad vowels and
+misplaced aspirates, exercised a singularly soothing effect on Iris's
+tensely-strung nerves.  It seemed to remove her from that murder-filled
+arena.  It was redolent of home, of quiet streets, of orderly crowds
+thronging to the New Brighton sands, of the sober, industrious,
+God-fearing folk who filled the churches and chapels at each service on a
+Sunday.  These men and women of Brazil were her brothers and sisters in
+the great comity of nations, yet Heaven knows they did not figure in such
+guise during that hour of intense emotions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But if Dickey Bulmer's simple words exalted him into the kingdom of the
+heroic, David Verity occupied a lower plane.  Prayers and curses
+alternated on his lips.  He was stupefied with fear.  He had never seen
+the lust of slaying in men's eyes, and it mesmerized him.  Many of the
+sailors wanted to join in on behalf of their friends.  It needed all
+Coke's vehemence to restrain them.  "Keep out of it, you swabs," he would
+growl.  "It's your on'y chanst.  This isn't our shindy.  Let 'em rip an'
+be hanged to 'em!"  Yet he was manifestly uneasy, and he kept a wary eye
+on De Sylva, whom he appraised at a personal value of five thousand
+pounds "an pickin's."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A tall, distinguished-looking man, wearing a brilliant uniform, his
+breast decorated with many orders, now appeared on the scene.  He shouted
+something, and the attacking force redoubled their efforts.  He raised a
+revolver, and took deliberate aim at Dom Corria.  Coke saw him, and his
+bulldog pluck combined with avarice to overcome his common sense.
+Without thought of the consequences, he sprang into the swaying mob and
+pulled De Sylva aside.  A bullet smashed into the wall behind them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look out, mister!" he bellowed.  "'Ere's a blighter 'oo wants to finish
+you quick!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Sylva's glance sought his adversary.  He produced a revolver which
+hitherto had remained hidden in a pocket.  Perhaps its bullets were not
+meant for an enemy.  He fired at the tall man.  A violent swerve of the
+two irregular ranks of soldiers screened each from the other.  An opening
+offered, and the man who had singled out Dom Corria for his special
+vengeance fired again.  The bullet struck Coke in the breast.  The
+valiant little skipper staggered, and sank to the floor.  His fiery eyes
+gazed up into Verity's.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Damme if I ain't hulled!" he roared, his voice loud and harsh as if he
+were giving some command from the bridge in a gale of wind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+David dropped to his knees.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For Gawd's sake, Jimmie!" he moaned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I've got it.  Sarve me dam well right, too!  No business to go
+ag'in me own pore old ship.  Look 'ere, Verity, I'm done for!  If you get
+away from this rotten muss, see to my missus an' the girls.  If you
+don't&mdash;d&mdash;n you&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fire!" shouted a strong English voice from without.  A withering volley
+crashed through the open windows.  Full twenty of the assailants fell,
+Dom Miguel de Barraca among them.  There was an instant of terrible
+silence, as between the shocks of an earthquake.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-326"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-326.jpg" ALT="A withering volley crashed through the window" BORDER="2" WIDTH="527" HEIGHT="431">
+<H3>
+[Illustration: A withering volley crashed through the window]
+</H3>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"Now, come on!" shouted the same voice, and Philip Hozier rushed into the
+ballroom, followed by his scouts and a horde of Brazilian regulars.  No
+one not actually an eye-witness of that thrilling spectacle would believe
+that a fight waged with such determined malevolence could stop so
+suddenly as did that fray in Las Flores.  It was true, now as ever, that
+men of a mixed race cannot withstand the unforeseen.  Dom Miguel fallen,
+and his cohort decimated by the leaden storm that tore in at them from an
+unexpected quarter, the rest fled without another blow.  They raced madly
+for their horses, to find that every tethered group was in the hands of
+this new contingent.  Then the darkness swallowed them.  Dom Miguel's
+cavalry was disbanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At once the medley within died down.  Men had no words as yet to meet
+this astounding development.  Dom Corria went to where his rival lay.
+Dom Miguel was dying.  His eyes met De Sylva's in a strange look of
+recognition.  He tried to speak, but choked and died.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the living President stooped over the dead one.  He murmured
+something.  Those near thought afterward that he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it worth it?  Who knows!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But he was surely President now; seldom have power and place been more
+hardly won.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His quiet glance sought Philip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you, Mr. Hozier," he said.  "All Brazil is your debtor.  As for
+me, I can never repay you.  I owe you my life, the lives of my daughter
+and of many of my friends, and the success of my cause."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip heard him as in a dream.  He was looking at Iris.  Her eyes were
+shining, her lips parted, yet she did not come to him.  By her side was
+standing a white-haired old man, an Englishman, a stranger.  Bending over
+Coke, and wringing his hands in incoherent sorrow, was another elderly
+Briton.  A fear that Philip had never before known gripped his
+heartstrings now.  He was pale and stern, and his forehead was seamed
+with foreboding.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is that with Miss Yorke?" he said to Dom Corria.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The President had a rare knack of answering a straight question in a
+straight way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A Mr. Bulmer, I am told," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a pause.  General Russo, carved from head to foot, but so stout
+withal that his enemies' weapons had reached no vital part, approached.
+He thumped his huge stomach.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must rally our men," he said.  "If we collect even five thousand
+to-night&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," said De Sylva, "I will come.  Before I go, Mr. Hozier, let me
+repeat that I and Brazil are grateful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May the devil take both you and Brazil!" was Philip's most ungracious
+reply, and he turned and strode out into the night.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap16"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Before the exciting story so rudely interrupted is resumed, it may be
+well to set down in their sequence the queer workings of fortune which
+led to Philip's timely reappearance at Las FIores.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His troop of scouts consisted of twenty-eight men.  Five were sailors
+and firemen from the <I>Andromeda</I>; three were Germans from the <I>Unser
+Fritz</I>.  But the whole eight were ex-soldiers, and one man-at-arms
+trained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product.
+The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, and
+acquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of a
+hundred miles.  They would fight anybody if well led, and here it may
+be observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, he
+said, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!"
+these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction.  The language
+difficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of one
+of the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly by
+signs, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, and
+they were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closed
+with any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sent
+off a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions to
+arrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day.  Instantly the
+twenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted.
+From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fully
+a thousand men.  The situation was critical.  It called for prompt
+handling.  Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselves
+among the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four rifles
+indulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded with
+men and animals.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nothing more was needed.  It has been noted already that the Brazilians
+disliked long-range shooting.  There was a stampede.  The scouts
+occupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely to
+report the presence of the column, when they fell in with the first
+batch of fugitives from the valley.  Forthwith, Philip became a general
+and each scout an officer.  They reasoned and whacked the runaways into
+obedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough to
+fight if told what was expected of them&mdash;and the rest was a matter of
+simple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in the
+escalade of a snow fort.  But it was a near thing.  Five minutes later,
+and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And now, as to the night, and the next day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus.
+Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and the
+news spread like wild fire.  Before morning, the Liberationists were
+ten thousand strong.  Before night closed the roads again, the
+Pesqueira genius wrote to Dom Corria under a flag of truce, and pointed
+out that he served the <I>President</I>, not any crank who said he was
+President, but the honored individual in whom the people of Brazil
+placed their trust.  Dom Corria replied in felicitous terms, and, as
+the newspapers say, the incident ended.  The navy sulked for a while,
+because they held that Russo's treatment of the <I>Andorinha</I> was not
+cricket, or baseball, or whatsoever game appeals most to the Brazilian
+sportsman.  It was not even professional football, they said; but an
+acrimonious discussion was closed by a strong hint from the Treasury
+that pay-day might be postponed indefinitely if too much were made of a
+regrettable accident to the guns of the Maceio artillery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile, Dom Corria, the man who did not forget, was puzzled by two
+circumstances not of national importance.  San Benavides, never a
+demonstrative lover where Carmela was concerned, was a changed man.  He
+was severely wounded during the fight, and Carmela nursed him
+assiduously, but there could be no doubt that he was under her thumb,
+and would remain there.  The indications were subtle but unmistakable.
+Carmela even announced the date of their marriage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dom Corria remembered, of course, what San Benavides and his daughter
+had said when they all met in the ballroom.  It seemed to him that
+Salvador was telling the truth and that Carmela was fibbing on that
+occasion.  But he let well enough alone.  It was good for Salvador that
+he should obey Carmela.  He blessed them, and remarked that a really
+"smart" wedding would be just the thing to inaugurate the new reign at
+Rio de Janeiro.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was far more perplexed by the untimely wrath of Philip Hozier.  He
+thought of it for at least five minutes next morning.  Then he sought
+Dickey Bulmer, who had just quitted Coke's bedroom, and was examining
+the rare shrubs that bordered the lawn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What news of that brave man?" asked Dom Corria, and his deep voice
+vibrated with real feeling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"First-rate, sir," said Dickey.  "The bullet is extracted, and the
+doctor says 'e'll soon be all right.  Leastways, that's wot Iris tells
+me.  I can't talk Portuguese meself, an' pore old Jimmie's langwidge
+ain't fit to be repeated."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The President laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is what you call a bundle of contradictions, eh?&mdash;a rough fellow
+with the heart of a bull.  But he saved my life, and that naturally
+counts for a good deal with me.  And how is your niece after last
+night's terrible experience?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My niece?  D'ye mean Iris?" demanded Bulmer, obviously somewhat
+annoyed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's not my niece; she's&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your grand-daughter, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sir.  That young lady 'as done me the honor of promisin' to be my
+wife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!" said Dom Corria, fixing his brilliant eyes on Bulmer's vexed face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's no 'Oh' about it," growled Dickey.  "It was all cut an' dried
+weeks ago, an' she 'asn't rued of 'er bargain yet, as far as I can make
+out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean that the marriage was arranged before the <I>Andromeda</I>
+sailed?" said Dom Corria gently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"W'y, of course.  It couldn't very well be fixed after, could it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No&mdash;not as between you and her.  I can vouch for that.  Forgive me,
+Mr. Bulmer&mdash;I have a daughter of marriageable age, you know, and I
+speak as a parent&mdash;do you think that it is a wise thing for a man of
+your years to marry a girl of twenty?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I didn't, I wouldn't do it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But may it not be selfish?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then downright Lancashire took hold of the argument.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look 'ere, wot are you drivin' at?" demanded Dickey, now in a white
+heat of anger.  He had yet to learn that the President preferred a
+straight-forward way of talking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I want you to forego this marriage," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because that charming girl loves another man, but feels that she is
+bound to you.  I understand the position at last.  Mr. Bulmer, you
+cannot wish to break her heart and drive that fine young fellow, Philip
+Hozier, to despair.  Come, now!  Let you and me reason this thing
+together.  Possibly, when she agreed to marry you she did not know what
+love is.  She is high-minded, an idealist, the soul of honor.  What
+other woman would have consented to be separated from her friends on
+Fernando Noronha merely because it increased their meager chances of
+safety?  How few women, loving a man like Philip Hozier, who is assured
+of a splendid reward for his services to this State, would resolutely
+deny the claims of her own heart in order to keep her word?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bulmer had never heard anyone speak with the crystal directness of Dom
+Corria.  Each word chipped away some part of the fence which he had
+deliberately erected around his own intelligence.  Certain facts had
+found crevices in the barrier already; Dom Corria broke down whole
+sections.  But he was a hard man, and stubborn.  Throughout his long
+life he had not been of yielding habit, and his heart was set on Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are mighty sure that she is wrapped up in this young spark," he
+growled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Were I not, I would not have interfered.  Take my advice.  First, ask
+yourself an honest question.  Then ask the girl.  She will answer.  I
+promise you that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm a rich man," persisted Dickey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nobody forced 'er, one way or the other."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly.  One wonders, though, why she hid herself on the
+<I>Andromeda</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's true, I tell you.  David said&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is David?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Her uncle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In England, I take it, if a man wishes to marry a girl he does not woo
+her uncle.  Of course, these customs vary.  Here, in Brazil&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Bulmer said something about Brazil that was not to be expected
+from one of his staid demeanor.  In fact, he regarded Brazil as the
+cause of the whole trouble, and his opinion concerning that marvelous
+land coincided with Hozier's.  He turned and walked away, looking a
+trifle older, a trifle more bent, perhaps, than when he came out of the
+house.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An hour later, Dom Corria and Carmela met in a corridor.  They were
+discussing arrangements for a speedy move to the capital when Iris ran
+into them.  Her face was flushed, and she had been crying.  Much to
+Carmela's amazement, the English girl clasped her round the neck and
+kissed her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell your father, my dear, that he has been very good to me," she
+whispered; then her face grew scarlet again, and she hurried away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Excellent!" said the President.  "That old man is a gentleman.  His
+friend is not.  Yet they are very much alike in other respects.  Odd
+thing!  Carmela <I>cara</I>, can you spare a few minutes from your invalid?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, father."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go, then, and find that young Englishman, Philip Hozier.  Tell him
+that the engagement between Miss Yorke and Mr. Bulmer is broken off."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Carmela's black eyes sparkled.  That wayward blood of hers surged in
+her veins, but Dom Corria's calm glance dwelt on her, and the spasm
+passed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, father," she said dutifully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stroked his chin as he went out to pronounce a funeral oration on
+those who had fallen during the fight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think," said he reflectively, "I think that Carmela dislikes that
+girl.  I wonder why?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip had never, to his knowledge, seen the Senhora De Sylva.  Watts
+spoke of her, remarking that she was "a reel pleasant young lady, a bit
+flighty, p'raps, but, then, 'oo could tell wot any gal would do one
+minnit from the next?"  And that was all.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was, therefore, something more than a surprise when the
+sallow-faced, willowy girl, black-haired, black-eyed, and most demure
+of manner, whom he remembered to have met in the gateway of Las Flores
+early on the previous day, came to his tent and asked for him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She introduced herself, and Philip was most polite.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My father sent me&mdash;&mdash;" she began.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I ought to have waited on the President," he said, seeing that she
+hesitated, "but several of my men are wounded, and we have so few
+doctors."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled, and Carmela could redeem much of her plainness of feature
+by the singular charm of her smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dom Corria is a good doctor himself," she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"His skill will be much appreciated in Brazil at the present moment,"
+said he, rather bewildered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He mends broken hearts," she persisted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, a healer, indeed!" but he frowned a little.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is in demand to-day.  He asked me to tell you of one most
+successful operation.  The&mdash;er&mdash;the engagement between Miss Iris
+Yorke&mdash;is that the name?&mdash;and Mr.&mdash;Mr.&mdash;dear me&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bulmer," scowled Philip, a block of ice in the warm air of Brazil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that is it&mdash;well&mdash;it is ended.  She is free&mdash;for a little while."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a curious bleaching of Philip's weather-tanned face.  It
+touched a chord in Carmela's impulsive nature.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is all right," she nodded.  "You can go to her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She left him there, more shaken than he had ever been by thunderous sea
+or screaming bullet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are cold, these English," she communed, as she passed up the
+slope to the house.  "It takes something to rouse them.  What would he
+have said were he in Salvador's place last night!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It did not occur to her that Philip could not possibly have been in
+Salvador's place, since God has made as many varieties of men as of
+berries, whereof some are wholesome and some poisonous, yet they all
+have their uses.  And she might have modified her opinion of his
+coldness had she seen the manner of his meeting with Iris.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Visiting the sick is one of the Christian virtues, so Philip visited
+Coke.  Iris had just finished writing a letter, partly dictated, and
+much altered in style, to Mrs. James Coke, Sea View, Ocean Road,
+Birkenhead, when a gentle tap brought her to the door.  She opened it.
+Her wrist was seized, and she was drawn into the corridor.  She had no
+option in the matter.  The tall young man who held her wrist proceeded
+to squeeze the breath out of her, but she was growing so accustomed to
+deeds of violence that she did not even scream.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a British chaplain at Pernambuco," was Philip's incoherent
+remark.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must ask my uncle," she gasped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No.  Leave that to me.  No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to me
+where you are concerned, Iris."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear.  He was always good to me,
+and&mdash;and&mdash;I have grown a wee bit afraid of you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Afraid!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and I
+looked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the
+<I>Andromeda</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was a boy then, Iris.  I am a man now.  I have fought, and loved,
+and suffered.  And what of you, dear heart?  We went through the
+furnace hand in hand.  What of the girl who has come forth a woman?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was an open window at the end of the passage.  Watts had bought,
+or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine.  Schmidt and he were in a
+shaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them:
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+"It is always fair weather<BR>
+When good fellows meet together&#8230;"<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door which
+Iris had left ajar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab.  D&mdash;n your eyes, if you come courtin' my
+nurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all.  Wot the&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come in, dear," said Iris.  "The doctor says he is not to excite
+himself.  And he will be so glad to see you.  He has been asking for
+you all day."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center">
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+At Pernambuco, his excellency the President of the Republic of Brazil
+was waited on by Admiral Prince Heinrich von Schnitzenhausen, who was
+attended by an imposing armed guard.  After compliments, the admiral
+stated that his Imperial master wished to be informed as to the truth
+or otherwise of a circumstantial statement made by the German Consul at
+Maceio, and confirmed by functionaries at Pernambuco, that on a certain
+date, to wit, September the 2d, he, Dom Corria De Sylva, aided and
+abetted by a number of filibusters, did unlawfully seize and
+sequestrate the steamship <I>Unser Fritz</I>, the said steamship being the
+property of German subjects and flying the German flag.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though the admiral's sentence was much longer than its English
+translation, it only contained a dozen words.  Its sound was fearsome
+in consequence, and its effect ought to have been portentous.  But Dom
+Corria was unmoved.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is some mistake," said he.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Exactly," said the admiral,
+"an-error-the-most-serious-and-not-easily-rectifiable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On your part," continued Dom Corria.  "The vessel you name is the
+property of my friend and colleague Dom Alfonso Pondillo, of Maceio.
+He purchased and paid for her on September 1st.  Here is the receipt of
+the former owners, given to the Deutsche Bank in Paris, and handed to
+Senhor Pondillo's agents.  You will observe the date of the
+transaction."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The admiral read.  He read again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ach Gott!" he cried angrily.  "There are some
+never-to-be-depended-upon fools in the world, and especially in
+Hamburg."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Everywhere," agreed Dom Corria blandly.  Carmela's memory was not
+quite of the hereditary order.  She had forgotten, for three whole
+days, that the letter containing the receipt was in her pocket.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center">
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+When Coke was pronounced fit for comfortable travel, David Verity and
+Dickey Bulmer conveyed him home.  They took with them drafts on a
+London bank for amounts that satisfied every sort of claim for the
+sinking of the <I>Andromeda</I>.  Judged by the compensation given to the
+vessel's survivors, there could be no doubt that the dependants of the
+men who lost their lives would be well provided for.  Even Watts vowed
+that the President had behaved reel 'andsome, and, as a token of
+regeneration, swore that never another drop o' sperrits would cross his
+lips.  Wines and beers, of course, were light refreshments of a
+different order.  Schmidt, too, sublimely heedless of the diplomatic
+storm he had caused, seemed to be contented.  He taught Watts "<I>Es gibt
+nur eine Kaiser Stadt</I>," and Watts taught him the famous chanty of the
+<I>Alice</I> brig and her marooned crew.  But the latter effusion was
+rehearsed far from Coke's deck-chair, because the captain of the mail
+steamer said that although he liked Coke personally, some of the lady
+passengers might complain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At odd moments David and Dickey Bulmer discussed the partnership.  The
+young people would be home in two months, and then Philip was to come
+into the business.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We're growing old, David," said Dickey.  "I've got plenty of money,
+an' you'll 'ave a tidy bit now, but there's one thing neether of us can
+buy, and that's youth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't want to be young again," said David, "but I'd like to go back
+just a year or so&mdash;no more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, there's bin times w'en&mdash;w'en I'd 'ave acted different.  Wot do
+you say, Jimmie?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coke, thus appealed to, glowered at his employer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Say!" he growled.  "I say nothink.  I know you, David."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Philip and Iris attended Carmela's wedding during their honeymoon.  The
+cathedral at Rio de Janeiro was packed, and Iris was quite
+inconspicuous among the many richly-attired ladies who graced the
+ceremony by their presence.  Nevertheless, Colonel Salvador San
+Benavides favored her with a peculiar smile as he led his bride down
+the central aisle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed, blushed, and looked at her husband.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I saw him," he whispered.  "But I never feared him.  It was you
+that made me sit up.  By the way, old girl, let us cut out the
+reception.  I want to call at the bank, and at a shop in the Rua
+Grande.  You will be interested."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Well, being a good and loving wife, she was interested deeply.  Ten
+thousand pounds was Dom Corria's financial estimate of the services
+rendered by Philip, and Iris was absolutely dumfounded by the total in
+milreis.  But her voice came back when Philip took her to a jeweler's,
+and the man produced a gold cross on which blazed four glorious
+diamonds.  Dom Corria had given her a necklace many times more
+valuable; but this&mdash;&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For remembrance!" said Philip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, my dear, my dear!" she murmured, and her eyes grew moist.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="finis">
+THE END
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL ***
+
+***** This file should be named 19539-h.htm or 19539-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/5/3/19539/
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</BODY>
+
+</HTML>
+
diff --git a/19539-h/images/img-050.jpg b/19539-h/images/img-050.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68f25cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-h/images/img-050.jpg
diff --git a/19539-h/images/img-172.jpg b/19539-h/images/img-172.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79b39f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-h/images/img-172.jpg
diff --git a/19539-h/images/img-238.jpg b/19539-h/images/img-238.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ebfaf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-h/images/img-238.jpg
diff --git a/19539-h/images/img-326.jpg b/19539-h/images/img-326.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db88c1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-h/images/img-326.jpg
diff --git a/19539-h/images/img-front.jpg b/19539-h/images/img-front.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8e8a4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539-h/images/img-front.jpg
diff --git a/19539.txt b/19539.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9daf8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9890 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Stowaway Girl
+
+Author: Louis Tracy
+
+Illustrator: Nesbit Benson
+
+Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19539]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STOWAWAY GIRL
+
+
+By
+
+LOUIS TRACY
+
+
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+THE WINGS OF THE MORNING, SON OF THE IMMORTALS, CYNTHIA'S CHAUFFEUR,
+THE MESSAGE, THE SILENT BARRIER, ETC.
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+
+NESBIT BENSON
+
+
+
+
+NEW YORK
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+PUBLISHERS
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1909, 1912,
+
+By EDWARD J. CLODE
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I.  THE "ANDROMEDA"
+   II.  WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE
+  III.  WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE
+   IV.  SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA"
+    V.  THE REFUGEES
+   VI.  BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC
+  VII.  CROSS PURPOSES
+ VIII.  THE RIGOR OF THE GAME
+   IX.  WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY
+    X.  ON THE HIGH SEAS
+   XI.  A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS
+  XII.  THE LURE OF GOLD
+ XIII.  THE NEW ERA
+  XIV.  CARMELA
+   XV.  SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT
+  XVI.  WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Hosier tightened a protective arm around her waist . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"Is that the Southern Cross?"
+
+"How did I come here?"
+
+"Well, gimme your 'and on it"
+
+A withering volley crashed through the window
+
+
+
+
+THE STOWAWAY
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE "ANDROMEDA"
+
+"Marry Mr. Bulmer!  That horrid old man!  Uncle, what _are_ you saying?"
+
+The girl sprang to her feet as if she were some timid creature of the
+wild aroused from sylvan broodings by knowledge of imminent danger.  In
+her terror, she upset the three wineglasses that formed part of the
+display beside each _couvert_ on the luncheon table.  One, rose-tinted
+and ornate, crashed to the floor, and the noise seemed to irritate the
+owner of Linden House more than his niece's shrill terror.
+
+"No need to bust up our best set of 'ock glasses just because I 'appen
+to mention owd Dickey Bulmer," he growled.
+
+The color startled so suddenly out of the girl's face began to return.
+Her eyes lost their dilation of fear.  Somehow, the comment on the
+broken glass seemed to deprive "owd Dickey Bulmer's" personality of its
+real menace.
+
+"I'm sorry," she said, and stooped to pick up the fragments scattered
+over the carpet.
+
+"Leave that alone," came the sharp order.  "So long as I've the brass
+to pay for 'em, there's plenty more where that kem from, an' in any
+case, it's the 'ousemaid's job.  Leave it alone, I tell you!  An' sit
+down.  It's 'igh time you an' me 'ad a straight talk, an' I can't do
+wi' folk bouncin' about like an injia-rubber ball when I've got things
+to say to 'em."
+
+He stretched a fat hand toward a mahogany cigar-box, affected to choose
+a cigar with deliberative crackling, hacked at the selection with a
+fruit knife, and dropped the severed end into an unused finger-bowl;
+then he struck a match, and puffed furiously until a rim of white ash
+tipped the brown.  This achieved, he helped himself to the port.
+Though he carefully avoided glancing at his companion, he knew quite
+well that she had drawn a chair to the opposite end of the table, and
+was looking at him intently; her chin was propped on her clenched
+hands; the skin on her white forehead was puckered into nervous lines;
+her lips, pressed close, had lost their Cupid's bow that seemed ever
+ready to bend into a smile.  Meanwhile, the man who had caused these
+signs of distress gulped down some of the wine, held the glass up to
+the light as a tribute to the excellence of its contents, darted his
+tongue several times in and out between his teeth, smacked his lips,
+replaced the cigar in his mouth, and leaned back in his chair until it
+creaked.
+
+Iris Yorke was accustomed to this ritual; she gave it the unobservant
+tolerance good breeding extends to the commonplace.  But to-day, for
+the first time during the two years that had sped so happily since she
+came back to Linden House from a Brussels _pension_, she found herself,
+even in her present trouble, wondering how it was possible that David
+Verity could be her mother's brother.  This coarse-mannered hog of a
+man, brother to the sweet-voiced, tender-hearted gentlewoman whose
+gracious wraith was left undimmed in the girl's memory by the lapse of
+years--it would be unbelievable if it were not true!  He was so gross,
+so tubby, so manifestly over-fed, whereas her mother had ever been
+elegant and _bien soignee_.  But he had shown kindness to her in his
+domineering way.  He was not quite so illiterate as his accent and his
+general air of uncouthness seemed to imply.  In his speech, the broad
+vowels of the Lancashire dialect were grafted on to the clipped
+staccato of a Cockney.  He would scoff at anyone who told him that
+knives and forks had precise uses, or that table-napkins were not meant
+to be tucked under the chin.  In England, especially in the provinces,
+some men of affairs cultivate these minor defects, deeming them tokens
+of bluff honesty, the hall-marks of the self-made; and David Verity
+thought, perhaps, that his pretty, well-spoken niece might be trusted
+to maintain the social level of his household without any special
+effort on his part.
+
+Shocked, almost, at the disloyalty of her thoughts, Iris tried to close
+the rift that had opened so unexpectedly.
+
+"It was stupid of me to take you seriously," she said.  "You cannot
+really mean that Mr. Bulmer wishes to marry me?"
+
+Verity screwed up his features into an amiable grin.  He pressed the
+tips of his fingers together until the joints bent backward.  When he
+spoke, the cigar waggled with each syllable.
+
+"I meant it right enough, my lass," he said.
+
+"But, uncle dear----"
+
+"Stop a bit.  Listen to me first, an' say your say when I've finished.
+Like everybody else, you think I'm a rich man.  David Verity, Esquire,
+ship-owner, of Linden House an' Exchange Buildings--it looks all right,
+don't it--like one of them furrin apples with rosy peel an' a maggot
+inside.  You're the first I've told about the maggot.  Fact is, I'm
+broke.  Ship-ownin' is rotten nowadays, unless you've lots of capital.
+I've lost mine.  Unless I get help, an' a thumpin' big slice of it, my
+name figures in the _Gazette_.  I want fifty thousand pounds, an' oo's
+goin' to give it to me?  Not the public.  They're fed up on shippin'.
+They're not so silly as they used to be.  I put it to owd Dickey
+yesterday, an' 'e said you couldn't raise money in Liverpool to-day to
+build a ferry-boat.  But 'e said summat else.  If you wed 'im, 'e makes
+you a partner in the firm of Verity, Bulmer an' Co.  See?  Wot's wrong
+with that?  I've done everything for you up to date; now it's your
+turn.  Simple, isn't it?  P'raps I ought to have explained things
+differently, but it didn't occur to me you'd hobject to bein' the wife
+of a millionaire, even if 'e is a doddrin' owd idiot to talk of
+marryin' agin."
+
+"Oh, uncle!"
+
+With a wail of despair, the girl sank back and covered her face with
+her hands.  Now that she believed the incredible, she could utter no
+protest.  The sacrifice demanded was too great.  In that bitter moment
+she would have welcomed poverty, prayed even for death, as the
+alternative to marriage with the man to whom she was being sold.
+
+Verity leaned over the table again and finished the glass of port.
+This time there was no lip-smacking, or other aping of the connoisseur.
+He was angry, almost alarmed.  Resistance, even of this passive sort,
+raised the savage in him.  Hitherto, Iris had been ready to obey his
+slightest whim.
+
+"There's no use cryin' 'Oh, uncle,' an' kicking up a fuss," he snapped
+viciously.  "Where would you 'ave bin, I'd like to know, if it wasn't
+for me?  In the gutter--that's where your precious fool of a father
+left your mother an' you.  You're the best dressed, an' best lookin',
+an' best eddicated girl i' Bootle to-day--thanks to me.  When your
+mother kem 'ere ten year ago, an' said her lit'rary gent of a 'usband
+was dead, neither of you 'ad 'ad a square meal for weeks--remember
+that, will you?  It isn't my fault you've got to marry Bulmer.  It's
+just a bit of infernal bad luck--the same for both of us, if it comes
+to that.  An' why shouldn't you 'ave some of the sours after I've given
+you all the sweets?  You'll 'ave money to burn; I'm not axin' you to
+give up some nice young feller for 'im.  If you play your cards well,
+you can 'ave all the fun you want----"
+
+The girl staggered to her feet.  She could endure the man's coarseness
+but not his innuendoes.
+
+"I will do what you ask," she murmured, though there was a pitiful
+quivering at the corners of her mouth that bespoke an agony beyond the
+relief of tears.  "But please don't say any more, and never again
+allude to my dear father in that way, or I may--I may forget what I owe
+you."
+
+She was unconscious of the contempt in her eyes, the scornful ring in
+her voice, and Verity had the good sense to restrain the wrath that
+bubbled up in him until the door closed, and he was alone.  He grabbed
+the decanter and refilled his glass.
+
+"Nice thing!" he growled.  "I offer 'er a fortune an' a bald-'eaded owd
+devil for a 'usband, 'oo ought to die in a year or two an' leave 'er
+everything; yet she ain't satisfied.  D--n 'er eyes, if I'd keep 'er as
+scullery-maid she'd 'ave different notions."
+
+With the taste of the wine, however, came the consoling reflection that
+Iris as a scullery-maid might not tickle the fancy of the dotard who
+had undertaken to provide fifty thousand pounds for the new
+partnership.  And she had promised--that was everything.  His lack of
+diplomacy was obvious even to himself, but he had won where a man of
+finer temperament might have failed.  Now, he must rush the wedding.
+Dickey Bulmer's Lancashire canniness might stipulate for cash on
+delivery as the essence of the marriage contract.  Not a penny would
+the old miser part with until he was sure of the girl.
+
+So David Verity, having much to occupy his mind, lingered over the
+second glass of port, for this was a Sunday dinner, served at mid-day.
+At last he closed his eyes for his customary nap; but sleep was not to
+be wooed just then; instead of dozing, he felt exceedingly wide awake.
+Indeed, certain disquieting calculations were running through his
+brain, and he yielded forthwith to their insistence.  Taking a small
+notebook from his pocket, he jotted down an array of figures.  He was
+so absorbed in their analysis that he did not see Iris walk listlessly
+across the lawn that spread its summer greenery in front of the
+dining-room windows.  And that was an ill thing for David.  The sight
+of the girl at that instant meant a great deal to him.
+
+He did happen to look out, a second too late.
+
+Even then, he might have caught a glimpse of Iris's pink muslin skirt
+disappearing behind a clump of rhododendrons, were not his shifty eyes
+screwed up in calculation--or perchance, the gods blinded him in behalf
+of one who was named after Juno's bright messenger.
+
+"Yes, that's it," he was thinking.  "I must wheedle Dickey into the
+bank to-morrow.  A word from 'im, an' they'll all grovel, d--n 'em!"
+
+The door opened.
+
+"Captain Coke to see you, sir," said a servant.
+
+"Send 'im in; bring 'im in 'ere."
+
+The memorandum book disappeared; Verity's hearty greeting was that of a
+man who had not a care in the world.  His visitor's description was
+writ large on him by the sea.  No one could possibly mistake Captain
+Coke for any other species of captain than that of master mariner.  He
+was built on the lines of a capstan, short and squat and powerful.
+Though the weather was hot, he wore a suit of thick navy-blue serge
+that would have served his needs within the Arctic Circle.  It clung
+tightly to his rounded contours; there was a purple line on his red
+brows that marked the exceeding tightness of the bowler hat he was
+carrying; and the shining protuberances on his black boots showed that
+they were tight, too.  It was manifestly out of the question that he
+should be able to walk any distance.  Though he had driven in a cab to
+the shipowner's house, he was already breathless with exertion, and he
+rolled so heavily in his gait that his shoulders hit both sides of the
+doorway while entering the room.  Yet he was nimble withal, a man
+capable of swift and sure movement within a limited area, therein
+resembling a bull, or a hippopotamus.
+
+The hospitable Verity pushed forward the mahogany box and the decanter.
+
+"Glad to see you, Jimmie, my boy.  Sit yourself down.  'Ave a cigar an'
+a glass o' port.  I didn't expect you quite so soon, but you're just as
+welcome now as later."
+
+Captain Coke placed his hat on top of a malacca cane, and balanced both
+against the back of a chair.
+
+"I'll take a smoke but no wine, thankee, Mr. Verity," said he.  "I kem
+along now' 'coss I want to be aboard afore it's dark.  We're moored in
+an awkward place."
+
+"Poor owd _Andromeeda_!  Just 'er usual luck, eh, Jimmie?"
+
+"Well, she ain't wot you might call one of fortune's fav'rits, but
+she's afloat, an' that's more'n you can say for a good many
+daisy-cutters I've known."
+
+Verity chuckled.
+
+"Some ships are worth less afloat than ashore, an' she's one of 'em,"
+he grinned.  "You want a match.  'Ere you are!"
+
+Whether Coke was wishful to deny or admit the _Andromeda's_
+shortcomings--even the ship herself might have protested against the
+horror of a long "e" in the penultimate syllable of her name--the other
+man's rapid proffer of a light stopped him.  He puffed away in silence;
+there was an awkward pause; for once in his career, Verity regretted
+his cultivated trick of covering up a significant phrase by quickly
+adding some comment on a totally different subject.  But the sailor
+smoked on, stolidly heedless of a sudden lapse in the conversation, and
+the shipowner was compelled to start afresh.  He was far too shrewd to
+go straight back to the topic burked by his own error.  His
+sledge-hammer methods might be crude to the verge of brutality where
+Iris was concerned, but they were capable of nice adjustment in the
+case of wary old sea-dogs of the Coke type.
+
+"It's stuffy in 'ere with the two of us smokin'--let's stroll into the
+garden," he said.
+
+Coke was agreeable.  He liked gardens; they were a change from the
+purple sea.
+
+"It's the on'y bit of green stuff you seem to be fond of, Mr. Verity,"
+he went on.  "You keep us crool short of vegetables."
+
+David's little eyes twinkled.  Here was another opening; it would not
+be his fault if it led again up a _cul-de-sac_.  He threw wide the
+window, and they crossed the lawn.
+
+"Vegetables!" he cried.  "Wish I could stock you from my place, an' I'd
+stuff you with 'em.  I can grow 'em 'ere for next to nothing, but they
+cost a heap o' money in furrin ports, an' _your_ crimson wave-catcher
+doesn't earn money--she eats it."
+
+"Even that's one better'n her skipper, 'oo doesn't do neether,"
+commented Coke gloomily.
+
+His employer seemed to find much humor in the remark.
+
+"Gad, we both look starved!" he guffawed.  "To 'ear us, you'd think we
+was booked for the workhus or till you ran a tape round the contoor,
+eh?"
+
+But Coke was not to be cheered.
+
+"I can see as far into a stone wall as 'ere a one an' there a one," he
+said, "an' there's no use blinkin' the fax.  The _Andromeda_ was a good
+ship in 'er day, but that day is gone.  You ought to 'ave sold 'er to
+the Dutchmen five years ago, Mr. Verity.  Times were better then, an'
+now you'd 'ave a fine steel ship instead of a box of scrap iron."
+
+They were passing the rhododendrons, and Verity's quick eyes noted that
+a summer-house beneath the shade of two venerable elms was unoccupied.
+The structure consisted of a rustic roof carried on half a dozen
+uprights; it had a wooden floor, and held a table and some basket
+chairs.  The roof and supports were laden with climbing roses, a
+Virginian creeper, and a passion flower.  The day being Sunday, there
+were no gardeners in the adjoining shrubbery or rose garden, and anyone
+seated in the summer-house could see on all sides.
+
+"Drop anchor in 'ere, Coke," said Verity.  "It's cool an' breezy, an'
+we can 'ave a quiet confab without bein' bothered.  Now, I reelly sent
+for you to-day to tell you I mean to better the supplies this
+trip--Yes, honest Injun!"--for the _Andromeda's_ skipper had clutched
+the cigar out of his mouth with the expression of a man who vows to
+heaven that he cannot believe his ears--"I'm goin' to bung in an extry
+'undred to-morrow in the way of stores.  Funny, isn't it?"
+
+"Funny!  It's a meracle!"
+
+Though not altogether gratified by this whole-hearted agreement with
+his own views, Verity was too anxious to keep his hearer on the present
+tack to resent any implied slur on his earlier efforts as a caterer.
+
+"It's nothing to wot I'd do if I could afford it," he added graciously.
+"But, as you said, let's look at the fax.  Wot chance 'as an iron ship,
+built twenty years ago, at a cost of sixteen pound a ton, ag'in a steel
+ship of to-day, at seven pound a ton, with twiced the cargo space, an'
+three feet less draught?  W'y no earthly.  We're dished every way.  We
+cost more to run; we can't jump 'arf the bars; we can't carry 'arf the
+stuff; we pay double insurance; an' we're axed to find interest on
+more'n double the capital.  As you say, Jimmie, wot bloomin' chanst
+'ave we?"
+
+Coke smoked silently; he had said none of these things, but when the
+shipowner's glance suddenly dwelt on him, he nodded.  Silent
+acquiescence on his part, however, was not what Verity wanted.  He,
+too, knew when to hold his tongue.  After a long interval, during which
+a robin piped a merry roundelay from the depths of a neighboring pink
+hawthorn, Coke dug out a question.
+
+"Premium gone up, then?" he inquired.
+
+"She's on a twelve-month rate.  It runs out in September.  If you're
+lucky, an' fill up with nitrate soon, you may be 'ome again.  If not,
+I'll 'ave to whack up a special quotation.  After that, there'll be no
+insurance.  The _Andromeeda_ goes for wot she'll fetch."
+
+Another pause; then Coke broached a new phase.
+
+"Meanin' that I lose the two thousand pounds I put in 'er to get my
+berth?" he said huskily.
+
+"An' wot about me?  _I_ lose eight times as much.  Just think of it!
+Sixteen thousand pounds would give me a fair balance to go on wi' i'
+these hard times, an' your two thou' would make the skipper's job in my
+new ship a certainty."
+
+Coke's brick-red face darkened.  He breathed hard.
+
+"Wot new ship?" he demanded.
+
+Verity smiled knowingly.
+
+"It's a secret, Jimmie, but I must stretch a point for a pal's sake.
+Dickey Bulmer's goin' to marry my niece, an' 'e 'as pledged himself to
+double the capital of the firm.  Now I've let the cat out of the bag.
+I'm sorry, ole man--pon me soul, I am--but w'en Dickey's name crops up
+on 'Change you know as well as me 'ow many captain's tickets will be
+backed wi' t' brass."
+
+This time, if so minded, the robin might have trilled his song _adagio
+con sostenuto_ without fear of interruption by those harsh voices.
+Neither man spoke during so long a time that the break seemed to impose
+a test of endurance; in such a crisis, he who has all at stake will
+yield rather than he who only stakes a part.
+
+"S'pose we talk plainly as man to man?" said Coke thickly, at last.
+
+"_I_ can't talk much plainer," said Verity.
+
+"Yes, you can.  Promise me the command of your next ship, an' the
+Andromeda goes on the rocks this side o' Monte Video."
+
+Verity jumped as though he had been stung by an infuriated wasp.
+
+"Coke, I'm surprised at you," he grunted, not without a sharp glance
+around to make sure no other was near.
+
+"No, you ain't, not a bit surprised, on'y you don't like to 'ear it in
+cold English.  That's wot you're drivin' at--the insurance."
+
+"Shut up, you ijjit.  Never 'eard such d--d rot in all me born days."
+
+"Listen to it now, then.  It's good to 'ave the truth tole you some
+times.  Wot are you afraid of?  I take all the risk an' precious little
+of the money.  Write me a letter----"
+
+"Write!  Me!  Coke, you're loony."
+
+"Not me.  Wait till I'm through.  Write a letter sayin' you're sorry
+the _Andromeda_ must be laid up this fall, but promisin' me the next
+vacancy.  'Ow does that 'urt _you_?"
+
+Verity's cigar had gone out.  He relighted it with due deliberation; it
+could not be denied that his nerve, at least, was superb.
+
+"I'm willin' to do anything in reason," he said slowly.  "I don't see
+where I can lay 'ands on a better man than you, Jimmie, even if you
+_do_ talk nonsense at times.  You know the South American trade, an'
+you know me.  By gad, I'll do that.  Anyhow, it's wot you deserve, but
+none the less, I'm actin' as a reel friend, now ain't I?  Many a man
+would just lay you up alongside the _Andromeeda_."
+
+"I'll call at your office in the mornin' for the letter," said Coke,
+whose red face shone like the setting sun seen through a haze.
+
+"Yes, yes.  I'll 'ave it ready."
+
+"An' you won't back out of them extry stores?  I must sweeten the crew
+on this run."
+
+"I'll supply the best of stuff--enough to last for the round trip.  But
+don't make any mistake.  You must be back afore September 30th.  That's
+the date of the policy.  Now let's trot inside, an' my gal--Mrs. Dickey
+Bulmer that is to be--will give you some tea."
+
+"Tea!" snorted Coke.
+
+"Well, there's whisky an' soda on tap if you prefer it.  It _is_ rather
+'ot for tea.  Whew! you're boilin'?  W'y don't you wear looser clo'es?
+Look at me--cool as a cucumber.  By the way, 'oo's the new man you've
+shipped as second?  Watts is the chief, I know, but 'oo is Mr. Philip
+Hozier?"
+
+"Youngster fillin' in sea-service to get a ticket an' qualify for the
+Cunard."
+
+"Thoroughly reliable sort of chap, eh?"
+
+"The best."
+
+It was odd how these men left unsaid the really vital things.  Again it
+was Coke who tried to fill in some part of the blank space.
+
+"Just the right kind of second for the _Andromeda's_ last cruise," he
+muttered.  "Smart as a new pin.  You could trust 'im on the bridge of a
+battleship.  Now, Watts is a good man, but a tot of rum makes 'im fair
+daft."
+
+"Ah!" purred Verity, "you must keep a tight 'and on Watts.  I like an
+appetizer meself w'en I'm off dooty, so to speak, but it's no joke to
+'ave a boozer in charge of a fine ship an' vallyble freight.  Of
+course, you're responsible as master, but you can't be on deck mornin',
+noon, an' night.  Choke Watts off the drink, an' you'll 'ave no
+trouble.  So that's settled.  My, but you're fair meltin'--wot is it
+they say--losin' adipose tisher.  Well, come along.  Let's lubricate."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+The _Andromeda_ sailed on the Tuesday afternoon's tide.  She would drop
+the pilot off Holyhead, and, with fair weather, such as cheered her
+departure from the Mersey, daybreak on Thursday would find her pounding
+through the cross seas where St. George's Channel merges into the wide
+Atlantic.  If she followed the beaten track on her long run to the
+River Plate--as sailors will persist in miscalling that wondrous Rio de
+la Plata--she might be signaled from Madeira or the Cape Verde Islands.
+But shipmasters often prefer to set a course clear of the land till
+they pick up the coast of South America.  If she were not spoken by
+some passing steamer, there was every possibility that the sturdy old
+vessel would not be heard of again before reaching her destination.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+But David Verity heard of her much sooner, and no thunderbolt that ever
+rent the heavens could have startled him more than the manner of that
+hearing.
+
+Resolving to clinch matters with regard to Iris and her elderly suitor,
+he invited "Owd Dickey" to supper on Sunday evening.  The girl endured
+the man's presence with a placid dignity that amazed her uncle.  On the
+plea of a headache, she retired at an early hour, leaving Bulmer to
+gloat over his prospective happiness, and primed to the point of
+dementia.
+
+He was quite willing to accompany Verity to the bank next morning; a
+pleasant-spoken manager sighed his relief when the visitors were gone,
+and he was free to look at the item "bills discounted" on Verity's page
+in the ledger.  More than that, a lawyer was instructed to draw up a
+partnership deed, and the representatives of various ship-building
+firms were asked to supply estimates for two new vessels.
+
+Altogether Dickey was complaisant, and David enjoyed a busy and
+successful day.  He dined in town, came home at a late hour, and merely
+grinned when a servant told him that Mr. Bulmer had called twice but
+Miss Iris happened to be out on both occasions.
+
+Nevertheless, at breakfast on Tuesday, he warned his niece not to keep
+her admirer dangling at arm's length.
+
+"E's a queer owd codger," explained the philosopher.  "Play up to 'im a
+bit, an' you'll be able to twist 'im round your little finger.  I
+b'lieve he's goin' dotty, an' you can trust me to see that the marriage
+settlement is O. K."
+
+"Will you be home to dinner?" was her response.
+
+"No.  Now that the firm is in smooth water again I must show myself a
+bit.  It's all thanks to you, lass, an' I'll not forget it.  Good-by!"
+
+Iris smiled, and Verity was vastly pleased.
+
+"I am sure you will not forget," she said.  "Good-by."
+
+"There's no understandin' wimmin," mused David, as his victoria swept
+through the gates of Linden House.  "Sunday afternoon Dickey might ha'
+bin a dose of rat poison; now she's ready to swaller 'im as if 'e was a
+chocolate drop."
+
+Again he returned some few minutes after midnight; again the servant
+announced Mr. Bulmer's visits, three of them; and again Miss Iris had
+been absent--in fact, she had not yet come home.
+
+"Not 'ome!" cried David furiously.  "W'y it's gone twelve.  W'ere
+the--w'ere is she?"
+
+No one knew.  She had quitted the house soon after Verity himself, and
+had not been seen since.  Storm and rage as he might, and did, David
+could not discover his niece's whereabouts.  He spent a wearying and
+tortured night, a harassed and miserable day, devoted to frantic
+inquiries in every possible direction with interludes of specious lying
+to the infatuated Bulmer.  But enlightment came on Thursday morning.  A
+letter arrived by the first post.  It was from Iris.
+
+
+"MY DEAR UNCLE," she wrote: "Neither you nor Mr. Bulmer should have any
+objection to my passing the few remaining weeks of my liberty in the
+manner best pleasing to myself.  On Sunday evening, in your presence,
+Mr. Bulmer urged me to fix an early date for our marriage.  Tell him
+that I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England from
+South America.  You will remember that you promised last year to take
+me to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres this summer; I have been learning
+Spanish so as to help our sight-seeing.  Unfortunately, business
+prevents you from keeping that promise, but there is no reason why I
+should not go.  I am on board the _Andromeda_, and will probably be
+able to explain matters satisfactorily to Captain Coke.  The vessel is
+due back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not
+have long to wait.  It is more than likely that Captain Coke will not
+know I am aboard until Thursday, and I have arranged with a friend that
+this letter shall reach you about the same time.  Please convey my
+apologies to Mr. Bulmer, and accept my regret for any anxiety you may
+have felt owing to my unaccountable absence.
+
+"Your affectionate niece,
+
+"IRIS YORKE."
+
+
+David narrowly escaped an apoplectic seizure.  When he recovered his
+senses he looked ten years older.  The instinct of self-preservation
+alone saved him in his frenzy from blurting forth the tidings of the
+girl's flight.  Incoherent with fear and passion, he contrived to give
+orders for his carriage, and was driven to his office.  Thence he
+dispatched telegrams to every signaling station in England, Ireland,
+and Spain, at which by the remotest possibility the _Andromeda_ might
+be intercepted.  He cabled to Madeira and Cape Verde, even to Fernando
+Noronha and Pernambuco; he sent urgent instructions to the pilotage
+authorities of the Bristol Channel, the southwest ports, and Lisbon;
+and the text of every message was: "_Andromeda_ must return to
+Liverpool instantly."
+
+But the wretched man realized that he was doomed.  Fate had struck at
+him mercilessly.  He could only wait in dumb despair, and mutter
+prayers too long forgotten, and concoct bogus letters from a cousin's
+address in the south of England for the benefit of Dickey Bulmer.
+
+Never was ship more eagerly sought than the _Andromeda_, yet never was
+ship more completely engulfed in the mysterious silence of the great
+sea.  The days passed, and the weeks, yet nothing was heard of her.
+She figured in the "overdue" list at Lloyd's; sharp-eyed underwriters
+did "specs" in her; woe-begone women began to haunt the Liverpool
+office for news of husbands and sons; the love-lorn Dickey wore Verity
+to a shadow of his former self by alternate pleadings and threats; but
+the _Andromeda_ remained mute, and the fanciful letters from Iris
+became fewer and more fragmentary as David's imagination failed, and
+his excuses grew thinner.
+
+And the odd thing was that if David had only known it, he could have
+saved himself all this heart-burning and misery by looking through the
+dining-room window on that Sunday afternoon when his prospects seemed
+to be so rosy.  He never thought of that.  He cursed every circumstance
+and person impartially and fluently, but he omitted from the Satanic
+litany the one girlish prank of tree-climbing that led Iris to spring
+out of sight amid the sheltering arms of an elm when her uncle and
+Captain Coke deemed the summer-house a suitable place for "a plain talk
+as man to man."
+
+So David learnt what it meant to wait, and listen, and start
+expectantly when postman's knock or telegraph messenger's imperative
+summons sounded on door of house or office.
+
+But he waited long in vain.  The _Andromeda_, like her namesake of old,
+might have been chained to a rock on some mythical island guarded by
+the father of all sea serpents.  As for a new Perseus, well--David knew
+him not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE
+
+The second officer of the _Andromeda_ was pacing the bridge with the
+slow alertness of responsibility.  He would walk from port to
+starboard, glance forrard and aft, peer at the wide crescent of the
+starlit sea, stroll back to port, and again scan ship and horizon.
+Sometimes he halted in front of the binnacle lamp to make certain that
+the man at the wheel was keeping the course, South 15 West, set by
+Captain Coke shortly before midnight.  His ears listened mechanically
+to the steady pulse-beats of the propeller; his eyes swept the vague
+plain of the ocean for the sparkling white diamond that would betoken a
+mast-head light; he was watchful and prepared for any unforeseen
+emergency that might beset the vessel intrusted to his care.  But his
+mind dwelt on something far removed from his duties, though, to be
+sure, every poet who ever scribbled four lines of verse has found rhyme
+and reason in comparing women with stars, and ships, and the sea.
+
+If Philip Hozier was no poet, he was a sailor, and sailors are
+notoriously susceptible to the charms of the softer sex.  But the only
+woman he loved was his mother, the only bride he could look for during
+many a year was a mermaid, though these sprites of the deep waters seem
+to be frequenting undiscovered haunts since mariners ceased to woo the
+wind.  For all that, if perforce he was heart-whole, there was no just
+cause or impediment why he should not admire a pretty girl when he saw
+one, and an exceedingly pretty girl had honored him with her company
+during a brief minute of the previous day.
+
+He was superintending the safe disposal of the last batch of cotton
+goods in the forward hold--and had just found it necessary to explain
+the correct principles of stowage with sailor-like fluency--when a
+young lady, accompanied by a dock laborer carrying a leather
+portmanteau, spoke to him from the quay.
+
+"Is Captain Coke on board?" said she.
+
+"No, madam," said he, lifting his cap with one hand, and restraining
+the clanking of a steam windlass with the other.
+
+"I am Mr. Verity's niece, and I wish to send this parcel to Monte
+Video--may I put it in some place where it will be safe?" said she.
+
+Hoping that the rattling winch had drowned his earlier remarks--which
+were couched in an _lingua franca_ of the high seas--he began to tell
+her that it would give him the utmost pleasure to take charge of it on
+her account, but she nodded, bade the porter follow, ran along a
+somewhat precarious gangway, and was on deck before he could offer any
+assistance.
+
+"You are Mr. Hozier, I suppose?" said Iris, gazing with frank brown
+eyes into his frank blue ones.  She, of course, was severely
+self-possessed; he, as is the way of mere man, grew more confused each
+instant.
+
+"Well, I will just pop the bag into Captain Coke's stateroom, and leave
+this note with it.  I have explained everything fully.  I wrote a line
+in case he might be absent."
+
+All of which was so strictly accurate that it served its purpose
+admirably, though the said purpose, it is regrettable to state, was the
+misleading and utter bamboozling of Philip Hozier.  Miss Iris Yorke
+knew quite well that Captain Coke was then closeted with David Verity
+in Exchange Buildings; she knew, because she had watched him pass
+through the big swing doors of her uncle's office.  She also knew,
+having made it her business to find out, that in fifteen minutes, or
+less, the crew would muster in the fo'c'sle for their mid-day meal.
+Not having heard a word of Hozier's free speech to the gentlemen of
+various nationalities at the bottom of the hold, she wondered why he
+was blushing.
+
+"Shall I show you the way?" asked Philip, finding his tongue.
+
+"No, thank you.  I have been on board the _Andromeda_ many times.  Ah,
+Peter, I see you.  What is it to-day, scouse or lobscouse?"
+
+"Scouse, miss," said the ship's cook, grinning widely at her
+recollection of the line drawn by both his patrons and himself between
+ship's biscuit stewed with fresh meat and the same article flavored
+with salt junk.
+
+Peter's recognition placed Iris's identity beyond doubt.  She said
+nothing more to Hozier, but tripped up the companionway.  Soon he saw
+her paying the man who had carried the portmanteau.  She herself seemed
+to be in no hurry.  She walked to the rails beneath the bridge, and
+found interest in watching the loading operations, which were resumed
+as soon as the second officer saw that his services were not wanted.
+Time was pressing, and a good deal yet remained to be done.
+
+Mr. Watts, the chief officer, who was called ashore by urgent business
+five minutes after the "old man" left the vessel, chose this awkward
+moment to appear from behind a bonded warehouse.  He was walking with
+unnatural steadiness, so Hozier made some excuse to meet him and
+whisper that the owner's niece was on board.
+
+"Sun's zhot," remarked Mr. Watts cheerfully.
+
+"Go and lie down for a spell," suggested Hozier, and Mr. Watts thought
+it was a "shpiffin' idee."  When Hozier was free to glance a second
+time at the cross rail, Iris had vanished.  He was annoyed.  Evidently
+she did not wish to encounter any more of the ship's officers that
+morning.
+
+The hatches were on, and everything was orderly before Coke's squat
+figure climbed the gangway.  Hozier reported the young lady's visit,
+and the skipper was obviously surprised.  As he hoisted himself up the
+steep ladder to the hurricane deck, the younger man heard him
+condemning someone under his breath as "a leery old beggar."  The
+phrase was hardly applicable to Iris, but Coke came out of his cabin
+with an open letter in his hand, and bade a steward stow the
+portmeanteau in some other more hallowed and less inconvenient place.
+
+And there the incident ended.  The _Andromeda_ hauled down the Blue
+Peter for her long run of over 6,000 miles to Monte Video, and Hozier
+had routine work in plenty to occupy his mind during the first
+twenty-four hours at sea without perplexing it with memories of a
+pretty face.  Soon after Holyhead was passed, it is true, a sailor
+reported to the second officer that he had seen a ghost between decks,
+in the region of the lazarette.  It was then near midnight, a quiet
+hour on board ship, and Hozier told the man sharply to go to his bunk
+and endeavor to sleep off the effects of the bad beer imbibed earlier
+in the day.
+
+Now, on this second night of the voyage, while the ship was plodding
+steadily southward with that fifteen point inclination to the west that
+would bring her far into the Atlantic soon after daybreak, Philip
+remembered Mr. Verity's niece, and felt sorry that when she paid those
+former visits to the _Andromeda_, fate had decreed that he should be
+serving his time on another vessel.  For there was an expression in her
+eyes that haunted him.  Though she addressed him with that absence of
+restraint which is a heaven-sent attribute of every young woman when
+circumstances compel her to speak to a strange young man--though her
+tone to the more favored cook was kindly, and even sprightly--though
+Philip himself was red and inclined to stammer--despite all these
+hindrances to clear judgment, he felt that she was troubled in spirit.
+His acquaintance with women was of the slightest, since a youth who is
+taught his business on the _Conway_, and means to attach himself to one
+of the great Trans-Atlantic shipping lines, has no time to spare for
+dalliance in boudoirs.  But it gave him a thrill when he heard that
+this charming girl knew his name, and it seemed to him, for an instant,
+that she was looking into his very soul, analyzing him, searching for
+some sign that he was not as others, which meant that there were some
+whom she had bitter cause to distrust.  Of course, that was mere
+day-dreaming, a nebulous fantasy brought by her gracious presence into
+a medley of hurrying windlasses, strenuous orders, and sulky, panting
+men.
+
+At any rate, she had left a memento of her too brief appearance on
+board in the shape of the bag.  He would contrive to take on his own
+shoulders its mission in Monte Video; then, on returning to Liverpool,
+he would have an excuse for calling on her.  He did not know her name
+yet.  Possibly, Captain Coke would mention that interesting fact when
+his temper lost its raw edge.  As a last resource, the cook might
+enlighten him.
+
+It was strange that he should be thinking of Iris--far stranger than he
+could guess--but his thoughts were sub-conscious, and he was in no wise
+neglecting the safety of the ship.  The night was clear but dark, the
+stars blinked with the subdued radiance that betokens fine weather, and
+ever and anon their reflection glimmered from the long slope of a wave
+like the glint of spangles on a dress.  But it was a garment of
+far-flung amplitude, woven on the shadowy loom of night and the sea,
+and from such mysterious warp and weft is often produced the sable robe
+of tragedy and death.  It was so now, within an ace.  At one instance,
+the restless plain of the ocean seemed to bear no other argosy than the
+_Andromeda_; in the next, Hozier's quick-moving glance had caught the
+pallid sheen of some small craft's starboard light.  No need to tell
+him what might happen.  A sailing vessel, probably a fishing smack, was
+crossing the steamer's course.  He sprang to the telegraph, and
+signaled "Slow" to the engine-room.  Simultaneously he shouted to the
+steersman to starboard the helm, and the siren trumpeted a single
+raucous blast into the silence.  With the rattle of the chains and
+steering-rods in the gear-boxes came a yell from the lookout forward:
+
+"Light on the port bow!"
+
+Hozier repeated the hail, but promised the blear-eyed sentinels in the
+bows of the ship a lively five minutes when the watch was relieved.
+Slowly the _Andromeda_ swung to the west.  Even more slowly, or so it
+appeared to the anxious man on the bridge, a red eye peeped into being
+alongside the green one.  A blacker smear showed up on the black sea,
+and a hoarse voice, presumably situated beneath the smear, expressed a
+desire for information.
+
+"Arr ye all aslape on board that crimson collier?" it asked in a
+Waterford brogue.
+
+"Got the hooker's wheel tied, I suppose?" retorted Hozier, for the now
+visible schooner had not attempted to change her course by half a
+point.  She was now bowling along with every stitch set before a
+five-knot breeze from the east; the tilt of her sails was such that she
+practically presented only the outline of her spars when first sighted
+from the steamer; and her side lights probably had tallow candles in
+them.
+
+"Bedad, it's aisier in moind we'd be if you were tied to it," shouted
+the voice, and Hozier felt, like many another Saxon, that an Irishman's
+last word is often the best one.
+
+The engines resumed their cadence, and the _Andromeda_ crept round
+again to South 15 West.  She was back on her proper line when a heavy
+step sounded on the iron rungs of the bridge ladder.
+
+"Wot's up?" demanded Coke, who was fully dressed, though Hozier thought
+he had retired two hours earlier.  "Oh, the beer is frothin' up to
+their eyes, is it?" went on the skipper, after listening to a brief
+summary of events.  "I thought, mebbe, the wheel had jammed.  But those
+lazy swabs want talkin' to.  I'll just give 'em a bit of me mind," and
+he went forward.
+
+Hozier heard him reading the Riot Act to the shell-backs who were
+supposed to keep a sharp lookout ahead.  But the captain did not
+monopolize the conversation.  His deep notes rumbled only at intervals.
+The men had something to say.  He returned to the bridge.
+
+"One of them scallywags sez 'e 'as seen a ghost," he announced, with
+the calm air of a man who states that the moon will rise during the
+next hour.
+
+"I wish he could see less remarkable things, such as schooners, sir,"
+said Hozier.
+
+"But 'e swears 'e sawr it twiced."
+
+"Oh, is he the man who reported a ghost outside the lazarette last
+night?"
+
+"I s'pose so.  Did 'e tell you about it?  That's where she walks."
+
+"She!"
+
+"That's his yarn--a female ghost, a black 'un, black clo'es anyhow.
+He's a dashed fool, but he's no boozer, though his mate's tongue is a
+bit thick yet.  I'll take the forenoon watch, an' you might overhaul
+the ship for stowaways after breakfast.  Never heard of one on this
+journey--I've routed out as many as twenty at a time w'en I was runnin'
+between Wellington an' Sydney--but you never can tell, so 'ave a squint
+round."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Hozier, and that is how it fell to his lot to discover
+Iris Yorke, looking very white and miserable, when the hatch of the
+lazarette was broken open at half-past eight o'clock on Thursday
+morning!
+
+A tramp steamer is not a complex organism.  She is made up of holds,
+bunkers, boilers and engines, with scanty accommodation for officers
+and crew grouped round the funnel or stuck in the bows.  When the boats
+were stripped of their tarpaulins, and a few lockers and store-rooms
+examined, the only available hiding-places were the shaft tunnel, the
+holds, and the lazarette, a small space between decks, situated
+directly above the propeller, where a reserve supply of provisions is
+generally carried.
+
+But the door of the lazarette was locked, and the key missing, though
+it ought to be hanging with others, all duly labeled, on a hook in the
+steward's cabin.  A duplicate set of keys in the captain's possession
+was far from complete.  As the steward was certain he had fastened the
+lazarette himself early on Tuesday morning, there was nothing for it
+but to force the lock.
+
+Even that would not have been necessary had the carpenter slackened his
+efforts after the first assault.  Iris cried loudly enough that she
+would open the door, but the noise of the shaft and the flapping of the
+screw drowned her voice, and she was compelled to stand clear when the
+stout planking began to yield.
+
+It was dark in there, and Hozier was undeniably startled by the
+spectacle of a slim figure, wrapped in a long ulster, standing among
+the cases and packages.  "Now, out you come!" he cried, with a
+gruffness that was intended only to cover his own amazement; but Iris,
+despite the horrors of sea-sickness and confinement in the dark, was
+not minded to suffer what she considered to be impertinence on the part
+of a second officer.
+
+"I am Miss Yorke," she said, coming forward into the half light of the
+lower deck.  "Any explanation of my presence here will be given to the
+captain, and to no other person."
+
+That innocent word "person" is capable of many meanings.  Hozier felt
+that its application to himself was distinctly unfavorable.  And Iris
+was quite dignified and self-possessed.  She had given a few deft
+touches to her hair.  Her hat was set at the right angle.  Her dark
+gray coat and brown boots looked neat and serviceable.
+
+"Of course I did not know to whom I was speaking," he managed to say,
+for he now recognized the "ghost," and was more surprised than he had
+ever been in his life before.
+
+"That is matterless," said Iris frigidly.  "Where is Captain Coke?"
+
+"On the bridge," said Philip.
+
+"I will go to him.  Please don't come with me.  I tried to tell you
+that I would unlock the door, but you refused to listen.  Will you let
+me pass?"
+
+He obeyed in silence.
+
+"Well, s'help me!" muttered a sailor, "talk about suffrigettes!  Wot
+price _'er_?"
+
+Iris hurried to the deck.  The light seemed to dazzle her, and her
+steps were so uncertain that Hozier sprang forward and caught her arm.
+
+"Won't you sit down a moment, Miss Yorke?" he said.  "If you searched
+the whole ship, you could not have chosen a worse place to travel in
+than the lazarette."
+
+"I was driven out twice at night by the rats," she gasped, though she
+strove desperately to regain control of her trembling limbs.
+
+"Too bad!" he whispered.  "But it was your own fault.  Why did you do
+it?  At any rate, wait here a few minutes before you meet the captain."
+
+"I am not afraid of meeting him.  Why should I be?  He knows me."
+
+"I meant only that you are hardly able to walk, but I seem to say the
+wrong thing every time.  There is nothing really to worry about.  We
+are not far from Queenstown.  We can put you ashore there by losing
+half a day."
+
+The girl had been ill, wracked in body and distraught in mind, with the
+added horror of knowing that rats were scampering over the deck close
+to her in the noisy darkness, but she summoned a half laugh at his
+words.
+
+"You are still saying the wrong thing, Mr. Hozier," she murmured.  "The
+_Andromeda_ will not put into Queenstown.  From this hour I become a
+passenger, not a stowaway.  My uncle knows now that I am here.  Thank
+you, you need not hold me any longer.  I have quite recovered.  Captain
+Coke is on the bridge, you said?  I can find my way; this ship is no
+stranger to me."
+
+And away she went, justifying her statements by tripping rapidly
+forward.  The mere sight of her created boundless excitement among such
+members of the crew as were on deck, but the shock administered to Mr.
+Watts was of that intense variety often described as electric.  In the
+matter of disposing of large quantities of ardent spirits he was a
+seasoned vessel, and, as a general rule, the first day at sea sufficed
+to clear his brain from the fumes of the last orgy on shore.  But, to
+be effective, the cure must not be too drastic.  This morning, after
+leaving the bridge, he had fortified his system with a liberal
+allowance of rum and milk.  Breakfast ended, he took another dose of
+the same mixture as a "steadier," and he was just leaving the messroom
+when he set eyes on Iris.  Of course, he refused to believe his eyes.
+Had they not deceived him many times?
+
+"Ha!" said he, "a bit liverish," and he pressed a rough hand firmly
+downward from forehead to cheek-bones.  When he looked again, the girl
+was much nearer.
+
+"Lord luv' a duck, this time I've got 'em for sure!" he groaned.
+
+His lower jaw dropped, he stared unblinkingly, and purple veins bulged
+crookedly on his seamed forehead.  He was bereft of the power of
+movement.  He stood stock-still, blocking the narrow gangway.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Watts.  You remember me, don't you?" said Iris,
+showing by her manner that she wished to pass him.
+
+A slight roll of the ship assisted in the disintegration of Watts.  He
+collapsed sideways into the cook's galley, the door of which was
+hospitably open.  Somewhat frightened by the wildness of his looks,
+Iris ran on, and dashed at the foot of the companion rather
+breathlessly.  The keen air was already tingeing her cheeks with color.
+When she reached the bridge, where Captain Coke was propped against the
+chart-house, with a thick, black cigar sticking in his mouth and
+apparently trying to touch his nose, she had lost a good deal of the
+pallor and woe-begone semblance that had demoralized Hozier.
+
+Coke heard the rapid, light footsteps, and turned his head.  At all
+times slow of thought and slower of speech, he was galvanized into a
+sudden rigidity that differed only in degree from the symptoms
+displayed by his chief officer.  Certainly he could not have been more
+stupefied had he seen the ghost reported overnight.
+
+"They told me I should find you here, Captain," said she.  "I must
+apologize for thrusting my company on you for a long voyage,
+but--circumstances--were--too much for me--and----"
+
+Face to face with the commander of the ship, and startled anew by his
+expression of blank incredulity, the glib flow of words conned so often
+during the steadfast but dreadful hours spent in the lazarette failed
+her.
+
+"You know me," she faltered.  "I am Iris Yorke."
+
+Not a syllable came from the irate and astonished man gazing at her
+with such a bovine stolidity.  His shoulders had not abated a fraction
+of their stubborn thrust against the frame of the chart-house.  His
+hands were immovable in the pockets of his reefer coat.  The cigar
+still stuck out between his lips like a miniature jib-boom.  Had he
+wished to terrify her by a hostile reception, he could not have
+succeeded more completely, though, to be just, he meant nothing of the
+sort; his wits being jumbled into chaos by the apparition of the last
+person then alive whom he expected or desired to see on board the
+_Andromeda_.
+
+But Iris could not interpret his mood, and she strove vainly to conquer
+the fear welling up in her breast because of the grim anger that seemed
+to blaze at her from every line of Coke's brick-red countenance.  In
+the struggle to pour forth the excuses and protestations that sounded
+so plausible in her own ears, while secured from observation behind the
+locked door of her retreat, she blundered unhappily on to the very
+topic that she had resolved to keep secret.
+
+"Why are you so unwilling to acknowledge me?" she cried, with a nervous
+indignation that lent a tremor to her voice.  "You have met me often
+enough.  You saw me on Sunday at my uncle's house?"
+
+"Did I?" said Coke, speaking at last, but really as much at a loss for
+something to say as the girl herself.  He had recognized her instantly,
+just as he would recognize the moon if the luminary fell from the sky,
+and with as little comprehension of the cause of its falling.
+
+Of course, she took the question as a forerunner of blank denial.  This
+was not to be borne.  She fired into a direct attack.
+
+"If your memory is hazy concerning the events of Sunday afternoon, it
+may be helpful if I recall the conversation between my uncle and you in
+the summer-house," she snapped.
+
+Some of the glow fled from Coke's face.  He straightened himself and
+glanced at the sailor inside the wheel-house, whose attention was given
+instantly to the fact that the vessel's head had fallen away a full
+point or more from South 15 West owing to the easterly set of a strong
+tide.  Vessels' heads are apt to turn when steersmen do not attend to
+their business.
+
+"Wot's that you're sayin'?" demanded Coke, coming nearer, and looking
+her straight in the eyes.
+
+"I heard every word of that interesting talk," she continued valiantly,
+though she was sensible of a numbness that seemed to envelop her in an
+ice-cold mist.  "I know what you arranged to do--so I have promised--to
+marry Mr. Bulmer--when the _Andromeda_--comes back----"
+
+A light broke on Coke's intelligence that irradiated his prominent
+eyes.  His heavy lips relaxed into a cunning grin, and he flicked the
+ash off the end of the cigar with a confidential nod.
+
+"Oh, is _that_ it?" he said.  "Artful old dog, Verity!  But why in--why
+didn't 'e tell me you was comin' aboard this trip?  We 'aven't the
+right fixin's for a lady, so you must put up with the best we can do
+for you, Miss Yorke.  Nat'rally, we're tickled to death to 'ave your
+company, an' if on'y that blessed uncle of your's 'ad told me wot to
+expect, I'd 'ave made things ship-shape at Liverpool.  But, my
+god-father, wot sort of ijjit axed you to stow yourself away in the
+lazareet?  Steady now; you ain't a-goin' to faint, are you?"
+
+Coke's amiability came too late.  His squat figure and red face
+suddenly loomed into a gigantic indistinctness in the girl's eyes.  She
+would have fallen to the deck had not the captain's strong hands
+clutched her by the shoulders.
+
+"Hi!  Below there!" he yelled.  "Tumble up, some of you!"
+
+Hozier was the first to gain the bridge.  He had followed the progress
+of events with sufficient accuracy to realize that Miss Iris Yorke had
+met with a distinct rebuff by the skipper, and, judging from his own
+experience of her physical weakness when she emerged into daylight, he
+was not surprised to hear that she had fainted.
+
+"'Ere, take 'old," gurgled Coke, who had nearly swallowed the cigar in
+his surprise at Iris's unforeseen collapse.  "This kind of thing is
+more in your line than mine, young feller.  Just lay 'er out in the
+saloon, an' ax Watts to 'elp.  His missus goes orf regular w'en they
+bring 'im 'ome paralytic."
+
+Philip took the girl into his arms.  To carry her safely down the steep
+stairway he was compelled to place her head on his left shoulder and
+clasp her tightly round the waist with his left arm.  Some loosened
+strands of her hair touched his face; he could feel the laboring of her
+breast, the wild beating of her heart, and he was exceeding wroth with
+that unknown man or woman who had driven this insensible girl to such
+straits that she was ready to dare the discomforts and deprivations of
+a voyage as a stowaway, rather than be persecuted further.
+
+Iris was laid on a couch in the messroom, and the steward summoned Mr.
+Watts.  The chief officer came, looking sheepish.  It was manifestly a
+great relief when he found that the "ghost" was unconscious.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing," he cried, in response to his junior's eager
+demand for information as to the treatment best fitted for such
+emergencies.  "They all drop in a heap like that w'en they're worried.
+Fust you takes orf their gloves an' boots, then you undoes their stays
+an' rips open their dresses at the necks.  One of you rubs their 'ands
+an' another their feet, an' you dabs cold water on their foreheads, an'
+burn brown paper under their noses.  In between whiles you give 'em a
+drink, stiff as you can make it.  It's dead easy.  Them stays are a bit
+troublesome if they run to size, but she's thin enough as it is.
+Anyhow, I can show you a fine trick for that.  Just turn her over till
+I cast a lashin' loose with my knife."
+
+Watts was elbowed aside so unceremoniously that his temper gave way.
+Hozier lifted Iris's head gently and unfastened the neck-hooks of her
+blouse.  He began to chafe her cold hands tenderly, and pressed back
+the hair from her damp forehead.  The "chief," not flattered by his own
+reflections, thought fit to sneer at these half measures.
+
+"She's on'y a woman like the rest of 'em," he growled, "even if she
+_is_ the owner's niece, an' a good-lookin' gal at that.  I s'pose now
+you think----"
+
+"I think she will want some fresh air soon, so you had better clear
+out," said Philip.
+
+His words were quiet, but he flashed a warning glance at the other man
+that sufficed.  Watts retired, muttering sarcasms under his breath.
+
+Iris revived, to find Philip supporting her with a degree of skill that
+was remarkable in one who had enjoyed so little experience in those
+matters.  She heard his voice, coming, as it seemed, rapidly nearer,
+urging her to sip something very fiery and spirituous.  Instantly she
+protested.
+
+"What are you giving me?" she sobbed.  "What has happened?"
+
+Then the whole of her world opened up before her.  Her hands flew to
+her throat, her hair.  She flushed into vivid life as the marble
+Galatea incardinated under Pygmalion's kiss.
+
+"Did I faint?" she asked confusedly.
+
+"Yes, but you are all right now.  You did not fall.  Captain Coke
+caught you and handed you over to me.  I wish you would drink the
+remainder of this brandy, and rest for a little while."
+
+Iris pushed away the glass and sat up.
+
+"You carried me?" she said.
+
+"Well, I couldn't do anything else."
+
+"I suppose you don't realize what it means to a woman to feel that she
+has been out of her senses under such conditions?"
+
+"No, but in your case it only meant that you sighed deeply a few times
+and tried to bite my fingers when I wished to open your mouth."
+
+"What for?  Why did you want to open my mouth?"
+
+"To give you a drink--you needed a stimulant."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+By this time a few dexterous twists and turns had restrained those
+wandering tresses within bounds.  She held a hair-pin between her lips,
+and a woman can always say exactly what she means when a hairpin
+prevents discursiveness.
+
+"I am all right now," she announced.  "Will you please leave me, and
+tell the steward to bring me a cup of tea?  If there is a cabin at
+liberty, he might put that portmanteau in it which I brought on board
+at Liverpool."
+
+Hozier fulfilled her requests, and rejoined Coke on the bridge.
+
+"Miss Yorke is quite well again, sir," he reported.  "She wants a
+cabin--to change her clothes, I imagine.  That bag you saw----"
+
+"Pretty foxy, wasn't it?" broke in Coke, with a glee that was puzzling
+to his hearer.
+
+"The whole affair seems to have been carefully planned," agreed Philip.
+"But, as I was saying, she asked for the use of a cabin, so I told the
+steward to give her mine until we put into Queenstown."
+
+Coke, who had lighted another black and stumpy cigar, removed it in
+order to speak with due emphasis.
+
+"Put into h--l!" he said.
+
+"But surely you will not take this young lady to the River Plate?"
+cried the astounded second officer.
+
+"She knew where she was bound w'en she kem aboard the _Andromeda_,"
+said the skipper, frowning now like a man who argues with himself.
+"There's her portmanter to prove it, with a label, an' all, in her own
+'and-writin'.  It's some game played on me by 'er an' 'er uncle.
+Any'ow, the fust time she sees land again it'll be the lovely 'arbor of
+Pernambuco--an' that's straight.  'Ere she is, an' 'ere she'll stop,
+an' the best thing you can do is spread the notion among the crew that
+she's runnin' away to avoid marryin' a man she doesn't like.  That
+sounds reasonable, an' it 'appens to be true.  Verity an' me talked it
+over last Sunday, p.m."
+
+"To avoid a marriage?" repeated Hozier, who discovered a bluff honesty,
+not to say candor, in the statement, not perceptible hitherto in his
+commander's utterances.
+
+"Yes, that's it," said Coke, waving the cigar across an arc of the
+horizon as he warmed to the subject.  "But look 'ere, me boy, this gal
+sails under my flag.  I'm, wot d'ye call it, in locomotive parentibus,
+or something of the sort, while she's on the ship's books.  You keep
+your mouth shut, an' wink the other eye, an' leave it to me to give you
+the chanst of your life--eh, wot?"
+
+Philip Hozier did not strive to extract the precise meaning of the
+skipper's words.  The process would have been difficult, since Coke
+himself could not have supplied any reasonable analysis.  Somehow, to
+the commander's thinking, the presence of the girl seemed to make
+easier the casting away of the ship--exactly how, or what bearing her
+strangely-begun voyage might have on subsequent events, he was not yet
+in a position to say.  But when the second officer left him, and he was
+steeped once more in the fresh breeze and the sunshine, with his
+shoulders braced against the chart-house, he looked at a smoke trail on
+the horizon far away to the west.
+
+"Queenstown!" he chuckled.  "Not this journey--not if my name's Jimmie
+Coke, the man 'oo is stannin' on all that is left of 'is 'ard-earned
+savin's.  No, sir, I've got me orders an' I've got me letter, an' the
+pore old _Andromeda_ gets ripped to pieces in the Recife, or I'll know
+the reason why.  Wot a card to play at the inquiry!  Owner's niece on
+board--bound to South America for the good of 'er health.  'Oo even
+'eard of a man sendin' 'is pretty niece on a ship 'e meant to throw
+away?  It's Providential, that's wot it is, reel Providential!  I do
+believe ole Verity 'ad a 'and in it."
+
+Which shows that Captain Coke confused Providence with David Verity,
+and goes far to prove how ill-fitted he was to theorize on the ways of
+Providence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE
+
+"Five bells, miss!  It'll soon be daylight.  If you wants to see the
+Cross, now's your time!"
+
+Iris had been called from dreamless sleep by a thundering rat-tat on
+her cabin door.  In reply to her half-awaked cry of "All right," the
+hoarse voice of a sailor told her that the Southern Cross had just
+risen above the horizon.  She had a drowsy recollection of someone
+saying that the famous constellation would make its appearance at seven
+bells, not at five, and the difference of an hour, when the time
+happens to be 2:30 instead of 8:30 a.m. is a matter of some importance.
+But, perhaps that was a mistake; at any rate, here was the messenger,
+and she resolutely screwed her knuckles into her eyes and began to
+dress.  In a few minutes she was on deck.  A long coat, a Tam o'
+Shanter, and a pair of list slippers will go far in the way of costume
+at night in the tropics, and the _Andromeda's_ seventeenth day at sea
+had brought the equator very near.  At dinner on the previous
+evening--in honor of the owner's niece fashionable hours were observed
+for meals--Mr. Watts mentioned, by chance, that the Cross had been very
+distinct during the middle watch, or, in other words, between midnight
+and 4 a.m.  Iris at once expressed a wish to see it, and Captain Coke
+offered a suggestion.
+
+"Mr. Hozier takes the middle watch to-night," said he.  "We can ax 'im
+to send a man to pound on your door as soon as it rises.  Then you must
+run up to the bridge, an' 'e'll tell you all about it."
+
+If Iris was conscious of a slight feeling of surprise, she did not show
+it.  Hitherto, the burly skipper of the _Andromeda_ had made it so
+clearly understood that none of the ship's company save himself was to
+enjoy the society of Miss Iris Yorke, that she had exchanged very few
+words with the one man whose manners and education obviously entitled
+him to meet her on an equal plane.  Even at meals, he was often absent,
+for the captain and chief officer of a tramp steamer are not altruists
+where eating is concerned.  She often visited the bridge, her favorite
+perch being the shady side of the wheel-house, but talking to the
+officer of the watch was strictly forbidden.  In everything
+appertaining to the vessel's navigation the discipline of a man-of-war
+was observed on board the _Andromeda_.  So Coke's complacency came now
+quite unexpectedly, but Iris was learning to school her tongue.
+
+"Thank you very much," she said.  "When shall I see him?"
+
+"Oh, you needn't bother.  I'll tell 'im meself."
+
+She was somewhat disappointed at this.  Hozier would be free for an
+hour before he turned in, and they might have enjoyed a nice chat while
+he smoked on the poop.  In her heart of hearts, she was beginning to
+acknowledge that a voyage through summer seas on a cargo vessel, with
+no other society than that of unimaginative sailormen, savored of
+tedium, indeed, almost of deadly monotony.  Her rare meetings with
+Hozier marked bright spots in a dull round of hours.  During their
+small intercourse she had discovered that he was well informed.  They
+had hit upon a few kindred tastes in books and music; they even
+differed sharply in their appreciation of favorite authors, and what
+could be more conducive to complete understanding than the attack and
+defense of the shrine of some tin god of literature?
+
+While, therefore, it was strange that Captain Coke should actually
+propose a visit to the bridge at an unusual time--at a time, too, when
+Hozier would be on duty--it struck her as far more curious that he
+should endeavor to prevent an earlier meeting.  But she had never lost
+her intuitive fear of Coke.  His many faults certainly did not include
+a weak will.  He meant what he said--also a good deal that he left
+unsaid--and his word was law to everyone on board the _Andromeda_.  So
+Iris contented herself with meek agreement.
+
+"I shall be delighted to come at any time.  I have often read about the
+Southern Cross, yet three short weeks ago I little thought----"
+
+"You reely didn't think about it at all," broke in Coke.  "If you 'ad,
+you'd 'ave known you couldn't cross the line without seein' it."
+
+Here was another perplexing element in the skipper's conduct.  That
+Iris was a stowaway was forgotten.  She was treated with the attention
+and ceremony due to the owner's niece.  Coke never lost an opportunity
+of dinning into the ears of Watts, or Hozier, or the steward, or any
+members of the crew who were listening, that Miss Yorke's presence in
+their midst was a preordained circumstance, a thing fully discussed and
+agreed on as between her uncle and himself, but carried out in an
+irregular manner, owing to some girlish freak on her part.  The
+portmanteau, with its change of raiment, brought convincing testimony,
+and Iris's own words when discovered in the lazaretto supplied further
+proof, if that were needed.  Her name figured in the ship's papers, and
+the time of her appearance on board was recorded in the log.  Coke
+might be a man of one idea, but he held to it as though it were written
+in the Admiralty Sailing Directions; not his would be the fault if
+David Verity failed to appreciate the logic of his reasoning long
+before an official investigation became inevitable.
+
+A keen, invigorating breeze swept the last mirage of sleep from the
+girl's brain as she flitted silently along the deck.  A wondrous galaxy
+of stars blazed in the heavens.  In that pellucid air the sky was a
+vivid ultramarine.  The ship's track was marked by a trail of
+phosphorescent fire.  Each revolution of the propeller drew from the
+ocean treasure-house opulent globes of golden light that danced and
+sparkled in the tumbling waters.  It was a night that pulsated with the
+romance and abandon of the south, a night when the heart might throb
+with unutterable longings, and the blood tingle in the veins under the
+stress of an emotion at once passionate and mystic.
+
+Iris, spurred on by no stronger impulse than that of the sight-seer,
+though not wholly unaware of an element of adventurous shyness in her
+expectation of a _tete-a-tete_ with a good-looking young man of her own
+status, climbed to the bridge so speedily and noiselessly that Hozier
+did not know of her presence until he heard her dismayed cry:
+
+"Is _that_ the Southern Cross?"
+
+[Illustration: "Is that the Southern Cross?"]
+
+He turned quickly.
+
+"You, Miss Yorke?" he exclaimed, and not even her wonder at the
+insignificance of the stellar display of which she had heard so much
+could cloak the fact that Hozier was unprepared for her appearance.
+
+"Of course, it is I--who else?" she asked.  "Did not Captain Coke tell
+you to expect me?"
+
+"No."
+
+"How odd!  That is what he arranged.  A man came and rapped at my door."
+
+"Pardon me one moment."
+
+He leaned over the bridge and hailed the watch.  The same hoarse voice
+that had roused Iris answered his questions, and, in the faint light
+that came from the binnacle, she caught a flicker of amusement on his
+face.
+
+"Our excellent skipper's intentions have been defeated," he said.  "He
+told one of the men to call him at seven bells, but not to wake you
+until the Cross was visible.  His orders have been obeyed quite
+literally.  He will be summoned in another hour, and you have been
+dragged from bed to gaze at the False Cross, which every foremast hand
+persists in regarding as the real article.  The true Cross, of which
+Alpha Crucis is the Southern Pole star, comes up over the horizon an
+hour after the false one."
+
+"But Captain Coke said he would see you and warn you of my visit."
+
+"I can only assure you that he did not.  Perhaps he thought it
+unnecessary--meaning to be on deck himself."
+
+"Must I wait here a whole hour, then?"
+
+Hozier laughed.  It was amusing to find how Coke's marked effort to
+keep the girl and him apart had been defeated by a sailor's blunder.
+
+"I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said.  "It is a beautiful
+night.  You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, no
+matter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you will
+never have a better chance of star-gazing.  Look at Sirius up there,
+brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than any
+star in southern latitudes.  Our dear old Bear of the north ranks far
+beyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dust
+contrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds such
+luster to the firmament nearer the equator."
+
+Under other circumstances, Iris would have reveled in just such an
+opportunity of acquiring knowledge easily.  Astronomy, despite its
+limitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm of
+wonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal of
+the infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soul
+pined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference the
+instant extinction of the Milky Way.
+
+"I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlier
+than was necessary," she said.  "You and I have not said much to each
+other since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier."
+
+"Our friends at table are somewhat--difficult.  If only you knew how I
+regretted----"
+
+"Oh, what of that?  When I became a stowaway I fully expected to be
+treated as one.  I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourself
+why I was guilty of such a mad trick?"
+
+"Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain Coke partly
+expected to have your company."
+
+"That is absurd.  He had not the remotest notion----"
+
+"Forgive me, but there you are wrong.  He says that your uncle and he
+discussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool.  His
+theory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship's larder.
+I assure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the
+_Andromeda's_ mess during this voyage."
+
+Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishing
+in her own ears.
+
+"Being the owner's niece, I am well catered for?" she cried.
+
+"Something of the sort.  It is only natural."
+
+"But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappy
+creature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuries
+that would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?"
+
+"Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke."
+
+"It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks,
+and remembers, and is capable of--of giving evidence."
+
+She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly.
+Coke's counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriage
+was hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothing
+else.  For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes.
+
+"Things are not so bad as that," he said gently.  "I hope I am not
+trespassing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you that
+the skipper was quite explicit, up to a point.  He said you were being
+forced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful----"
+
+"And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?"
+
+"Well, the story sounded all right."
+
+"Hid myself on my uncle's ship when I wished to avoid marrying the man
+of his choice?"
+
+Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes off
+the starlit sea for a few amazed seconds.  There was no mistaking the
+scornful ring in the girl's words.  He could see the deep color that
+flooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensity
+of feeling that thrilled while it perplexed.
+
+"Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not your
+motive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us on
+the this trip, why are you here?" he said.
+
+"Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that my
+presence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and the
+crime he had planned to commit.  If one wants to avoid hateful people a
+change of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the money
+for ordinary travel.  Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board the
+Andromeda without good reason.  I have often wished to have a talk with
+you.  I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence.  If you
+agree to help me, something may yet be done.  At first, I was sure that
+Captain Coke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discovered
+that I knew what was in his mind.  But now, I am beginning to doubt.
+Each day brings us nearer South America, and--and----"
+
+She was breathless with excitement.  She drew nearer to the silent, and
+impassive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, she
+caught his arm with an appealing hand.
+
+"I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme,"
+she murmured.  "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain,
+quite _certain_, that the ship will be lost within the next few days."
+
+Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl was
+saying that which she honestly thought to be true.
+
+"Lost!  Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked,
+and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on to
+repress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened in
+her brown eyes.
+
+"Yes, that is what he said--on the rocks, this side of Monte Video."
+
+"He said--who?"
+
+"The--the captain."
+
+"To whom did he say it?"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me."
+
+"How?"
+
+"I do not know.  I am half distracted with thinking.  What can we do?
+Captain Coke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly to
+him.  But, make no mistake--he knows that I heard his very words, and
+there is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence,
+that frightens me."
+
+After that, neither spoke during many minutes.  The _Andromeda_ jogged
+along steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beat
+time to the placid hum of her engines.  The sturdy old ship could
+seemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through the
+living waters, marking her track with a golden furrow.
+
+"That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," muttered
+Hozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in the
+wheel-house to assure himself that the man could not, by any chance,
+overhear their conversation.
+
+"But it is true--dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her hands
+together and resting them on the high railing of the bridge.
+
+"It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on.
+"Don't you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in any
+discussion with the man principally concerned?  I want to say this,
+though--you are in no danger.  There is no ship so safe as one that is
+picked out for wilful destruction.  Men will not sacrifice their own
+lives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is what
+is intended.  So you can sleep sound o' nights--at any rate until we
+near the coast of Brazil.  I can only promise you if any watchfulness
+on my part can stop this piece of villainy----  Hello, there!  What's
+up?  Why is the ship falling away from her course?"
+
+The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that she
+uttered a slight shriek.  It took her an appreciable time to understand
+that he was speaking to the man at the wheel.  But the sailor knew what
+he meant.
+
+"Something's gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled.  "I wasn't
+certain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s'uth'ard.  Then
+she jammed for sure."
+
+Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room.
+Already the golden pathway behind the _Andromeda_ had changed from a
+wavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve.  There
+was a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside the
+chart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action.
+
+"Steady there!" bellowed Hozier.  "Wait until we have examined the
+gear-boxes.  There may be a kink in a chain."
+
+A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck.  Some of the
+men ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting that
+governed the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap the
+wooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains.  In the
+midst of the hammering and excitement, Captain Coke swung himself up to
+the bridge.
+
+"Well, I'm blowed!  _You_ here?" he said, looking at Iris.  "Wot is it
+now?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier.  "Wheel stuck again?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  Has it happened before?"
+
+"Well--er--not this trip.  But it 'as 'appened.  Just for a minnit I
+was mixin' it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin'
+hooker off the Irish coast.  Ah, there she goes!  Everything O.K. now.
+W'en daylight comes we'll overhaul the fixin's.  Nice thing if the
+wheel jammed just as we was crossin' the Recife!"
+
+Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause of
+the disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow with
+an adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings.  Coke treated
+the incident with nonchalance.
+
+"Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, Miss
+Yorke?" he said abruptly.
+
+"I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannot
+distinguish between falsity and truth," she answered.  "But please
+don't be angry with any of the men on my account.  Mr. Hozier tells me
+they often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistake
+has been enjoyable.  Now I know all about it--what were those stars you
+were telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?"
+
+Philip took the cue she offered.
+
+"Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major.  I shall write the names and
+particulars for you after breakfast," he said with a smile.
+
+"Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross," grunted Coke; "it ain't a patch on
+the Bear."
+
+"Mr. Hozier said something like that," put in Iris mischievously.
+
+"Did 'e?  Well 'e's right for once.  But don't you go an' take as
+Gospel most things 'e says.  Every shipmaster knows that the second
+officer simply can't speak the truth.  It ain't natural.  W'y, it 'ud
+bust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man."
+
+Coke grinned at his own pleasantry.  To one of his hearers, at least,
+it seemed to be passing strange that he was so ready to forget such a
+vital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a few
+minutes earlier.
+
+At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seen
+and admired the cluster of stars which oldtime navigators used to
+regard with awe.  When shafts of white light began to taper,
+pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin.
+Contrary to Hozier's expectation, Coke did not attempt to draw from him
+any account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap to
+the wheel.  He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration in
+the course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge.
+
+"Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet," he said, nodding to
+Hozier confidentially.  "I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bit
+of bone into a gear-box.  If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, get
+the carpenter to see to it.  I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheel
+can let you down.  S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an'
+that 'appened!  It 'ud be the end of the pore ole ship; an' oo'd credit
+it?  Not a soul.  They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!'  Oh, I know
+'em, the swine--never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight,
+but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!"
+
+Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact position
+anticipated by Coke.  An elderly salt who had served with the P. & O.
+recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mail
+steamer while passing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.  He drew a
+lurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady passengers
+sleeping inside a curtained space on deck, and his location of the area
+of disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster.
+
+The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the whole
+of the next two days, for the _Andromeda_ revealed many gaps in her
+woodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsed
+by a new sensation.  At daybreak one morning every drop of water in the
+vessel's tanks suddenly assumed a rich, blood-red tint.  This unnerving
+discovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby stream
+pouring into the earliest kettle.  Thinking that an iron pipe had
+become oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap.
+Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncanny
+means, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color if
+not the taste of a thin Burgundy.
+
+Coke was summoned hastily.  _Noblesse oblige_; being captain, he
+valiantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage.
+
+"It ain't p'ison," he announced, gazing suspiciously at the little
+group of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict.  "It sartinly ain't
+p'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me born
+days.  'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker--'ave a
+sup?"
+
+"Not me!" said Watts.  "I don't like the look of it.  First time I've
+ever seen red ink on tap.  For the rest of this trip I stick to bottled
+beer, or somethink with a label."
+
+"It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash," volunteered
+Hozier.
+
+"Does it?" growled Coke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed.  "Wot a pity
+it ain't an infusion of whisky an' potash!" and he glared vindictively
+at Watts.  "Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot it
+is--some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an'
+corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic.  Stooard!"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the messroom attendant.
+
+"Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on the
+table every meal till it gives out.  See that nobody puts away more'n
+'is proper allowance, too.  I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the
+_Andromeda_ gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er."
+
+"If you're alloodin' to me," put in the incensed "chief," whose temper
+rose on this direct provocation, "I want to tell you now----"
+
+"Does the cap fit?" sneered Coke.
+
+"No, it doesn't.  I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life.
+D'ye take me for a--chemist's shop?"
+
+"Never 'eard of it!" cried the incensed skipper, who had obviously made
+up his mind as to the person responsible for the outrage.  "There's
+'arf a dozen cases of it in the after hold--or there was, w'en we put
+the hatches on."
+
+"Even if some of the cases were broken, sir, the contents could not
+reach the tanks," said Hozier, who fancied that Coke's attack on the
+bibulous Watts was wholly unwarranted.  But the commander's wrath could
+not be appeased.
+
+"Get this stuff pumped out, an' 'ave the tanks scoured.  We'll put into
+Fernando Noronha, an' refill there.  It's on'y a day lost, an' I guess
+the other liquor on board 'll last till we make the island.  Sink me,
+if this ain't the queerest run this crimson ship 'as ever 'ad.  I'll be
+glad w'en it's ended."
+
+Coke lurched away in the direction of the chart-room.  Hozier found him
+there later, poring over a chart of Fernando Noronha.  Iris, on hearing
+the steward's version of the affair, came to the bridge for further
+enlightenment, but Coke merely told her that the island was a Lloyd's
+signal station, so she could cable to her uncle.
+
+"Can I go ashore?" she asked.
+
+"I dunno.  We'll see.  It's a convict settlement for the Brazils, an'
+they're mighty partic'lar about lettin' people land, but they'll 'ardly
+object to a nice young lady like you 'avin' a peep at 'em."
+
+As his tone was unusually gruff, not to say jeering, she resolved to
+find an opportunity of seeking Hozier's advice on the cablegram
+problem.  But the portent of the blood-red water was not to be
+disregarded.  Never was Delphic oracle better served by nature.  The
+_Andromeda_ began to roll ominously; masses of black cloud climbed over
+the southwest horizon; at midday the ship was driving through a heavy
+sea.  As the day wore, the weather became even more threatening.  A sky
+and ocean that had striven during three weeks to produce in splendid
+rivalry blends of sapphire blue and emerald green and tenderest pink,
+were now draped in a shroud of gray mist.  With increasing frequency
+and venom, vaulting seas curled over the bows, and sent stinging
+showers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge.  Instead of
+the natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, the
+ship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots.  Torrents
+swept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hull
+with a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plank
+creaked.  Despite these drawbacks, the _Andromeda_ wormed her way
+south.  She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, and
+labored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiff
+gale.
+
+Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of a
+century.  Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of courage
+when Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shouted
+to her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outer
+furies!  The first time he announced that they were just "crossing the
+line," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lair
+was uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst.  On the second
+occasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be under
+the lee of Fernando Noronha early next morning.  She had sufficient sea
+lore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, but
+Hozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in the
+island, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by the
+present adverse combination of the elements.  In fact, Coke had already
+called both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with him
+that the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from the
+east, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the lead
+would permit.
+
+As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost,
+Philip did not give it other than a passing thought.  Coke was
+navigating the _Andromeda_ with exceeding care and no little skill.  He
+was a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to the
+younger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worst
+part of the blow.  About midnight the weather moderated.  It improved
+steadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun.
+By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainly
+visible.  Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost due
+west.  The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloud
+battalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea.  Soon it was
+possible to distinguish the full extent of the coast line.  Houses
+appeared, and trees, and green oases of cultivation, but these were
+mere spots of color amid the arid blackness of a land of bleak rock and
+stone-strewed hills.
+
+There was a strong current setting from the southeast, and the dying
+gale left its aftermath in a long swell, but the _Andromeda_ rolled on
+with ever-increasing comfort.  Even Iris was tempted forth by the
+continued sunshine.
+
+Coke was not on the bridge at the moment.  Mr. Watts was taking the
+watch; Hozier was on deck forrard, looking for gravel and shells on the
+instrument that picks up these valuable indications from the floor of
+the sea.  Suddenly the captain appeared.  He greeted Iris with a genial
+nod.
+
+"Ah, there you are," he cried.  "Not seen you since this time
+yesterday.  Sorry, but there'll be no goin' ashore to-day.  We're on
+the wrong side of the island, an' it 'ud toss you a bit if you was to
+try an' land in eether of the boats.  Take 'er in easy now, Mr. Watts.
+That's our anchorage--over there," and he pointed to the mouth of a
+narrow channel between South Point and the Ile des Fregates, the latter
+a tiny islet that almost blocks the entrance to a shallow bay into
+which runs a rivulet of good but slightly brackish water.
+
+The ship slowed perceptibly, and Hozier busied himself with the lead,
+which a sailor was swinging on the starboard side from the small
+platform of the accommodation ladder.  Iris did not know what was said,
+but the queer figures repeated to Coke seemed to be satisfactory.
+Headlands and hills crept nearer.  The rocky arms of the island closed
+in on them.  A faint scent as of sweet grasses reached them from the
+shore.  Iris could see several people, nearly all of them men in
+uniform, hurrying about with an air of excitement that betokened the
+unusual.  Perhaps a steamer's advent on the south side of the island
+was a novelty.
+
+Now they were in a fairly smooth roadstead; the remnants of the gale
+were shouldered away from the ship by the towering cliff that jutted
+out on the left of the bay.  The crew were mostly occupied in clearing
+blocks and tackle and swinging two life-boats outward on their davits.
+
+"All ready forrard?" roared Coke.  Hozier ran to the forecastle.  He
+found the carpenter there, standing by the windlass brake.
+
+"All ready, sir!" he cried.
+
+Coke nodded to him.
+
+"Give her thirty-five," he said, meaning thereby that the anchor should
+be allowed thirty-five fathoms of chain.
+
+From the bridge, where Iris was standing, she could follow each
+movement of the commander's hands as he signaled in dumbshow to the
+steersman or telegraphed instructions to the engine-room.  It was
+interesting to watch the alertness of the men on duty.  They were a
+scratch crew, garnered from the four quarters of the globe at the
+Liverpool shipping office, but they moved smartly under officers who
+knew their work, and the _Andromeda_ was well equipped in that respect.
+
+The turbulent current was surging across the bows with the speed of a
+mill-race, so Coke brought the vessel round until she lay broadside
+with the land and headed straight against the set of the stream.  It
+was his intent to drop anchor while in that position, and help any
+undue strain on the cable by an occasional turn of the propeller.
+
+"Keep her there!" he said, half turning to the man at the wheel; he
+changed the indicator from "Full speed" to "Slow ahead"; in a few
+seconds the anchor chain would have rattled through the
+hawse-hole--when something happened that was incomprehensible,
+stupefying--something utterly remote and strange from the ways of
+civilized men.
+
+The _Andromeda_ quivered under a tremendous buffet.  There was a crash
+of rending iron and an instant stoppage of the engines.  Almost merging
+into the noise of the blow came a loud report from the land, but that,
+in its turn, was drowned by the hiss of steam from the exhaust.
+
+Coke appeared to be dumfounded for an instant.  Recovering himself, he
+ran to the starboard side, leaned over, looked down at a torn plate
+that showed its jagged edges just above the water-line, and then lifted
+a blazing face toward a point half-way up the neighboring cliff, where
+a haze lay like a veil of gauze on the weather-scarred rocks.
+
+"You d--d pirates!" he yelled, raising both clenched fists at the
+hidden battery which had fired a twelve-pound shell into the doomed
+ship.
+
+The _Andromeda_ herself seemed to recognize that she was stricken unto
+death.  She fell away before the current with the aimless drift of a
+log.
+
+"Let go!" bellowed Coke with frenzied pantomime of action to Hozier.
+It was too late.  Before the lever controlling the steam windlass that
+released the anchor could be shoved over, another shell plunged through
+the thin iron plates in the bows, smashing a steam pipe, and jamming
+the hawser gear by its impact.  The missile burst with a terrific
+report.  A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killed
+outright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received a
+blow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him on
+the deck.
+
+The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship.
+That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear the
+bridge of its occupants.  Striking high and forward, it had robbed the
+_Andromeda_ of her last chance.  Now she was rolling in the full grip
+of the tidal stream.  It could only be a matter of a minute or less
+before she struck.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA"
+
+The island artillery did not succeed in hitting the crippled ship
+again.  Three more shells were fired, but each projectile screamed
+harmlessly far out to sea.  A trained gunner, noting these facts, would
+reason that the shore battery made good practice in the first instance
+solely because its ordnance was trained at a known range.  Indeed, he
+might even hazard a guess that the _Andromeda's_ warm reception was
+arranged long before her masts and funnel rose over the horizon.  That
+the islanders intended nothing less than her complete destruction was
+self-evident.  Without the slightest warning they had tried to sink
+her; and now that she was escaping the further attentions of the field
+pieces, a number of troops stationed on South Point and the Isle des
+Fregates began to pelt her with bullets.
+
+Iris, when the first paralysis of fear had passed, when her stricken
+senses resumed their sway and her limbs lost their palsy, flinched from
+this new danger, and sank sobbing to her knees behind the canvas shield
+of the bridge.  Somehow, this flimsy shelter, which sailors call the
+"dodger," gave some sense of safety.  Her throbbing brain was incapable
+of lucid thought, but it was borne in on her mistily that the world and
+its occupants had suddenly gone mad.  The omen of the blood-red water
+had justified itself most horribly.  The dead carpenter was sprawling
+over the forecastle windlass.  His hand still clutched the brake.  The
+sailor at the wheel had been shot through the throat, and had fallen
+limply through the open doorway of the chart-room; he lay there,
+coughing up blood and froth, and gasping his life out.  The two men
+wounded by the second shell were creeping down the forward companion in
+the effort to avoid the hail of lead that was beating on the ship.
+Hozier was raising himself on hands and knees, his attitude that of a
+man who is dazed, almost insensible.  Watts had gone from the
+bridge--he might have been whirled to death over the side like the
+unfortunate foremast hand she had seen tossed from off the forecastle;
+but Coke, whose charmed life apparently entitled him to act like a
+lunatic, was actually balancing himself on top of the starboard rails
+of the bridge by clinging to a stay, having climbed to that exposed
+position in order to hurl oaths at the soldiers on shore.  He had gone
+berserk with rage.  His cap had either fallen off or been torn from his
+head by a bullet; his squat, powerful figure was shaking with frenzy;
+he emphasized each curse with a passionate gesture of the free hand and
+arm; he said among other things, and with no lack of forceful
+adjectives, that if he could only come to close quarters with some of
+the Portygee assassins on the island he would tear their sanguinary
+livers out.  It is an odd thing that men made animal by fury often use
+that trope.  They do really mean it.  The liver is the earliest spoil
+of the successful tiger.
+
+The _Andromeda_, uncontrollable as destiny, and quite as heedless of
+her human freight, swung round with the current until her bows pointed
+to the islet occupied by the marksmen.  All at once, Coke suspended his
+flow of invectives and rushed into the chart-room, where Iris heard him
+tearing lockers open and throwing their contents on the deck.  To
+enter, he was obliged to leap over the body of the dying man.  The
+action was grotesque, callous, almost inhuman; it jarred the girl's
+agonized transports back into a species of spiritual calm, a mental
+state akin to the fatalism often exhibited by Asiatics when death is
+imminent and not to be denied.  The apparent madness of the captain was
+now more distressing to her than the certain loss of the ship or the
+invisible missiles that clanged into white patches on the iron plates,
+cut sudden holes and scars in the woodwork, or whirred through the air
+with a buzzing whistle of singularly menacing sound.  She began to be
+afraid of remaining on the bridge; her fear was not due to the really
+vital fact that it was so exposed; it arose from the purely feminine
+consideration that she was sure Coke had become a raving maniac, and
+she dreaded meeting him when, if ever, he reappeared.
+
+A bullet struck the front frame of the chart-room, and several panes of
+glass were shattered with a fearful din.  That decided her.  Coke, if
+he were not killed, would surely be driven out.  She sprang to her
+feet, and literally ran down the steep ladder to the saloon deck.
+Through the open door of the officers' mess she witnessed another
+bizarre act--an act quite as extraordinary in its way as Coke's jump
+over the steersman's body.  In the midst of this drama of death and
+destruction, Watts was standing there, with head thrown back and
+uplifted arm, gulping down a tumblerful of some dark-colored liquid,
+draining it to the dregs, while he held a black bottle in the other
+hand.  That a man should fly to rum for solace when existence itself
+might be measured by minutes or seconds, was, to Iris, not the least
+amazing experience of an episode crammed with all that was new, and
+strange, and horrible in her life.  She raced on, wholly unaware that
+the drifting ship was now presenting her port bow to the death-dealing
+fusillade.
+
+Then, from somewhere, she heard a gruff voice:
+
+"Hev' ye shut off steam, Macfarlane?"
+
+"Ou ay.  It's a' snug below till the watter reaches the furnaces," came
+the answer.
+
+So some of the men were doing their duty.  Thank God for that!
+Undeterred by the fact that a live shell had burst among the engines,
+the oil-stained, grim-looking engineers had not quitted their post
+until they had taken such precautions as lay in their power to insure
+the ship's safety.  A light broke in on the fog in the girl's mind.
+Even now, at the very gate of eternity, one might try to help others!
+The thought brought a ray of comfort.  She was about to look for the
+speakers when a bullet drilled a hole in a panel close to her side.
+She began to run again, for a terrified glance through the forward
+gangway showed that the ship was quite close to the land, where men in
+blue uniforms, wearing curiously shaped hats and white gaiters, were
+scattered among the rocks, some standing, some kneeling, some prone,
+but all taking steady aim.
+
+But it showed something more.  Hozier was now lying sideways on the
+raised deck of the forecastle; he partly supported himself on his right
+arm; his left hand was pressed to his forehead; he was trying to rise.
+With an intuition that was phenomenal under the circumstances, Iris
+realized that he was screened from observation for the moment by the
+windlass and the corpse that lay across it.  But the ship's ever
+increasing speed, and the curving course of her drifting, would soon
+bring him into sight, and then those merciless riflemen would shoot him
+down.
+
+"Oh, not that!  Not that!" she wailed aloud.
+
+An impulse stronger than the instinct of self-preservation caused the
+blood to tingle in her veins.  She had waited to take that one look,
+and now, bent double so as to avoid being seen by the soldiers, she
+sped back through the gangway, gained the open deck, crouched close to
+the bulwarks on the port side, and thus reached unscathed the foot of
+the companion down which the wounded men had crawled.  The zinc plates
+on the steps were slippery with their blood, but she did not falter at
+the sight.  Up she went, stooped over Hozier, and placed her strong
+young arms round his body.
+
+"Quick!" she panted, "let me help you!  You will be killed if you
+remain here!"
+
+Her voice seemed to rouse him as from troubled sleep.
+
+"I was hit," he muttered.  "What is it?  What is wrong?"
+
+"Oh, come, come!" she screamed, for some unseen agency tore a
+transverse gash in the planking not a foot in front of them.
+
+He yielded with broken expostulations.  She dragged him to the top of
+the stairs.  Clinging to him, she half walked, half fell down the few
+steps.  But she did not quite fall; Hozier's weight was almost more
+than she could manage, but she clung to him desperately, saved him from
+a headlong plunge to the deck, and literally carried him into the
+forecastle, where she found some of the crew who had scurried there
+like rabbits to their burrow when the first shell crashed into the
+engine-room.
+
+Iris's fine eyes darted lightning at them.
+
+"You call yourselves men," she cried shrilly, "yet you leave one of
+your officers lying on deck to be shot at by those fiends!"
+
+"We didn't know he was there, miss," said one.  "We'd ha' fetched him
+right enough if we did."
+
+Even in her present stress of mixed emotions, the sailor's words
+sounded reasonable.  Every other person on board was just as greatly
+stunned by this monstrous attack as she herself, and the firing now
+appeared to increase in volume and accuracy.  Several bullets clanged
+against the funnel or broke huge splinters off the boats.
+
+"Gord A'mighty, listen to that," growled a voice.  "An' we cooped up
+here, blazed at by a lot of rotten Dagos, with not a gun to our name!"
+
+Iris was still supporting Hozier, whose head and shoulders were
+pillowed against her breast as she knelt behind him.
+
+"Can nothing be done?" she asked.  "I believe Captain Coke has been
+killed.  Mr. Hozier is badly injured, I fear.  Bring some water, if
+possible."
+
+"Yes, yes, water. . . .  Only a knock on the head. . . .  How did it
+happen?  And what is that noise of firing?"
+
+Hozier's scattered wits were returning, though neither he nor Iris
+remembered that the _Andromeda_ was waterless.  He looked up at her,
+then at the men, and he smiled as his eyes met hers again.
+
+"Funny thing!" he said, with a natural tone that was reassuring.  "I
+thought the windlass smashed itself into smithereens.  But it couldn't.
+What was it that banged?"
+
+"A shell, fired from the island," said the girl.
+
+Hozier straightened himself a little.  He was hearing marvels, though
+far from understanding them, as yet.
+
+"A shell!" he repeated vacantly.  Had she said "a comet" it could not
+have sounded more incredible.
+
+"Yes.  It might have killed you.  Several of the men are dead.  I
+myself saw three of them killed outright, and two others are badly
+wounded."
+
+"Here you are, sir--drink this," said a fireman, offering a pannikin of
+beer.  It was unpalatable stuff, but it tasted like the nectar of the
+gods to one who had sustained a blow that would have felled an ox.
+Hozier had almost emptied the tin when an exclamation from an Irish
+stoker drew all eyes to the after part of the ship.
+
+"Holy war!  Will ye look at that!" shouted the man.  "Sure the skipper
+isn't dead, at all, at all."
+
+Iris had failed to grasp the meaning of Coke's antics in the
+chart-room, but they were now fully explained.  The bulldog breed of
+this self-confessed rascal had taken the upper hand of him.  Though he
+had not scrupled to plot the destruction of the ship, and thus rob a
+marine insurance company of a considerable sum of money--though at that
+very instant there was actual proof of his scheme in the preparations
+he had made to jam the steering-gear when the anchor was raised after
+the tanks were replenished--it was not in the man's nature to skulk
+into comparative safety because a foreigner, a pirate, a
+not-to-be-mentioned-in-polite-society Portygee, opened fire on him in
+this murderous fashion.  Moreover, Coke's villainy would have
+sacrificed no lives.  The _Andromeda_ might be converted into scrap
+iron, and thereby give back, by perverted arithmetic, the money
+invested in her.  But her white decks would not be stained with blood.
+Whatever risk was incurred would be his, the responsible captain's, his
+only.  It was a vastly different thing that shot and shell should be
+rained on an unarmed ship by the troops of a civilized power when she
+was seeking the lowest form of hospitality.  No wonder if the
+bull-necked skipper foamed at the mouth and used words forbidden by the
+catechism; no wonder if he tried to express his helpless fury in one
+last act of defiance.
+
+He rummaged the lockers for a Union Jack and the four flags that showed
+the ship's name in signal letters.  The red ensign was already
+fluttering from a staff at the stern, and the house flag of David
+Verity & Co. was at the fore, but these emblems did not satisfy Coke's
+fighting mettle.  The _Andromeda_ would probably crack like an eggshell
+the instant she touched the reef towards which she was hurrying; he
+determined that she would go down with colors flying if he were not put
+out of action by a bullet before he could reach the main halyard.
+
+The swerve in the ship's course as she passed the island gave him an
+opportunity.  In justice to Coke it should be said that he recked
+naught of this, but it would have been humanly impossible otherwise for
+the soldiers to have missed him.  And now, while the vessel lay with
+straight keel in the set of the current, the national emblem of
+Britain, with the _Andromeda's_ code flags beneath, fluttered up the
+mainmast.
+
+There are many imaginable conditions under which Coke's deed would be
+regarded as sublime; there are none which could deny his splendid
+audacity.  The soldiers, who seemed to be actuated by the utmost
+malevolence, redoubled their efforts to hit the squat Hercules who had
+bellowed at them and their fellow artillerists from the bridge.
+Bullets struck the deck, lodged in the masts, splintered the roof and
+panels of the upper structure, but not one touched Coke.  He coolly
+made fast each flag in its turn, and hauled away till the Union Jack
+had reached the truck; then, drawn forrard by a hoarse cheer that came
+from the forecastle, he turned his back on the enemy and swung himself
+down to the fore-deck.
+
+He was still wearing the heavy garments demanded by the gale; his
+recent exertions, joined to the fact that the normal temperature of a
+sub-tropical island was making itself felt, had induced a violent
+perspiration.  As he lumbered along the deck he mopped his face
+vigorously with a pocket handkerchief, and this homely action helped to
+convince Iris that she was mistaken in thinking him mad.  His words,
+too, when he caught sight of her, were not those of a maniac.
+
+"Well, missy," he cried, "wot'll they say in Liverpool now?  I s'pose
+they'll 'ear of this some day," and he jerked a thumb backwards to
+indicate the unceasing hail of bullets that poured into the after part
+of the ship.
+
+The girl looked at him with an air of surprise that would have been
+comical under less grievous conditions.  She knew, with a vague
+definiteness, that death was near, perhaps unavoidable, and it had
+never occurred to her that she or any other person on board need feel
+any concern about the view entertained by Liverpool as to their fate.
+Before she could frame a reply, however, Hozier seemed to recover his
+faculties.  He stood up, walked unaided to the side of the ship, and
+glanced ahead.
+
+"Shouldn't we try to lower a boat, sir?" he asked instantly.
+
+"Wot's the use?" growled Coke.  "Oo's goin' to lower boats while them
+blighters on the island are pumpin' lead into us?  And wot good are the
+boats w'en they're lowered?  They've been drilled full of holes.  You
+might as well try to float a sieve.  Look at that," he added
+sarcastically, as the side of the cutter was ripped open by a
+ricochetting shot, and splinters were littered on the deck, "they know
+wot they want an' they mean to get it.  Dead men tell no tales.  It
+won't be anybody 'ere now who'll 'ave the job of lettin' the folk at
+'ome know 'ow the pore ole _Andromeda_ went under."
+
+"Are none of the boats seaworthy?"
+
+"Not one.  They're knocked to pieces.  Sorry for you, Miss Yorke.  But
+we're all booked for Kingdom Come.  In 'arf a minnit, or less, we'll be
+on the reef, an' the ship must begin to break up."
+
+Coke was telling the plain truth, but Hozier ran aft to make sure that
+he was right in assuming the extent of the boats' damages.  One of the
+men, an Italian, climbed to the forecastle deck in order to see more
+clearly what sort of danger they were running into.  He came back
+instantly, and his swarthy face was green with terror.  Though he spoke
+English well enough, he began to jabber wildly in his mother tongue.
+None paid heed to him.  It was common knowledge that the vessel must be
+lost, and that those who still lived when she struck would have the
+alternatives of being drowned, or beaten to pieces against the frowning
+rocks, or shot from the mainland like so many stranded seals, if some
+alliance of luck and strength secured a momentary foothold on one of
+the tiny islets that barred the way.  And at such moments, when the
+mind is driven into a swift-running channel that ends in a cataract,
+elemental passions are apt to strive with elemental fears.  Few among
+these rough sailors had ever given thought to the future.  They had
+lived from hand to mouth, the demands of a hard and dangerous
+profession alternating with bouts of foolish revelry.  Most of them had
+looked on death in the tempest, in the swirling seas, in the uplifted
+knife.  But then, there was always a chance of escape, an open door for
+the stout heart and ready hand; whereas, under present conditions,
+there was nothing to be done but pray, or curse, or wait in stoic
+silence until the first ominous quiver ran through the swift-moving
+ship.  So, all unknowingly, they grouped themselves according to their
+nationalities, for the Latins knelt and supplicated the saints and the
+Virgin Mother, the Celts roared insensate threats at the islanders who
+had thrown them into the very jaws of eternity, and the Saxons stood
+motionless, with grim jaws and frowning brows, disdaining alike both
+frenzied appeal and useless execration.
+
+Someone threw a cork jacket over the girl's shoulders, and bade her
+fasten its straps around her waist.  She obeyed without a word.
+Indeed, she seemed to have lost the power of speech.  Everything had
+suddenly assumed such a crystal clear aspect that her eyes were gifted
+with unnatural vision though her remaining senses were benumbed.  The
+blue and white of the sky, the emerald green of the water, the russet
+brown and cold gray of the land--these shone now with a beauty vivid
+beyond any of nature's tints she had ever before seen.  She was
+conscious, too, of an awful aloofness.  Her spirit was entrenched in
+its own citadel.  She seemed to be brooding, solitary and remote, yet
+shrinking ever within herself; quite unknowing, she offered a piteous
+example of the old Hebrew's dire truism that man came naked into the
+world and naked shall he depart.
+
+In a curiously detached way she wondered why Hozier did not return.
+The prayers and curses of the men surrounding her fell unheeded on her
+ears.  Where was Hozier?  What was he doing?  Why did he not come to
+her?  She felt a strange confidence in him.  If he had not been struck
+down by that calamitous shell he would have saved the ship--assuredly
+he would have devised some means of saving their lives!  Perhaps, even
+now, he was attempting some desperate expedient! . . .  The thought
+nerved her for an instant.  Then a rending, grinding noise was followed
+by a sudden swerve and roll of the ship that sent her staggering
+against a bulkhead.  An outburst of cries and shouting rang through her
+brain, and a shriek was wrung from her parched throat.
+
+But the _Andromeda_ righted herself again, though there was another
+sound of tearing metal, and the deck heaved perceptibly under a shock.
+
+Ah, kind Heaven! here came Hozier, running, thundering some loud order.
+
+"The port life-boat . . . seaworthy!"
+
+There was a fierce rush, in which she joined.  She was knocked down.  A
+strong hand dragged her to her feet.  It was Coke, swearing horribly.
+She saw Hozier leap against the flood of men.
+
+"D--n you, the woman first!" she heard him say, and he sent the leaders
+of the mob sprawling over the hatches of the forehold.
+
+Coke, almost carrying her in his left arm, butted in among the crew
+like an infuriated bull.  Some of the men, shamefaced, made way for
+them.  Hosier reached her.  She thought he said to the captain:
+
+"There's a chance, if we can swing her clear."
+
+Then the ship struck, and they were all flung to the deck.  They rose,
+somehow, anyhow, but the _Andromeda_, apparently resenting the check,
+lifted herself bodily, tilted bow upward, and struck again.  A mass of
+spray dashed down upon the struggling figures who had been driven a
+second time to their knees.  There was a terrific explosion in the
+after-hold, for the deck had burst under the pressure of air, and
+another ominous roar announced that the water had reached the furnaces.
+Steam and smoke and dust mingled with the incessant lashing of sheets
+of spray, and Iris was torn from Coke's grip.
+
+She fancied she heard Hozier cry, "Too late!" and a lightning glimpse
+down the sloping deck showed some of the engineers and stokers crawling
+up toward the quivering forecastle.  She felt herself clasped in
+Hozier's arms, and knew that he was climbing.  After a few breathless
+seconds she realized that they were standing on the forecastle, where
+the captain and many of the crew were clinging to the windlass, and
+anchor, and cable, and bulwarks, to maintain their footing.  Below,
+beyond a stretch of unbroken deck, the sea raged against all that was
+left of the ship.  The bridge just showed above the froth and spume of
+sea level.  The funnel still held by its stays, but the mainmast was
+gone, and with it the string of flags.
+
+The noise was deafening, overpowering.  It sounded like the rattle of
+some immense factory; yet a voice was audible through the din, for
+Hozier was telling her not to abandon hope, as the fore part of the
+ship was firmly wedged into a cleft in the rocks: they might still have
+a chance when the tide dropped.
+
+So that explained why it was so dark where a few moments ago all was
+light.  Iris pressed the salt water out of her burning eyes, and tried
+to look up.  On both sides of the narrow triangle of the forecastle
+rose smooth overhanging walls, black and dripping.  They were festooned
+with seaweed, and every wave that curled up between the ship's plates
+and the rocks was thrown back over the deck, while streams of water
+fell constantly from the masses of weed.  She gasped for breath.  The
+mere sight of this dismal cleft with its super-saturated air space made
+active the choking sensation of which she was just beginning to be
+aware.
+
+"I--cannot breathe!" she sobbed, and she would have slipped off into
+the welter of angry foam beneath had not Hozier tightened a protecting
+arm round her waist.
+
+"Stoop down!" he said.
+
+She had a dim knowledge that he unbuttoned his coat and drew one of its
+folds over her head.  Ah, the blessed relief of it!  Freed from the
+stifling showers of spray, she drew a deep breath or two.  How good he
+was to her!  How sure she was now that if he had been spared by that
+disabling shell he would have saved them all!
+
+Bent and shrouded as she was, she could see quite clearly downward.
+The ship was breaking up with inconceivable rapidity.  Already there
+was a huge irregular vent between the fore deck and the central block
+of cabins topped by the bridge.  And a new horror was added to all that
+had gone before.  Swarms of rats were skimming up the slippery planks.
+They were invading the forecastle and the forecastle deck.  They came
+in an irresistible army, though, fortunately for Iris's continued
+sanity, the greater number scurried into the darkness of the men's
+quarters.
+
+She was watching them with fascinated eyes, though not daring to
+withdraw her head from under the coat, when she heard a ghastly yell
+from beneath, and an erie face appeared above the stairway.  It was
+Watts, mad with fright and drink.
+
+"Save me! save me!" he screamed, and the girl shuddered as she realized
+that the man did not fear death so much as he loathed the scampering
+rats.  He had no difficulty in climbing the steep companion, though, by
+reason of the present position of all that was left of the _Andromeda_,
+its pitch was thrown back to an unusual angle.  He scrambled up, a
+pitiable object.  A couple of rats ran over his body, and as each
+whisked across his shoulders and past his cheek he uttered a
+blood-curdling yell.  A big wave surged up into the recesses of the
+cleft and was flung off in a drenching shower on to the forecastle.  It
+nearly swept Watts into the next world, and it drove every rodent in
+that exposed place back to the dry interior.
+
+To return, they had to use the unhappy chief officer as a causeway, and
+the poor wretch's despairing cries were heartrending.  He was clinging
+for dear life to a bolt in the deck when Coke joined hands with a
+sailor and was thus enabled to reach him.  Once the skipper's strong
+fingers had clutched his collar he was rescued--at least from the
+instant death that might have been the outcome of his abject terror,
+for there could be little doubt in the minds of those who saw his
+glistening eyes and drawn lips that it would have needed the passage of
+but one more rat and he would have relaxed his hold.
+
+Coke pulled him up until he was lodged in safety in front of the
+windlass.  The manner of the welcome given by the captain to his _aide_
+need not be recorded here.  It was curt and lurid; it would serve as a
+sorry passport if proffered on his entry to another world; but the
+tragi-comedy of Watts's appearance among the close-packed gathering on
+the forecastle was forthwith blotted out of existence by a thing so
+amazing, so utterly unlooked for that during a couple of spellbound
+seconds not a man moved nor spoke.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE REFUGEES
+
+Watts was whimpering some broken excuse to his angry skipper when a
+coil of stout rope fell on top of the windlass and rebounded to the
+deck.  More than that, one end of it stretched into the infinity of
+dripping rock and flying spray overhead.  And it had been thrown by
+friendly hands.  Though it dangled from some unseen ledge, its purpose
+seemed to be that of help rather than slaughter, whereas every other
+act of the inhabitants of Fernando Noronha had been suggestive of
+homicidal mania in its worst form.
+
+Coke and Hozier recovered the use of their faculties simultaneously.
+The eyes of the two men met, but Coke was the first to find his voice.
+
+"Salvage, by G--d!" he cried.  "Up you go, Hozier!  I'll sling the girl
+behind you.  She can't manage it alone, an' it needs someone with
+brains to fix things up there for the rest of us."  And he added
+hoarsely in Philip's ear: "Sharp's the word.  We 'aven't many minutes!"
+
+Philip made no demur.  The captain's strong common sense had suggested
+the best step that could be taken in the interests of all.  Iris, who
+was nearer yielding now that there was a prospect of being rescued than
+when death was clamoring at her feet among the trembling remains of the
+ship, silently permitted Coke and a sailor to strip off a life-belt and
+tie her and Hozier back to back.  It was wonderful, though hidden from
+her ken in that supreme moment, to see how they devised a double sling
+in order to distribute the strain.  When each knot was securely
+fastened, Coke vociferated a mighty "Heave away!"
+
+But his powerful voice was drowned by the incessant roar of the
+breakers; not even the united clamor of every man present, fifteen all
+told, including the drunken chief officer, could make itself heard
+above the din.  Then Hozier tugged sharply at the rope three times, and
+it grew taut.  Amid a jubilant cry from the others, he and Iris were
+lifted clear of the deck.  At once they were carried fully twenty feet
+to seaward.  As they swung back, not quite so far, and now well above
+the level of the windlass from which their perilous journey had
+started, a ready-witted sailor seized a few coils of a thin rope that
+lay tucked up in the angle of the bulwarks, and flung them across
+Hozier's arms.
+
+"Take a whip with you, sir!" he yelled, and Philip showed that he
+understood by gripping the rope between his teeth.  It was obvious that
+the rescuers were working from a point well overhanging the recess into
+which the _Andromeda_ had driven her bows, and there might still be the
+utmost difficulty in throwing a rope accurately from the rock to the
+wreck.  As a matter of fact, no less than six previous attempts had
+been made, and the success of the seventh was due solely to a favorable
+gust of wind hurtling into the cleft at the very instant it was needed.
+The sailor's quick thought solved this problem for the future.  By
+tying the small rope to the heavier one, those who remained below could
+haul it back when some sort of signal code was established.  At
+present, all they could do was to pay out the whip, and take care that
+it did not interfere with Hozier's ascent.  They soon lost sight of him
+and the girl, for the spray and froth overhead formed an impenetrable
+canopy, but they reasoned that the distance to be traveled could not be
+great; otherwise the throwing of a rope would have been a physical
+impossibility in the first instance.
+
+Once there was a check.  They waited anxiously, but there was no sign
+given by the frail rope that they were to haul in again.  Then the
+upward movement continued.
+
+"Chunk o' rock in the way," announced Coke, glaring round at the
+survivors as if to challenge contradiction.  No one answered.  These
+men were beginning to measure their lives against the life of the wedge
+of iron and timber kept in position by the crumbling frame of the ship.
+It was a fast-diminishing scale.  The figures painted on the
+_Andromeda's_ bows represented minutes rather than feet.
+
+Watts was lying crouched on deck, with his arms thrown round the
+windlass.  Looking ever for a fresh incursion of rats, he seemed to be
+cheered by the fact that his dreaded assailants preferred the interior
+of the forecastle to the wave-swept deck.  He was the only man there
+who had no fear of death.  Suddenly he began to croon a long-forgotten
+sailor's chanty.  Perhaps, in some dim way, a notion of his true
+predicament had dawned on him, for there was a sinister purport to the
+verse.
+
+  "Now, me lads, sing a stave of the Dead Man's Mass;
+      Ye'll never sail 'ome again, O.
+  We're twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass,
+      Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.
+            Sing hay----
+            Sing ho----
+      A nikker is Davy Jones,
+        Just one more plug, an' a swig at the jug,
+      An' up with the skull an' bones."
+
+
+After a longer and faster haul than had been noticed previously, the
+rope stopped a second time.  Everyone, except Watts, was watching the
+whip intently.  His eyes peered around, wide-open, lusterless.  The
+pounding of the seas, the grating of iron on rock, left him unmoved.
+
+"Wy don't you jine in the chorus, you swabs?" he cried, and forthwith
+plunged into the second stanza.
+
+  "The _Alice_ brig sailed out of the Pool
+      For the other side of the world, O,
+  An' our ole man brought 'is gal from school,
+      With 'er 'air so brown an' curled, O.
+            Sing hum----
+            Sing hum----
+      Of death no man's a dodger,
+        An' we squared our rig for a yardarm jig
+      When we sighted the Jolly Roger."
+
+
+He grew quite uproarious because the lilting tune evoked neither
+applause nor vocal efforts from the others.
+
+"Lord luv' a duck!" he shouted.  "Can't any of ye lend a hand?  Cheer
+O, maties--'ere's a bit more----
+
+  The brig was becalmed in a sea like glass,
+      An' it gev' us all the creeps, O,
+  Wen the sun went down like a ball o' brass,
+      An' the pirate rigged 'is sweeps----"
+
+
+"There she goes!" yelled the sailor in charge of the line; he began to
+haul in the slack like a madman; Coke's fist fell heavily on the
+singer's right ear.
+
+"Wen your turn comes, I'll tie the rope round your bloomin' neck!" he
+growled vindictively, though his eyes continued to search the dark
+shroud overhead that inclosed them as in a tomb.  A dark form loomed
+downward through the mist.  It was Hozier, alone, coming back to them.
+A frenzied cheer broke from the lips of those overwrought men.  They
+knew what that meant.  Somewhere, high above the black rocks and the
+flying scud, was hope throned in the blessed sunshine.  They drew him
+in cautiously until Coke was able to grasp his hand.  They were quick
+to see that he brought a second rope and a spare whip.
+
+"Two at a time on both ropes," was his inspiriting message.  "They're
+friendly Portuguese up there, but no one must be seen if a boat is sent
+from the island to find out what has become of the ship.  So step
+lively!  Now, Captain, tell 'em off in pairs."
+
+Coke's method was characteristic.  He literally fell on the two nearest
+men and began to truss them.  Hozier followed his example, and tied two
+others back to back.  They vanished, and the ropes returned, much more
+speedily this time.  Four, and four again, were drawn up to safety.
+There were left the captain, Hozier, and the unhappy Watts, who was now
+crying because the skipper had "set about" him, just for singin' a reel
+ole wind-jammer song.
+
+"You must take up this swine," said Coke to Hozier, dragging Watts to
+his feet with scant ceremony.  "If I lay me 'ands on 'im I'll be
+tempted to throttle 'im."
+
+Watts protested vigorously against being tied.  He vowed that it was
+contrary to articles for a chief officer to be treated in such a
+fashion.  He howled most dolorously during his transit through mid-air,
+but was happily quieted by another sharp rap on the head resulting from
+his inability to climb over the obstructing rock.
+
+Before quitting the deck, Hozier helped to adjust the remaining rope
+around the captain's portly person.  They were lifted clear of the
+trembling forecastle almost simultaneously, and in the very nick of
+time.  Already the skeleton of the ship's hull was beginning to slip
+off into deep water.  The deck was several feet lower than at the
+moment of the vessel's final impact against the rocks.  Even before the
+three reached the ledge from which their rescuers were working, the
+bridge and funnel were swept away, the foremast fell, the forehold and
+forecastle were riotously flooded by the sea, and Watts, were he
+capable of using his eyes, might have seen his deadly enemies, the
+rats, swarming in hundreds to the tiny platform that still rose above
+the destroying waves.  Soon, even that frail ark was shattered.  When
+keel and garboard stroke plates snapped, all that was left of the
+_Andromeda_ toppled over, and the cavern she had invaded rang with a
+fierce note of triumph as the next wave thundered in without hindrance.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+It was, indeed, a new and strange world on which Iris looked when able
+to breathe and see once more.  During that terrible ascent she had
+retained but slight consciousness of her surroundings.  She knew that
+Hozier and herself were drawn close to a bulging rock, that her
+companion clutched at it with hands and knees, and thus fended her
+delicate limbs from off its broken surface; she felt herself half
+carried, half lifted, up into free air and dazzling light; she heard
+voices in a musical foreign tongue uttering words that had the ring of
+sympathy.  And that was all for a little while.  Friendly hands placed
+her in a warm and sunlit cleft, and she lay there, unable to think or
+move.  By degrees, the numbness of body and mind gave way to clearer
+impressions.  But she took much for granted.  For instance, it did not
+seem an unreasonable thing that the familiar faces of men from the
+_Andromeda_ should gather near her on an uneven shelf of rock strewn
+with broken bolders and the litter of sea-birds.  She recognized them
+vaguely, and their presence brought a new confidence.  They increased
+in number; sailor-like, they began to take part instantly in the work
+of rescue; but she wondered dully why Hozier did not come to her, nor
+did she understand that he had gone back to that raging inferno beneath
+until she saw his blood-stained face appear over the lip of the
+precipice.
+
+Then she screamed wildly: "Thank God!  Oh, thank God!" and staggered to
+her feet in the frantic desire to help in unfastening the ropes that
+bound him to the insensible Watts.  One of the men tried to persuade
+her to sit down again, but she would not be denied.  Her unaccustomed
+fingers strove vainly against the stiff strands, swollen as they were
+with wet, and drawn taut by the strain to which they had been
+subjected.  Tears gushed forth at her own helplessness.  The pain in
+her eyes blinded her.  She shrank away again.  Not until Philip himself
+spoke did she dare to look at him, to find that he was bending over
+her, and endeavoring to allay her agitation by repeated assurance of
+their common well-being.
+
+But her distraught brain was not yet equal to a complexity of thought.
+Watts was lying close to her feet, and it thrilled her with dread and
+contempt when Coke bestowed a well-considered kick on his chief
+officer's prostrate form.
+
+"Oh, how dare you?" she cried, indignant as an offended goddess.
+
+"Sorry, miss," said Coke, scowling as if he were inclined to repeat the
+assault, though he was not then aware of the more strenuous method
+adopted by the rock as a sobering agent.  "I didn't know you was there.
+But 'e fair gev' me a turn, 'e did, singin' 'is pot-'ouse crambos w'en
+we was in the very jors of death, so to speak."
+
+"He must not sing," she announced gravely, "but really you should not
+kick him."
+
+"Come, Miss Yorke," broke in Hozier, who was choking back a laugh that
+was nearer hysteria than he dreamed, "our Portuguese friends say we
+must not remain here an instant longer than is necessary."
+
+"Yes," said a strange voice, "the sea is moderating.  At any moment a
+boat may appear.  Follow me, all of you.  The road is a rough one, but
+it is not far."
+
+The speaker was an elderly man, long-haired and bearded, of whose
+personality the girl caught no other details than the patriarchal
+beard, a pair of remarkably bright eyes, a long, pointed nose, and a
+red scar that ran diagonally across a domed forehead.  He turned away
+without further explanation, and began to climb a natural pathway that
+wound itself up the side of an almost perpendicular wall of rock.
+
+Hozier caught Iris by the arm, and would have assisted her, but she
+shook herself free.  She felt, and conducted herself, like a fractious
+child.
+
+"I can manage quite well," she said with an odd petulance.  "Please
+look after that unfortunate Mr. Watts.  I am not surprised that he
+should have been frightened by the rats.  They terrified me, too.  Oh,
+how awful they were--in the dark--when their eyes shone!"
+
+Her mind had traveled back to the two nights and a day passed in the
+lazaretto.  She sobbed bitterly, and stumbled over a steep ledge.  She
+would have fallen were it not for Philip's help.
+
+"Watts is all right," he soothed her.  "Two of the men are seeing to
+him.  And the rats are all gone now.  There are none here!"
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Quite sure."
+
+"What became of them?"
+
+"They are all--we left them behind on the ship."
+
+Suddenly she clung to him.
+
+"Don't let them send me back to the ship," she implored.
+
+"No, no.  You are safe now."
+
+"Of course I am safe, but I dread that ship.  Why did I ever come on
+board?  Captain Coke said he would sink her.  I told you----"
+
+"Steady!  Keep a little nearer the rocks on your left.  The passage is
+narrow here."
+
+Hozier raised his voice somewhat, and purposely hurried her.  But she
+was not to be repressed.
+
+"Poor ship!  What had she done that she should be battered on the
+rocks?" she wailed.
+
+"You must not talk," he said firmly, well knowing that if the sailors
+and firemen lumbering close behind had not heard her earlier comment it
+was due solely to the blustering wind.  They were skirting the seaward
+face of the rocky islet on which they had found salvation.  The sun was
+blazing at them sideways from a wide expanse of blue sky.  The rear
+guard clouds of the gale were scurrying away over the horizon in front
+of their upward path.  Somehow, Philip's sailor's brain was befogged.
+Those clouds must have blown to the northeast.  If that were so, what
+was the sun doing in the southeast at this time of the day?  It had
+hardly budged a point from the quarter in which some fitful gleams
+shone when that mad thing happened near the windlass.  Thinking he was
+still dizzy from the effects of the blow, which the girl had ascribed
+to the bursting of a shell, Philip glanced at his watch.  It was
+twenty-five minutes past eight!  Yet he distinctly remembered eight
+bells being struck while Coke was telling him from the bridge to give
+the anchor thirty-five fathoms of cable.  Was it possible that they had
+gone through so much during those few minutes?  If he were really
+light-headed, then sun and clouds and watch were conspiring to keep him
+so.
+
+Iris, chilled by his stern tone, nevertheless noted his action.  Still
+unable to concentrate her thoughts on more than one topic, and that to
+the exclusion of all else, she asked the time.  He told her.  He
+awaited some expression of surprise on her part, provided it were,
+indeed, true that only twenty-five minutes had sped since the
+_Andromeda_ was quietly preparing to drop anchor off South Point.  But
+she received his news without comment.  She would have been equally
+undisturbed if told it was midnight, and that the vessel had gone
+ashore on the coast of China.
+
+Just then the track turned sharply away from the sea.  A dry
+water-course cut deeply into the cliff where torrential rains had found
+an upright layer of soft scoria imbedded in the mass of basalt.  Their
+guide was standing on the sky-line of the cleft, some forty feet above
+them.
+
+"Tell the others to make haste," he said.  "This is the end of your
+journey."
+
+It did not strike either Hozier or the girl as being specially
+remarkable that a man should meet them in this extraordinary place and
+address them in good English.  Iris, at any rate, gave no heed to this
+most amazing fact.  She merely observed for the first time that the
+elderly stranger, while dressed in a beggar's rags, assumed an air of
+command that was almost ludicrous.
+
+"Who is he?" she asked, being rather breathless now after a steep climb.
+
+"I don't know," said Hozier.
+
+"How absurd!" she gasped.  "I--I think I'm dreaming.  Why--have
+we--come here?"
+
+She heard a coarse chuckle from Coke, not far below.
+
+"Let 'im cough it up," the skipper was saying.  "It'll do 'im good.
+I've seen 'im blind many a time, but 'ow any man could dope 'isself in
+that shape in less'n two minutes!----  Well, it fair gives me the
+go-by!"
+
+Two minutes!  Hozier listened, and he was recovering his wits far more
+rapidly than Iris.  Was the skipper, then, in league with nature
+herself to perplex him?  And Watts, too?  Why did Coke hint so coarsely
+that he was drunk?  He was on the bridge while he, Philip, was
+attending to the lead, and at that time the chief officer was perfectly
+sober.
+
+Iris, once again, was deeply incensed by Coke's brutality.
+
+"Horrid man!" she murmured, but she had no breath left for louder
+protest.  It was hot as a furnace in this narrow ravine; each upward
+step demanded an effort.  She would have slipped and hurt herself many
+times were it not for Hozier's firm grasp, nor did she realize the
+sheer exhaustion that forced him to seek support from the neighboring
+wall with his disengaged hand.  The man in front, however, was alive to
+their dangerous plight.  He said something in his own language--for his
+English had the precise staccato accent of the well-educated
+foreigner--and another man appeared.  The sight of the newcomer
+startled Iris more than any other event that had happened since the
+_Andromeda_ reached the end of her last voyage.  He wore the uniform of
+those dreadful beings whom she had seen on the island.
+
+She shrieked; Hozier fancied she had sprained an ankle; but before she
+could utter any sort of explanation the apparition in uniform was by
+her side, and murmuring words that were evidently meant to be
+reassuring.  Seeing that he was not understood, he broke into halting
+French.
+
+"Courage, madame!" he said.  "Il faut monter--encore un peu--et
+donc--vous etes arrive . . .  Ca y est!  Voila!  Comptez sur moi.
+Juste ciel, mais c'est affreux l'escalier."
+
+But he worked while he poured out this medley, and Iris was standing on
+level ground ere he made an end.  He was a handsome youngster,
+evidently an officer, and his eyes dwelt on the girl's face with no
+lack of animation as he led her into a cave which seemed to have been
+excavated from the inner side of a small crater.
+
+"You can rest here in absolute safety, madame," he said.  "Permit me to
+arrange a seat.  Then I shall bring you some wine."
+
+Iris flung off the hand which held her arm so persuasively.
+
+"Please do not attend to me.  There are wounded men who need attention
+far more than I," she said, speaking in English, since it never entered
+her mind that the Portuguese officer had been addressing her in French.
+
+He was puzzled more by her action than her words, but Hozier, who had
+followed close behind, explained in sentences built on the
+Ollendorffian plan that mademoiselle was disturbed, mademoiselle
+required rest, mademoiselle hardly understood that which had arrived,
+_et voila tout_.
+
+The other man smiled comprehension, though he scanned Hozier with a
+quick underlook.
+
+"Is monsieur the captain?" he asked.
+
+"No, monsieur the captain comes now.  Here he is."
+
+"Mademoiselle, without doubt, is the daughter of monsieur the captain?"
+
+"No," said Hozier, rather curtly, turning to ascertain how Iris had
+disposed of herself in the interior of the cavern.  It was his first
+experience of a South American dandy's pose towards women, or, to be
+exact, toward women who are young and pretty, and it seemed to him not
+the least marvelous event of an hour crammed with marvels that any man
+should endeavor to begin an active flirtation under such circumstances.
+
+He saw that Iris was seated on a camp stool.  Her face was buried in
+her hands.  A wealth of brown hair was tumbled over her neck and
+shoulders; the constant showers of spray had loosened her tresses, and
+the unavoidable rigors of the passage from ship to ledge had shaken out
+every hairpin.  The Tam o' Shanter cap she was wearing early in the day
+had disappeared at some unknown stage of the adventure.  Her attitude
+bespoke a mood of overwhelming dejection.  Like the remainder of her
+companions in misfortune, she was drenched to the skin.  That physical
+drawback, however, was only a minor evil in this almost unpleasantly
+hot retreat; but Hozier, able now to focus matters in fairly accurate
+proportion, felt that Iris had not yet plumbed the depths of suffering.
+Their trials were far from ended when their feet rested on the solid
+rock.  There was every indication that their rescuers were refugees
+like themselves.  The scanty resources visible in the cave, the intense
+anxiety of the elderly Portuguese to avoid observation from the chief
+island of the group, the very nature of the apparently inaccessible
+crag in which he and his associates were hiding--each and all of these
+things spoke volumes.
+
+Hozier did not attempt to disturb the girl until the dapper officer
+produced a goatskin, and poured a small quantity of wine into a tin
+cup.  With a curious eagerness, he anticipated the other's obvious
+intent.
+
+"Pardon me, monsieur," he said, seizing the vessel, and his direct
+Anglo-Saxon manner quite robbed his French of its politeness.  Then his
+vocabulary broke down, and he added more suavely in English: "I will
+persuade her to drink a little.  She is rather hysterical, you know."
+
+The Portuguese nodded as though he understood.  Iris looked up when
+Hozier brought her the cup.  The mere suggestion of something to drink
+made active the parched agony of mouth and throat, but her wry face
+when she found that the liquid was wine might have been amusing if the
+conditions of life were less desperate.
+
+"Is there no water?" she asked plaintively.
+
+The officer, who was following the little by-play with his eyes,
+realized the meaning of her words.
+
+"We have no water, mademoiselle," he said.  Then he glanced at the
+group of bedraggled sailors.  "And very little wine," he added.
+
+"Please drink it," urged Hozier.  "You are greatly run down, you know,
+though you really ought to feel cheerful, since you have escaped with
+your life."
+
+"I feel quite brave," said Iris simply.  "I would never have believed
+that I could go through--all that," and her childish trick of listening
+to the booming of the distant breakers told him how vivid was her
+recollection of the horrors crowded into those few brief minutes.
+
+"Be quick, please," put in the elderly Portuguese with a tinge of
+impatience.  "We have no second cup, and there are wounded men----"
+
+"Give it to them," said Iris, lifting her face again for an instant.
+"I do not need it.  I have told you that once already.  I suppose you
+think I should not be here."
+
+"I am sure our friend did not mean that," said Hozier, looking squarely
+into those singularly bright eyes.  He caught and held them.
+
+"I did not mean that the lady should be left to die if that is the
+interpretation put on my remark," came the quiet answer.  "But it was
+an act of the utmost folly to bring a delicate girl on such an errand.
+I cannot imagine what your captain was thinking of when he agreed to
+it."
+
+"Wot's that, mister?" demanded Coke.  Now that his fit of rage had
+passed, the bulky skipper of the _Andromeda_ was red-faced and
+imperturbable as usual.  The manifold perils he had passed through
+showed no more lasting effect on him than a shower of sleet on the
+thick hide of the animal he so closely resembled.
+
+"Are _you_ the captain?" said the other.
+
+"Yes, sir.  An' I'd like to 'ear w'y my ship or 'er present trip wasn't
+fit for enny young leddy, let alone----"
+
+"That is a matter for you to determine.  I suppose you know best how to
+conduct your own business.  My only concern is with the outcome of your
+rashness.  Why did you deliberately sacrifice your ship in that manner?"
+
+The speaker's cut-glass style of English left his hearers in no doubt
+as to what he had said.  During the tense silence that reigned for a
+few seconds even some among the crew pricked their ears, while Hozier
+and Iris forgot other troubles in their new bewilderment.  There were
+reasons why the drift of the stranger's words should be laid deeply to
+heart by three people present.  Coke, at any rate, found himself nearer
+a state of pallid nervousness than ever before in the course of a
+variegated life.  It was impossible that he should actually grow pale,
+but his brick-red features assumed a purple tint, and his fiery little
+eyes glinted.
+
+"Wot are you a-drivin' at, mister?" he growled at last, after trying
+vainly to expectorate and compromising the effort in a husky gargle.
+
+"Do you deny, then, that you acted like a madman?  Do you say that you
+did not know quite well the risk you ran in bringing your vessel to the
+island in broad daylight?"
+
+Then Coke found his breath.
+
+"Risk!" he roared.  "Risk in steamin' to an anchorage an' sendin' a
+boat ashore for water?  There seems to be a lot of mad folk loose just
+now on Fernando Noronha, but I'm not one of 'em, an' that's as much as
+I can say for enny of you--damme if it ain't."
+
+Evidently the Portuguese was not accustomed to the direct form of
+conversation in vogue among British master mariners.  He bent his
+piercing gaze on Coke's angry if somewhat flustered countenance, and
+there was a perceptible stiffening of voice and manner when he said:
+
+"Who are you, then?  Who sent you here?"
+
+"I'm Captain James Coke, of the British ship _Andromeda_, that's 'oo
+_I_ am, an' I was sent 'ere, or leastways to the River Plate, by David
+Verity an' Co., of Liverpool."
+
+It must not be forgotten that Coke shared with his employer a certain
+unclassical freedom in the pronunciation of the ship's name; the long
+"e" apparently puzzled the other man.
+
+"_Andromeeda_?" he muttered.  "Spell it!"
+
+"My godfather, this is an asylum for sure," grunted Coke, in a spasm of
+furious mirth.  "A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a.  Now you've got it.  Ain't it up to
+Portygee standard?  A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a!  'Ow's that for the bloomin'
+spellin' bee?"
+
+But Coke's humor made no appeal.  The staring, brilliant eyes fixed on
+him did not relax their vigilance, nor did any trace of emotion exhibit
+itself in that calm voice.
+
+"You are unlucky, Captain Coke, most unlucky," it said.  "I regret my
+natural mistake, which, it seems, was shared by the authorities of
+Fernando do Noronha.  You have blundered into a nest of hornets, and,
+as a result, you have been badly stung.  Let me explain matters.  I am
+Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva, ex-President of the Republic of Brazil.
+There is, at this moment, a determined movement on foot on the mainland
+to replace me in power, and, with that object in view, efforts are
+being made to secure my escape from the convict settlement in which my
+enemies have imprisoned me.  I and two faithful followers are here in
+hiding.  My friend, Capitano Salvador De San Benavides," and he bowed
+with much dignity toward the uniformed officer, "came here two days ago
+in a felucca to warn me that a steamer would lie to about a mile south
+of the island to-night.  The steamer's name is _Andros-y-Mela_--it is
+rather like the name of your unhappy vessel--so much alike that the
+_Andromeda_ has been sunk by mistake.  That is all."
+
+Coke, listening to this explanation with the virtuous wrath of a knave
+who discovers that he has been wrongfully suspected, bristled now with
+indignation.
+
+"Oh, that's all, is it?" he cried sarcastically.  "No, sir, it ain't
+all, nor 'arf, nor quarter.  Let me tell you that no crimson pirate on
+Gawd's earth can blow a British ship off the 'igh seas an' then do the
+dancin'-master act, with 'is 'and on 'is 'eart, an' say it was just a
+flamin' mistake.  All! says you?  Don't you believe it.  There's a lot
+more to come yet, take my tip--a devil of a lot, or I'm the biggest
+lunatic within a ten-mile circle of w'ere I'm stannin', which is givin'
+long odds to any other crank in the whole creation."
+
+And Coke was right, though he little guessed then why he was so
+thoroughly justified in assuming that he and the other survivors of the
+_Andromeda_ had not yet gone through half, or quarter, or more than a
+mere curtain-raising prelude to the strange human drama in which they
+were destined to be the chief actors.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC
+
+There was an awkward pause.  Coke, rascal though he was, and
+pot-bellied withal, was no Falstaff.  Rather did he suggest the
+present-day atavism of some robber baron of the Middle Ages, whose
+hectoring speech bubbled forth from a stout heart.  But the ragged
+ex-President heeded him not.  After a moment of placid scrutiny of his
+enraged countenance by those bright, watchful eyes, Coke might have
+been non-existent so far as recognition of his outburst was apparent
+during the sonorous discussion that ensued between Dom Corria Antonio
+De Sylva and the Senor Capitano Salvador De San Benavides.
+
+The latter, it is true, betrayed excitement.  At first he favored Iris
+with a deprecatingly admiring glance, as one who would say, "Dear lady,
+accept my profound regret and respectful homage."  But that phase
+quickly passed.  His leader was not a man to waste words, and the
+gallant captain's expressive face soon showed that he had grasped the
+essential facts.  They did not please him.  In fact, he was distinctly
+cowed, almost stunned, by his companion's revelations.
+
+It fell to De Sylva to explain matters to his unexpected guests.
+
+"My friend agrees with me that it is only fair that the exact position
+should be revealed to you," he said, addressing Coke, though a
+dignified gesture invited the others to share his confidence.
+
+"It don't take much tellin'," began Coke.  De Sylva silenced him with
+an emphatic hand.
+
+"Please attend.  The situation is not so simple as you seem to imagine.
+The loss of your ship cannot be dealt with here.  It raises issues of
+international law which can only be settled by courts and governments.
+You know, I suppose, that nothing will be done until a complaint is
+lodged by a British minister, and that hinges upon the very doubtful
+fact that you will ever again see your own country."
+
+The ex-President certainly had the knack of expressing himself clearly.
+Those concluding words rang like a knell.  They even called Watts back
+from the slumber of unconsciousness; the "chief" stirred himself where
+he lay on the floor of the cavern, and began to quaver.
+
+  "----twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass
+      Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.
+            Sing hay----"
+
+
+Coke, taken by surprise, was unable to stop this warbling earlier.  But
+his hand clutched Watts's shoulder, and his venomous whisper of "Shut
+up, you ijjit!" was so unmistakable that the lyric ceased.
+
+De Sylva seemed to be aware of some peculiarity in the symptoms of the
+wounded man's recovery, but he continued speaking in the same balanced
+tone.
+
+"It happens, by idle chance, that my enemies have become yours.  The
+men who destroyed your ship thought they were injuring me.  I have just
+pointed out to Capitano De San Benavides the precise outcome of this
+attack.  Until a few moments ago we shared the delusion that the troops
+on Fernando de Noronha believed we were now on our way to a Brazilian
+port.  We were mistaken.  More than that, we know now that they have
+obtained news--probably through a traitor to our cause--of the
+_Andros-y-Mela's_ voyage.  They were prepared for her coming.  They had
+made arrangements to receive her--almost at the place decided on by our
+friends in Brazil.  It is more than likely that the _Andros-y-Mela_ is
+now lying under the guns of some coast fortress, since the presence of
+troops and cannon on this side of the island is unprecedented."
+
+"I don't see wot all this 'as to do with me," blurted out Coke
+determinedly.
+
+"No.  It would not concern you in the least if you were safe at sea.
+But, since you are here, it does concern you most gravely.  From one
+point of view, you served my cause well by preparing to lower a boat.
+You misled my persecutors as to locality, at least.  Of course, I saw
+you, and thought you were mad, but your action did help to conceal from
+the soldiers the secret of my true hiding-place.  I wish to be candid
+with you.  If my friends and I had realized that you were here by
+accident, we ought to have taken no steps to save you."
+
+"Really!" snarled Coke, eying the unruffled Brazilian much as an
+Andulusian bull might glare at a picador.  A buzz of angry whispering
+came from the crew.  Even Iris flashed a disdainful glance at the man
+who uttered this atrocious sentiment.  De Sylva raised his hand.  He
+permitted himself the luxury of a wintry smile.
+
+"Pray, do not misunderstand me," he said.  "I am humane as most others,
+but it is difficult to decide whether or not mere humanity, setting
+aside self-interest, would not rather condemn you to the speedy death
+of the wreck than drag you to the worse fate that awaits you here.  And
+please remember that we did succor you, thus risking observation and a
+visit by the troops when the sea permits a landing.  But that is not
+the true issue.  An hour ago there were four people on this bare
+rock--four of us who looked for escape to-night.  We were supplied with
+such small necessaries of existence as would enable us to live if our
+rescuers were delayed for a day, or even two.  Now, there will be no
+rescue.  We are--" he looked slowly around--"twenty instead of four;
+but we have the same quantity of stores, which consist of a
+half-emptied skin of wine, a bunch of bananas, a few scraps of maize
+bread, and some strips of dried meat.  Do you follow me?"
+
+Coke, who had been holding Watts in a sitting posture by a firm grip on
+his collar, allowed the limp figure to sprawl headlong again.  He
+wanted to plunge both hands deeply into his trousers pockets, because
+men of his type associate attitude so closely with thought that the one
+is apt to become almost dependent on the other.  And so, for the
+moment, the safeguarding of Watts was of no consequence.  But Watts had
+benefited much by the sousing of the spray, while his recovery was
+expedited by the forcible ejection of the salt water he had swallowed.
+He raised himself on one hand, and looked about with an inquiring eye.
+The Brazilian officer's uniform seemed to fascinate him.
+
+"'Ello!" he gurgled.  "Run in?  Well I'm----"
+
+"Is not that man wounded?  I thought I saw him dashed against the
+rocks," said De Sylva.
+
+"'E ought to be," said Coke, "but 'e's on'y drunk.  A skin o' rum, 'arf
+empty, too, just like your skin o' wine, mister."
+
+"Let him be taken outside and gagged if he resists."
+
+There was an uneasy movement among the men.  Their common impulse was
+to obey.  Coke spread his feet a little apart.
+
+"Leave 'im alone.  'E'll do no 'arm now," he said.
+
+"I cannot be interrupted," cried De Sylva, whose iron self-restraint
+seemed to be yielding before British truculence.
+
+"I'll keep 'im quiet but I can't 'ave 'im roasted afore 'is time, an'
+that's wot's 'ul 'appen if you tied him up in that gulley."
+
+"Thanke'ee, skipper.  You allus were a reel pal," murmured Watts.
+
+Coke bent over him.
+
+"If your tongue don't stop waggin' it'll soon be stickin' out between
+yer teeth," he hissed.  "This ain't no fancy lock-up in the East Injia
+Dock Road, Arthur, me boy.  They won't bring you a pint of cocoa 'ere,
+an' ax if you're comfortable.  You 'aven't long to live accordin' to
+all accounts, so just close your mouth an' open your ears, an' mebbe
+you'll know w'y."
+
+De Sylva regained his self-possession with a rapidity that was
+significant.  He had not climbed to the presidential chair of the
+Republic from a clerkship in the London Embassy of the Empire without
+acquiring the habit of estimating his fellow men speedily and
+accurately.  Here was one who might be led, but would never permit
+himself to be driven.  Moreover, this dethroned ruler was by way of
+being a philosopher.
+
+"I hate drunkards," he said, shrugging his shoulders.  "You cannot
+trust them.  If I had been surrounded by trustworthy men, I should
+not----"
+
+He broke off.  There was a sound of hurrying footsteps on the steep
+pathway.  A figure, clad in rags that surpassed even De Sylva's,
+appeared in the entrance.  A brief colloquy took place.  De Sylva's
+eager questions were answered in monosyllables, or the nearest approach
+thereto.
+
+"Marcel tells me that one of your boats is drifting away with a man
+lying in the bottom," came the uneasy explanation.
+
+Coke's face showed a degree of surprise, which, in his case, was almost
+invariably akin to disbelief, but an exclamation from Hozier drew all
+eyes.
+
+"Good Lord!" he cried, "that must be the lifeboat I was trying to clear
+when the ship struck.  Macfarlane was helping me, but he was hit by a
+bullet and dropped across the thwarts.  I thought he was dead!"
+
+"Dead or alive, he is better off than we," said De Sylva.  He
+questioned Marcel again briefly.  "There can be no doubt that the man
+in the boat cast off the lashings when he found that the ship was
+sinking," he continued in English.  "Marcel saw him doing that, and
+wondered why he was alone.  At any rate, if he is carried beyond the
+reef, he has a fighting chance.  We have none."
+
+"Why not?  Are these men on the island so deaf to human sympathies that
+they would murder all of us in cold blood?"
+
+The girl's sweet, low-pitched voice sounded inexpressibly sad in that
+vaulted place.  Even De Sylva's studied control gave way before its
+music.  He uttered some anguished appeal to the deity in his own
+tongue, and flung out his hands impulsively.
+
+"What would you have me say?" he cried, and his eyes blazed, while the
+scar on his forehead darkened with the gust of passion that swept over
+his strong features.  "I might lie to you, and try to persuade you that
+we can exist here without food or water, whereas to-morrow, or next day
+at the utmost, will see most of us dead.  But in a few hours you will
+realize what it means to be kept on this bare rock under a tropical
+sun.  You can do one thing.  Your party greatly outnumbers mine.  Climb
+to the top-most pinnacle and signal to the island.  You will soon be
+seen."
+
+He laughed with a savage irony that was not good to hear, but Coke
+caught at the suggestion.
+
+"Even that is better'n tearin' one another like mad dogs," he growled.
+"I know wot's comin'.  I've seen it wonst."
+
+Hozier made for the exit, where Marcel stood, irresolute, apparently
+waiting for orders.
+
+"Where are you going?" demanded De Sylva.
+
+"To see what is becoming of the lifeboat."
+
+"Better not.  You cannot help your friend, and the instant it becomes
+known to the troops that there is a living soul on the Grand-pere rock
+they will come in a steam launch and shoot everyone at sight."
+
+"Will that be the answer to our signal?"
+
+It was Iris who asked the question, and the Brazilian's voice softened
+again.
+
+"Yes," he said.
+
+"Why, then, do you advise us to seek our own destruction?"
+
+He bowed.  His manner was almost humble.
+
+"It is the easier way," he murmured.
+
+"Is there no other?"
+
+"None--unless we attack two hundred soldiers with sticks, and stones,
+and three revolvers, and a sword."
+
+Hozier came back.  He had merely stepped a pace or two into the
+sunlight.  Through the northerly dip of the gulley he had seen the
+ship's boat whirled past an islet by the fierce current.  Macfarlane
+was not visible.  Perhaps that was better so.  At any rate, the sight
+of the small craft vanishing behind one of the island barriers brought
+home with telling force the predicament of those who remained.  Now
+that the sheer frenzy of the wreck had relaxed, Philip's head was like
+to split with the throbbing anguish of the blow he had received.  But
+his mind was clearer.  De Sylva's words, amplifying his own vague
+recollection of the scene on board the _Andromeda_, enabled him to
+construct a picture of events as they were.  And his blood boiled when
+he thought of Iris, snatched many times from death, only to face it
+once more in the ravening form of starvation and thirst.
+
+"Attack!" he said hoarsely.  "How is that possible?  A deep and wide
+channel separates us from the main island."
+
+The Brazilian, who seemed to have argued himself into a state of stoic
+despair, gave a startling answer.
+
+"We have a boat, a sort of boat," he said quietly.
+
+"How many will it hold?"
+
+"Three, in a smooth sea, and with skilled handling.  It nearly
+overturned when I and two others crossed from the island, a distance of
+three hundred yards."
+
+"But we have ropes, clothes, perhaps some few pieces of wreckage.  Can
+nothing be done to repair it?"
+
+"Meaning that we draw lots to see who shall endeavor to escape
+to-night?"
+
+"The men might even do that."
+
+"Ah, yes--the men, of course.  I think it hopeless.  But, try it!  Yes,
+certainly, try it!"
+
+A pause, more eloquent than the most impassioned speech, showed how
+this frail straw, eddying in the vortex of their fate, might yet be
+clutched at.  San Benavides, trying vainly to guess what was being
+said, blurted forth an anxious inquiry.  His compatriot explained
+briefly.  Somehow, the measured cadence of their talk had a less
+reliable sound than the vigorous Anglo-Saxon.  They were both brave
+men.  They had not scrupled to risk their lives in an enterprise where
+success beckoned even doubtingly.  But they were lacking when all that
+remained to be settled was how best to die; in such an hour the men of
+an English speaking race will ever choose a fighting death.
+
+This time, it was a woman who decided.
+
+Iris rose to her feet.  She brushed back the strands of damp hair from
+her face, and with deft hands made a rough-and-ready coil of her
+abundant tresses.
+
+"Are you planning to send me with two others adrift in a boat, while
+seventeen men are left here?" she asked.
+
+The Brazilian ceased speaking.  There was another uneasy pause.  Hozier
+felt that the question was addressed to him, but he was tongue-tied,
+almost shame-faced.  Coke, however, did not shirk the task of
+enlightening her.
+
+"Something like that," he said.  "We can't let you cut in with the rest
+of us, missy.  That wouldn't be reasonable.  But it's best to fix the
+business fair an' square.  We ain't agoin' to try any other way, not so
+long as _I'm_ skipper," and he looked with brutal frankness at De Sylva
+and the anxious but uncomprehending San Benavides.
+
+The ex-President knew what he meant; even in his despondency he
+resented the implied slur on his good faith.
+
+"You cannot examine the boat until darkness sets in," he said.  "Then
+you will find out how frail a foundation you are building on.  It is
+absolutely ridiculous to assume that she can be made seaworthy.  Her
+occupants would be drowned before they were clear of the islands."
+
+"In any case, I refuse to go," said Iris.
+
+De Sylva smiled gloomily.
+
+"You are courageous, senhora, and, in some respects, you are wise," he
+said.  "Yet . . . I must admit it . . .  I would urge you to select the
+boat--in preference . . ."
+
+Marcel, the Brazilian who had come to tell them of the drifting
+life-boat, turned away from the mouth of the cavern, and scrambled down
+the ravine.
+
+"Wot's 'e after?" demanded Coke, suddenly suspicious.
+
+"He and Domingo are keeping a lookout," said De Sylva.  "If the
+soldiers intend to visit us we should at least be warned.  The boat is
+hidden among the rocks on the landward side," he added, not without a
+touch of scorn.
+
+"That man has taught us our own duty," cried Iris.  "The boat that
+brought these men to this rock can bring nineteen men and a woman to
+Fernando Noronha.  We must land there to-night.  With those to guide us
+who know the coast, surely that should be possible.  We have a right to
+struggle for our lives.  We, of the _Andromeda_, at least, have done no
+wrong to the cruel wretches who sought to kill us without mercy to-day.
+Why should we not endeavor to defend ourselves?  There is food there,
+and guns in plenty.  Let us take them.  Above all, let us not dream of
+any such useless device as this proposal to send three to drown
+somewhere in the sea and leave seventeen to perish miserably here.  We
+are in God's hands.  Let us trust to Him, but while doing that fully
+and fearlessly, we must seek life, not death."
+
+"Bully for you, miss!" roared a sailor, and a growl of admiration rang
+through the cave.  Instantly a hubbub of talk showed how intent the
+crew had been on the previous discussion, but Coke shouted them into
+silence.
+
+"Oo axed wot _you_ think, you swabs?" he bellowed.  "Stow your lip!
+Sink me, if you don't all do as you're bid, an' keep still tongues in
+your 'eds, I'll want to know w'y--P.D.Q."
+
+A big, blond Norwegian, Hans Olsen by name, strode forward.  Unlike the
+usual self-contained Norseman, he was reputed a "sea-lawyer" in the
+forecastle.
+
+"We haf somedings ter zay for our lifes, yez," he protested.  Coke bent
+and butted him violently in the stomach with his head.  The man crashed
+against the rocky wall, and sat dazed where he had fallen.
+
+"You've got to obey orders--savvy?" growled Coke.
+
+"Yez," gasped Olsen, evidently fearing a further assault.
+
+The incident ended.  Its outstanding feature was the amazing activity
+displayed by the burly skipper, who had rammed his man before the big
+fellow could lift a finger.  It might be expected that Iris would show
+some sign of dismay, owing to this unlooked-for violence.  But she was
+now beyond the reach of merely feminine emotions.  She had protested
+against the kicking of Watts because it seemed to lack motive, because
+Watts was helpless, and because she herself was half-delirious at the
+time.  Olsen's attitude, on the other hand, hinted at mutiny, and
+mutiny must be repressed at any cost.
+
+De Sylva's incisive accents helped to bridge a moment fraught with
+possibilities, for it would be idle to assume that this polyglot
+gathering was composed of Bayards.  Self-preservation is apt to prove
+stronger than chivalry under such circumstances.  Let it be assumed
+that three among the twenty could escape that night, and it was
+horribly true that the field of selection might be narrowed by a
+wild-beast struggle long before the sun went down.
+
+"The young lady has at least given us a project," he said.  "It is a
+desperate one, Heaven knows!  It offers a fantastic chance, and I can
+see no other, but--what can we do without arms?"
+
+"Use our heads," put in Hozier.  He had not the slightest intention of
+making a light-hearted joke at that crisis in their affairs, but he
+happened to look at Coke, and an involuntary smile gleamed through the
+crust of clotted blood and perspiration that gave his good-looking face
+a most sinister aspect.  The Irishman cackled with laughter.
+
+"Begob, that's wan for the skipper," he crowed; then some of the others
+grinned, and the _Andromeda's_ little company stood four-square again
+to the winds of adversity.  Having blundered into prominence, the
+second mate was quick to see that he must hammer home the facts, though
+in more serious vein.
+
+"Bring us to the island, Senhor De Sylva," he said, "and we will make a
+fight of it.  In any case, even if we fail, they will not deliberately
+kill a woman.  There must be other women there who will intervene in
+behalf of one of their own sex.  But we may succeed.  It is improbable
+that the whole of the troops will be gathered in one spot.  Why should
+we not take some small detachment by surprise and secure their weapons?
+If we can land unobserved, we ought to be able to drop on them
+apparently from the skies.  I take it that the presence here of Captain
+San Benavides is unknown, and the leadership of an officer in the
+enemy's own uniform should turn the scale in our favor.  Have you no
+followers among the troops or islanders?  Suppose we make good our
+first attack, and seize a strong position--isn't it probable we may
+receive assistance from your partisans?"
+
+"Perhaps--among the convicts," was De Sylva's grim reply.
+
+"No officials, or soldiers?"
+
+"Not one.  They are chosen for this service on account of their
+animosity against the former Government.  How else could you account
+for their treatment of unarmed men on a ship crippled by their first
+shell?"
+
+"You spoke of a steam launch.  Where is that kept?"
+
+"At a wharf under the walls of the citadel which commands the town and
+anchorage."
+
+"Assuming we have a stroke of luck and rush some outpost, would it be
+possible to cross the island before dawn and board the launch or some
+other craft in which we can put to sea?"
+
+"There is only the launch, and some small fishing catamarans.  No other
+boats are allowed to exist on the island, in order to prevent the
+escape of convicts.  The boat we possess is really a badly-constructed
+catamaran, without a sail, and minus the out-rigger which alone renders
+it safe for the shortest voyage."
+
+"Wy didn't you say that sooner, mister?" put in Coke.  "If some of
+these jokers knew wot sort of craft it was, mebbe it wouldn't 'ave
+needed a shove in the stommick to bring Hans Olsen to heel."
+
+"I am sorry," said De Sylva.  "You see, I realized the utter folly of
+trying to escape in that fashion."
+
+The two men looked each other squarely in the eye.  The ex-President of
+a great republic and the master of a worn-out tramp steamer were both
+born leaders of men.  Whatsoever prospect of a cabal existed
+previously, it was scotched now, beyond doubt.  Henceforth, no matter
+what ills threatened, surely the little army mustered on the Grand-pere
+rock would stand or fall together!
+
+An unerring token of unity was forthcoming at once.
+
+"Please, miss, an' gents all, may we smoke?" pleaded a voice.
+
+Iris was for an immediate permission, but De Sylva shook his head.
+
+"Not until the tide falls," he said.  "There is a very real fear of a
+visit from the launch.  It has passed this spot four times during the
+past two days--ever since my absence was discovered, in fact.  The
+soldiers have searched every outlying island, but they have avoided
+Grand-pere because it is believed that a landing is highly dangerous if
+not quite impracticable.  My friend Marcel, a fisherman, discovered by
+accident the only safe means of reaching the path which winds round the
+island.  Happily, the wretch who betrayed the mission of the
+_Andros-y-Mela_ did not know the secret of my refuge.  And I see now
+that the Governor must be convinced that I am still hiding among the
+cliffs, or your vessel would not have appeared off South Point this
+morning.  No, there must be no smoking as yet.  In this clear air the
+slightest cloud might be seen rising above the rocks from without."
+
+Marcel reappeared at the entrance.  With him was another man, whom
+Hozier remembered seeing when he was hauled up from the ship with Iris.
+
+"Ah, I was not mistaken," went on De Sylva.  "Here comes news of the
+launch!  They have signaled for it across the island."
+
+Marcel entered the cave with an expressive gesture, for long habit had
+almost robbed him of his native vivacity.  His companion, Domingo,
+climbed the opposite wall of the ravine and stretched himself at full
+length in a niche where there was room for a man to lie.  Some tufts of
+rough grass grew there in sufficient density to conceal his head while
+he peered between the stalks.  They could see him quite plainly, but no
+one wanted to speak.  Though the unceasing wash of a heavy swell
+against the rocks would have drowned the noise had they shouted in
+unison, there was no need to tell anyone present that a very real and
+dangerous crisis had arrived.  The slow change in the direction of
+Domingo's gaze showed the approach and passing of the hostile vessel.
+It was evident that a long halt was made in the channel close to the
+wreck, of which some fragments remained above water.  Still, curiously
+enough, it was impossible for those on board the launch to read the
+ship's name, since the word "_Andromeda_," twice embossed on the sharp
+cut-water, was hidden by the jutting rocks on both sides of the cleft.
+
+But it was not the fear of instant death following on the discovery
+that the Grand-pere islet was inhabited that kept tongues mute and ears
+on the alert during a quarter of an hour that seemed to be protracted
+to a quarter of a day.  At present they were shut off from hostile
+bullets by the walls of a fortress stronger than any that could be
+built by men's hands.  The greater danger was that the enemy's
+suspicions might be aroused.  Let those who held Fernando Noronha with
+the armed forces of Brazil once come to regard the isolated rock in mid
+channel as providing even a possible refuge for the ex-President and
+his friends, and it would mean the complete overthrow of the slender
+chance of saving their lives that still offered itself.
+
+So they waited in silence, watching the rigid figure of the prostrate
+Brazilian, just as those among them who were saved from the _Andromeda_
+had watched the arch of spray and spindrift from the slowly sinking
+forecastle.
+
+At last Domingo turned his head slightly, and gave them a reassuring
+little nod.  He said something, which De Sylva translated.
+
+"They have a photograph of the wreck," he said, "and are now steaming
+through the northerly channel to the anchorage on the west side of the
+island.  Most fortunately, they do not seem to be aware of your
+drifting boat."
+
+Then he added, with a courtliness that was so incongruous with his
+unkempt appearance and patched and tattered garments;--"If the Senhora
+permits, the men may smoke now.  In another hour the channel will not
+be navigable.  We have a hot and tiring day before us, and I advise
+sleep for those to whom it is vouchsafed.  If the weather continues to
+improve, the next tide will bring us a smooth sea.  Given that, and a
+dark night--well--we may make history.  Who knows?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CROSS PURPOSES
+
+Though Iris gave such warlike counsel, it would be doing her a grave
+injustice to assume that her gentle disposition was changed because of
+the day's sufferings.  The erstwhile light-hearted schoolgirl and
+youthful mistress of her uncle's house had been subjected to dynamic
+influences.  The ordeal through which she had passed, unscathed bodily
+but seared in spirit, had left her strung to a tense pitch.  Relaxation
+had not come--as yet.  She only knew that she resented to the uttermost
+the Brazilians' malevolent fury.  Hers was a nature that could not
+endure unfairness.  It was unfair of David Verity to seek to mend his
+shattered fortunes by forcing her into a hateful marriage; unfair of
+both Verity and Coke to found their new venture on a great fraud; and
+monstrously unfair of these island factionaries to vent their spite on
+an innocent ship.  So, for the hour, she was inspired.  It is the
+high-souled enthusiast who devotes life itself to a cause; those who
+practice oppression have ever most to beware of in the man or woman
+whose conscience will not condone a wrong.
+
+Of course, in this present clash of emotions, Iris little understood
+what her advice really meant.  She was appealing to heaven rather than
+to the force of arms.  To one of her temperament, it seemed incredible
+that a number of inoffensive strangers should be slaughtered because a
+South American republic could not agree in choosing a president.  Such
+a thing was unheard of in her previous experience, built on no more
+solid foundation than the humdrum existence of Brussels and Bootle.
+And the inhabitants of neither Brussels nor Bootle settle their
+political differences by shooting casual visitors at sight.
+
+Oddly enough, the only professional soldier present condemned her
+project roundly when it was mooted.
+
+"In leaving the island to-night you are acting on an assumption,"
+protested Captain San Benavides to his chief.  "You cannot be sure that
+the _Andros-y-Mela_ will not appear.  The arrangement is that she is to
+send a boat here soon after midnight, yet, if this mad scheme of an
+attack on armed troops by unarmed men is persisted in, we must begin to
+ferry to the island long before that hour.  In all probability, we
+shall be discovered at once.  At the very moment that our friends are
+eagerly awaiting us on board the ship we may be lying dead on the
+island.  The notion is preposterous.  Be guided by me, Dom Corria, and
+decline to have anything to do with it.  Better still, let these
+English boors promise to forget that we are alive; then Marcel can
+guide them to the landing-place, where they will be shot speedily and
+comfortably.  There is no sense in sacrificing the girl.  She must be
+kept here on some pretext."
+
+The ex-President took thought before he answered.  He did not deny
+himself that the confident air of these hard-bitten sailors made strong
+appeal to his judgment.  He had his own reasons for distrusting some
+among his professed supporters, and he did not share his military
+aide's opinion as to the coming of the promised vessel.
+
+"There is a good deal in what you say, senhor adjudante," he announced
+after his bright eyes had dwelt on San Benavides' expressive face in
+thoughtful scrutiny.  "In England they have a proverb that a man cannot
+both run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, but such maxims are
+not framed for would-be Presidents.  I fear we must fall in with our
+allies' views, _faute de mieux_.  You and I have to lead a headstrong
+army.  That little Hercules of a commander is stubborn as a mule--a
+mule that has the strength and courage of a wild boar.  The younger man
+thinks only of the girl's safety.  He, at least, will not consent to
+leave her.  Both, backed by their crew, will not scruple to sacrifice
+us if their interests point that way.  Trust me to twist them into the
+course that shall best serve our own needs.  I am now going to tell
+them that you approve of their plan."
+
+Forthwith he launched out into an English version of the excellent
+captain's comments.  His precise, well-turned periods were admirable.
+Their marked defect was that he said the exact contrary to San
+Benavides.
+
+Iris, having a born aptitude for languages, spoke French and German
+with some proficiency.  She had also devoted many hours to the study of
+Spanish during the past winter, and it happens that the Portuguese of
+Brazil is less unlike Spanish than the Portuguese of Lisbon.  In
+Europe, national antipathies serve to accentuate existing differences
+between the two tongues, but the peoples of the South American seaboard
+feel the need of a common speech, and local conditions have
+standardized many words.  Hence, the Spanish language will serve all
+ordinary purposes among the Latin races who have made their own the
+vast continent that stretches from Panama to Tierra del Fuego.
+
+So the girl's super-active brain was puzzled by De Sylva's rendering of
+his military friend's remarks.  With the vaguest knowledge of what was
+actually said, she suspected that San Benavides had opposed the very
+project which, according to the President, he favored.  She had caught
+the name of the relief vessel, the words _bote_, "boat," _las doce_,
+"twelve o'clock," _a bordo de buque_, "on board the ship," and others
+which did not figure in the translation.  She wondered why.
+
+The long day wore slowly.  The heat was intense.  Even the hardened
+sailors soon found that if the atmosphere of the cavern were to remain
+endurable they might not smoke.  So pipes were extinguished, and they
+tried to better their condition.  Water-soaked coats and boots placed
+in the sun were dry in a few minutes.  Iris was persuaded to allow her
+dress to be treated in this manner.  She was still wearing the heavy
+ulster of the early morning--when the aftermath of the gale was chill
+and searching--and the possession of this outer wrap made easy the
+temporary discarding of a skirt and blouse.
+
+Unhappily, she answered in French some simple query of the dapper
+officer's.  Thenceforth, to her great bewilderment and Hozier's
+manifest annoyance, he pestered her with compliments and inquiries.  To
+avoid both, she expressed a longing for sleep.  It seemed to her
+excited imagination that she would never be able to sleep again, yet
+her limbs were scarcely composed in comfort on a litter of coarse grass
+and parched seaweed than her eyes closed in the drowsiness of sheer
+exhaustion.  This respite was altogether helpful.  She had slept but
+little during the gale, and its tremendous climax had surprised her
+vitality at a low ebb.
+
+When she awoke, the ravine was in shadow and the interior of the cave
+was dark.  Her first conscious sensation was that of almost intolerable
+thirst.  Her lips were blistered, her tongue and palate sore, and she
+asked herself in alarm what new evil was afflicting her, until she
+remembered the drenching she had received and the amount of salt-laden
+air that had passed into her lungs.  Nevertheless, she cried
+involuntarily for water, and again she was offered wine.  She managed
+to smile in a strained fashion at this malicious humor of fortune.  By
+a freak of memory she called to mind the somewhat similar predicament
+of the crew of a storm-tossed ship that she had once read about.  They
+ran short of water, but the vessel carried hundreds of cases of bottled
+stout.  During three long weeks of boating against the wind those
+wretched men were compelled to drink stout morning, noon, and night,
+and never did temperance argument apply with greater force to the
+seafaring community than toward the end of that enforced regimen of
+malt liquor.
+
+Hozier, who had aroused her by touching her shoulder, fancied he saw
+the gleam of merriment in her face.
+
+"What is amusing you?" he asked.
+
+She told him, though she spoke with difficulty.
+
+"It is not quite so bad as that," he said.  "If there is no hitch in
+our plans, we should be on the island within five hours.  We have
+everything thought out as far as may be in view of the unknown.  At any
+rate, Miss Yorke, if we succeed in getting you safely ashore, you
+personally will have but slight cause for further anxiety.  The
+proposal is that Marcel shall take you at once to the hut of an old
+convict whom he can trust----"
+
+"A convict!" she gasped.  The word was ominous, and she was hardly
+awake.
+
+"The population of Fernando Noronha is almost entirely made of convicts
+and soldiers," he explained.
+
+"But am I to be left there alone?"
+
+"What else is there to be done?  You cannot join in the attack on a
+fort--and that offers our only chance, it would seem.  Granted an
+effective surprise, we may carry it.  Then your guardian will bring you
+to us."
+
+"What if you fail?"
+
+"We must not fail," he said quietly.
+
+"Please do not hide the alternative from me," she pleaded.  "I have
+endured so much----"
+
+"Well, don't you see, this man--who, by the way, is married, and has a
+daughter aged fourteen--will, if necessary, reveal your presence to the
+Governor.  By that time, say, in a day or two, the excitement will have
+died down, the news of your escape will be cabled to England, you will
+be sent to the coast on the Government steamer, and you can travel home
+by the next mail."
+
+"That sounds very simple--and European," she said, and the pathetic
+sarcasm was not lost on him.
+
+"It is reasonable enough.  Unfortunately for us, all the bother centers
+round Senhor De Sylva, to whom we owe our lives.  He is outside at the
+moment, showing our skipper the lay of the land before the light fails,
+so I am free to speak plainly.  When he is dead there will be no
+further trouble, till the next revolution.  But why endeavor to look
+ahead when seeing is impossible?  At present, what really presses is
+the necessity that you should eat and drink.  We have shared out the
+whole of the available food.  Here is your portion.  We deemed it best
+to give the men one square meal.  They know now that they must earn the
+next one."
+
+With each instant her perceptive powers were quickening.  She was aware
+that he had deliberately avoided the main issue.  De Sylva's probable
+death implied a good deal, but it was the supreme test of her courage
+that she refrained from useless questioning.  Yet she thrust aside the
+two bananas and supply of dried meat and crusts that Hozier placed
+before her.
+
+"I cannot eat," she murmured, striving to control her voice.
+
+"But you must.  It is imperative.  You would not wish to break down at
+the very moment your best energies will be in demand.  Our lives, as
+well as your own, may depend on your strength.  Come, Miss Yorke, no
+woman could have been pluckier than you.  Don't fail us now."
+
+The gloom was deepening momentarily.  Hozier's back was turned to the
+entrance, and, in the ever-growing darkness, she was unable to see his
+face; but his anxious protest in no wise deceived her; she even smiled
+again at the ruse that attempted to saddle her with some measure of
+responsibility for the success or failure of the raid.
+
+"If I promise to eat--and drink this sour wine--will you be candid?"
+she asked.
+
+"Well----"
+
+"One must bargain.  There is no other way. . . .  Promise!"
+
+"I suppose you mean that I must agree to please you by wild guessing
+about events that may turn out quite differently."
+
+"Candid, I said."
+
+"Yes--that most certainly."
+
+"In the first place, may we go into the fresh air?  I must have slept
+many hours.  What time is it?"
+
+"About seven o'clock."
+
+"Seven!  Have I been lying here since goodness knows what time this
+morning?"
+
+"You were thoroughly used up," he said, and he added, with a laugh: "If
+it is any consolation, I may tell you that, to the best of my belief,
+you never moved nor uttered a sound."
+
+"For instance, I didn't snore," she cried, rising to her feet, and
+thanking the kindly night that veiled her untidiness.
+
+"I--don't--think so."
+
+"Oh, please be more positive than that.  You send a cold shiver down my
+back."
+
+"Several members of the _Andromeda's_ crew also indulged in a prolonged
+siesta," he said.  "I assure you it was almost out of the question to
+divide the sleepers into snorers and non-snorers."
+
+A man will talk harmless nonsense of that sort when he is at his wit's
+end to wriggle out of a perplexing situation.  Hozier was deputed to
+obtain the girl's consent to the proposal he had already put before
+her.  He feared that she would refuse compliance, for he understood her
+fine temper better than the others.  He was a young man--one but little
+versed in the ways of women--yet some instinct warned him that there
+was a nobility in Iris Yorke's nature that might set self at naught and
+urge her to share her companions' lot, even though certain death were
+the outcome.
+
+They passed together through the cavern.  Watts, sound asleep, was
+lying there.  The majority of the men were seated on the rocks without,
+or lounging near the entrance.  They were smoking now freely, the only
+stipulation being that matches were not to be struck in the open.
+Their whispered talk ceased when they saw the girl.  Absorbed in the
+prospect of a fight for life, for the moment they had forgotten her,
+but a murmured tribute of sympathy and recognition greeted her
+appearance.
+
+The Irishman found his tongue first.
+
+"Begorrah, miss," he said, "but it's the proud man I'll be the next
+time I see you smilin' from the kay side at Liverpool, no matter
+whether I'm there meself or not."
+
+No one laughed at the absurd phrase which so clearly expressed its
+meaning.  But the ship's cook, Peter, noting the strips of dried meat
+in her hands, raised a grin by saying:
+
+"Sorry the galley fire is out, miss, or I'd 'ave stewed 'em a bit."
+
+This kindly badinage was gratifying, though it helped to reveal the
+interrupted topic of their conversation.  There was no hiding the
+desperate character of the coming adventure.  The _Andromeda's_ crew
+did not attempt to minimize it.  The choice offered lay only in the
+manner of their death.  As to the prospect of ultimate escape, they
+hardly gave it a thought.  Some among them had served in the armies of
+Europe, and they, at least, were under no delusion concerning the issue
+of an attack on a fort by less than a score of unarmed men--seventeen
+to be exact, since two of the ship's company were so maimed by the
+bursting of the shell on the forecastle as to be practically helpless;
+it was by the rarest good fortune that they were able to walk.
+
+Iris smiled at them in her frank way.
+
+"I hope you will all be spared to ship on a new _Andromeda_," she said.
+No sooner had the words left her lips than the thought came unbidden:
+"If my uncle and Captain Coke wished the ship to be thrown away,
+nothing could have better suited their purposes than this tragic error."
+
+For the instant, the unforeseen outcome of that Sunday afternoon's
+plotting in the peaceful garden of Linden House held her imagination.
+She recalled each syllable of it, and there throbbed in her brain the
+hitherto undreamed of possibility that Coke had brought the _Andromeda_
+to Fernando Noronha in pursuance of his thievish project.
+
+At once she whispered to Hozier:
+
+"Is there anyone on the path below?"
+
+"No," he said.  "The Brazilians are with Coke at the top of the gully."
+
+"Is it safe for us to go the other way."
+
+"I think so.  But you must be careful not to slip."
+
+She caught his arm, little knowing the thrill her clasp sent through
+his frame.  This simple gesture of her confidence was bitter-sweet.  He
+resolutely closed his eyes to the knowledge that this might be their
+last talk.
+
+"I shall not fall," she said.  "I am a good mountaineer.  I learnt the
+trick of it in Cumberland.  Come with me.  There is a pleasant breeze
+blowing from the sea."
+
+They climbed down.  Neither spoke until they stood on the curving ledge
+that had proved their salvation.  Though the tide was rising again, the
+heavy sea was gone.  The current still created some spume and noise as
+it swept past the reef, but its anger had vanished with the gale.
+Beyond the fringe of broken water a slight swell only served to mirror
+in countless facets the tender light of a perfect sunset.  The eastern
+horizon was a broad line of silver.  Nearer, the shadow of the island
+created bands of purest green and ultramarine.
+
+They reached the place from which the Brazilians had thrown the rope.
+They could hear the quiet plash of the water in the cleft.  Piled
+against a low-lying rock were the funnel and other debris of the
+_Andromeda_.  The black hull was plainly visible beneath the surface.
+Even while they were looking at the wreck a huge fish curled his ten
+feet of length with stealthy grace from out some dim recess; it might
+be, perhaps, from out the crushed shell of the chart-room.
+
+Hozier glanced at his companion.  He half expected her to shrink back
+appalled at this sinister sight; it was her destiny to surprise him not
+once but many times during that amazing period.
+
+"Is that a shark?" she asked quietly.
+
+"Yes. . . .  You stipulated for candor, you know."
+
+"I had no notion that such a monster could move with so great elegance.
+I think I would rather be eaten by a shark than lie at the bottom of
+the sea like our poor vessel there."
+
+"Even a shark would appreciate the compliment," he said.
+
+Her eyes continued to watch the terrifying apparition until it prowled
+into hidden depths again.
+
+"I am not sorry I have seen it," she murmured.  "It helps one to
+understand.  We are glib concerning the laws of nature, and seem to
+regard them much as the printed regulations stuck on hackney carriages,
+whatsoever they may be.  Yet, how cruelly just they are!  I suppose
+that the finding of the ship's booty by that huge creature has given a
+new span of life to some weaker fish."
+
+Hozier did not know whether or not she had realized the shark's real
+quest.  Her next words enlightened him.
+
+"If we follow the others, will the soldiers throw our dead bodies into
+the sea?" she asked.
+
+"I want you to believe that you will be absolutely safe if we escape
+being discovered during the crossing of the narrow strip of water that
+separates this rock from the island," he hastened to say.  "That is
+your only risk, and it is a light one.  Senhor De Sylva is sure that
+the troops will not keep the keenest lookout to-night.  They are still
+convinced that the insurgent steamer is sunk.  Our chief danger will
+date from to-morrow's dawn.  Marcel reports that a systematic search of
+the island was begun to-day.  It will be continued to-morrow, but on
+new lines, because, by that time, they will have learnt the truth.  The
+_Andros-y-Mela_ is not lying in pieces at the foot of this rock, the
+President has not escaped, and every practicable inch of Fernando
+Noronha and the adjacent islands will be scoured in the hope of finding
+him.  At first sight, that looks like being in our favor; in reality,
+it means the end if we are discovered here.  The soldiers will shoot
+first and inquire afterwards.  I have not the slightest doubt but that
+plenty of evidence will be forthcoming that we were a set of
+desperadoes who had unlawfully interfered in the affairs of a foreign
+state."
+
+She appeared to be weighing this argument, sitting in judgment on De
+Sylva and his theories.
+
+"I want to do that which is for the good of all," she said at length.
+"Do you ask me to go to this convict's house, Mr. Hozier?"
+
+"I urge it on you with the utmost conviction.  With you off our hands,
+we can act freely.  We must deliver an attack to-night.  God in Heaven,
+you cannot think that we would expose you to the perils of a desperate
+fight!"
+
+His sudden outburst was unexpected, even by himself.  He trembled in an
+agony of passion.  Iris placed a timid hand on his shoulder.
+
+"I will go," she whispered.  "Please do not be distressed on my
+account.  I will go.  I brought you here, not to discuss my own fate,
+but yours.  These Brazilians will not scruple to make use of you, and
+then throw you aside if it suits their purpose.  That man, De Sylva,
+does not care how he attains power, and I know that he and the officer
+entertain some plan which they have not revealed to you."
+
+"You . . . _know_."
+
+"Yes.  I understand a little of their language.  I have a mere glimpse
+of its sense, as one sees a landscape through a mist.  When De Sylva
+told you to-day that San Benavides was with you heart and soul, he was
+lying.  There were things said about a ship, and midnight, and a boat.
+I watched the officer's face.  He was wholly opposed to the landing
+to-night.  My mind is not so vague now.  I think I can grasp his
+meaning.  Was it not to-night that the _Andros-y-Mela_ was to appear?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, may they not hope secretly that she will keep to the fixed hour?
+Once you and I and the others are on the island, and an alarm is given,
+the Brazilians could slip away unnoticed.  Yes, that is it.  I do not
+trust them any more than I trusted Captain Coke.  Don't you realize
+that he brought the _Andromeda_ to this place in order to wreck her
+more easily?  It was to supply a pretext for the visit that he made
+undrinkable the water in the ship's tanks."
+
+That appealing hand still rested on Philip's shoulder.  Its touch
+affected him profoundly.  With a lightning dart of memory his thoughts
+went back to the moment when she lay, inert and half-fainting, in his
+arms on the bridge, after he had taken her from the lazarette.  But he
+controlled his voice sufficiently to say:
+
+"You may be right; indeed, I know you are right, so far as Coke is
+concerned.  When I went aft to find out if one of the boats could not
+be cleared, I noticed that a steering-gear box had been prised open
+again.  I had time for only a second's glance, but I was sure the
+damage had not been done by a bullet.  So the _Andromeda_ was doomed to
+be lost, no matter what happened.  By ----, forgive me, Miss Yorke, but
+this kind of thing makes one savage."
+
+"Perhaps it is matterless now.  Coke will stand by the rest of us in
+our struggle for life, at any rate.  But the Brazilians----"
+
+"Have no fear of them.  I, too, have watched San Benavides.  I don't
+like the fellow, and wouldn't place an ounce of faith in him, but De
+Sylva has brains, and he knows well enough that no ship from Brazil
+will come to Fernando Noronha in his behalf.  In fact, he dreads a
+visit by a Government vessel, in which event our frail chance of
+seizing that launch----"
+
+She felt, rather than saw, that he had suddenly grown rigid.  His right
+arm flew out and drew her to him.
+
+"Sh-s-s-h!" he breathed, and pulled her behind a rock.  Her woman's
+heart yielded to dread of the unseen.  It pulsed violently, and she was
+tempted to scream.  Despite his warning, she must at least have
+whispered a question, but her ears caught a sound to which they were
+now well accustomed.  The light chug-chug of an engine and the flapping
+of a propeller came up to them from the sea.  The steam launch was
+approaching.  Perhaps they had been seen already!  As if to emphasize
+this new peril, there was an interval of silence.  Steam had been shut
+off.  Philip touched the girl's lips lightly with a finger.  Then he
+lay flat on the ledge and began to creep forward.  It was impossible
+that he should run and warn the others, but it was essential, above all
+else, that he should ascertain what the men on the launch were doing,
+and the extent of their knowledge.
+
+He found a tuft of the grass that clung to a crevice where its roots
+drew hardy sustenance from the crumbling rock; he ventured to thrust
+his head through this screen, following Domingo's example some hours
+earlier.  Almost directly beneath, his eager glance found the little
+vessel.  She was floating past with the current.  He peered down on to
+her deck as if from the top of a mast.  A few cigarette-smoking
+officers were grouped in her bows.  Apparently, they were more
+interested in the remains of the _Andromeda_ than in the natural
+fortress overhead.  Clustered round the hatch were some twenty
+soldiers, also smoking.
+
+One of the officers pointed to the ledge; he was excited and emphatic.
+Philip could not imagine that they had detected him, but he feared lest
+Iris, in her agitation, might have moved.  In that clear, calm air, not
+even the growing dusk would hide the flutter of a skirt or the altered
+position of a white face.  A man in charge of the wheel replied to the
+officer with a laugh.  The first speaker turned, glanced at the
+Brothers reef, behind which the _Andromeda's_ boat had vanished that
+morning, and nodded dubiously.  The man at the wheel growled an order,
+and the engine started again.  Though Hozier knew not what was said,
+the significance of this pantomime was not lost on him.  The local
+pilot was afraid of these treacherous waters in the dark, but next day
+Frade de Francez (which is the islanders' name for the Grand-pere Rock)
+would surely be explored if a landing could be made.  At a guess, the
+silent watcher took it that the steersman had declined to make a
+circuit of the rock until the light was good.
+
+Away bustled the launch, but Hozier did not move until there was no
+risk of his figure being silhouetted against the sky.  Even then, he
+wormed his way backward with slow caution.  Iris was crouched where he
+had left her, wide-eyed, motionless.
+
+"Good job we came here," he said.  "It is evident they mean to maintain
+a patrol until there is news of De Sylva one way or the other.  It will
+be interesting now to hear what the gallant San Benavides says.  If any
+ship comes to Fernando Noronha to-night she will be seen from the
+island long before any signal is visible at this point."
+
+"Do you think the others saw the launch?" she asked.
+
+"No--not unless some of the men strayed down the gully, which they were
+told not to do.  The breakers would drown the noise of the engines and
+screw."
+
+There was a slight pause.
+
+"Will you tell them?" she went on.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+This time the pause was more eloquent than words.  Quite unconsciously,
+Iris replied to her own question.
+
+"Of course, as you said a little while ago, we owe our lives to Dom
+Corria De Sylva," she murmured, as if she were reasoning with herself.
+
+By chance, probably because Hozier stooped to help her to her feet, his
+arm rested lightly across her shoulders.
+
+"I will not pretend to misunderstand you," he said.  "If the Brazilians
+do not mean to play the game, it would be a just punishment to let them
+rush on their own doom.  But De Sylva may not agree with this fop of an
+officer, and, in any event, we must go straight with him until he shows
+his teeth."
+
+"You seem to dislike Captain San Benavides," she said inconsequently.
+
+"I regard him as a brainless ass," he exclaimed.
+
+"Somehow, that sounds like a description of a dead donkey, which one
+never sees."
+
+"Mademoiselle!" came a voice from the lip of the ravine.
+
+"One can hear him, though," laughed Hozier, with a warning pressure
+that suspiciously resembled a hug.  These two were children, in some
+respects, quicker to jest than to grieve, better fitted for mirth than
+tragedy.
+
+They moved out from their niche, and San Benavides blustered into
+vehement French.
+
+"We are going to the landing-place before it is too dark," he muttered
+angrily.  "We must not show a light; in a few minutes the path will be
+most dangerous.  Please make haste, mademoiselle.  We did not know
+where you had gone."
+
+"The men knew," suggested Hozier in the girl's ear.  He dared not trust
+either his temper or his vocabulary.
+
+"We shall lose no time, now, monsieur," said Iris, hurrying on.
+
+"This way then.  No, we do not pass the cave.  We go right round the
+cliff.  Permit me, mademoiselle.  I am acquainted with each step."
+
+He took her hand.  Philip followed.  He was young enough to long for an
+opportunity to tell San Benavides that he was a puppy, a mongrel puppy.
+Just then he would have given a gun-metal case, filled with cigars--the
+only treasure he possessed--for a Portuguese dictionary.
+
+After a really difficult and hazardous descent, they found the others
+awaiting them in a rock-shrouded cove.  The barest standing-room was
+afforded by a patch of shingle and detritus.  Alongside a flat stone
+lay three broad planks tied together with cowhide.  The center plank
+was turned up at one end.  This was the catamaran, which de Sylva had
+dignified by the name of boat.  The primitive craft rested in a black
+pool in which the stars trembled, though they were hardly visible as
+yet in the brighter sky.  The water murmured in response to the
+movement of the tide, but to the unaided eye there was no vestige of a
+passage through the volcanic barrier that reared itself on every hand.
+
+"Were 'ave you bin?" growled Coke.  "We've lost a good ten minnits.
+You ought to 'ave known, Hozier, that it's darkest just after sunset."
+
+"We could not have started sooner, sir."
+
+"W'y not?  We were kep' waitin' up there, searchin' for you."
+
+"That was our best slice of luck to-day.  Had any of you appeared on
+the ledge you would have been seen from the launch."
+
+"Wot launch?"
+
+"The launch that visited us this morning.  Ten minutes ago she was
+standing by at the foot of the rock."
+
+Philip spoke slowly and clearly.  He meant his news to strike home.  As
+he anticipated, De Sylva broke in.
+
+"You _saw_ it?" he asked, and his deep voice vibrated with dismay.
+
+"Yes.  I even made out, by actions rather than words, that the darkness
+alone prevented the soldiers from coming here to-night.  The skipper
+would not risk it."
+
+De Sylva said something under his breath.  He spoke rapidly to San
+Benavides, and the latter seemed to be cowed, for his reply was brief.
+Then the ex-President reverted to English.
+
+"I have decided to send Marcel and Domingo ashore first," he said.
+"They will select the safest place for a landing.  Marcel will bring
+back the catamaran, and take off Mr. Hozier and the young lady.
+Captain Coke and I will follow, and the others in such order as Senhor
+Benavides thinks fit.  The catamaran will only hold three with safety,
+but Marcel believes he can find another for Domingo.  Remember, all of
+you, silence is essential.  If there is an accident, some of us may be
+called on to drown without a cry.  We must be ready to do it for the
+sake of those who are left.  Are we all agreed?"
+
+A hum of voices answered him.  De Sylva was, at least, a born leader.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE RIGOR OF THE GAME
+
+In obedience to their leader's order, Marcel, the taciturn, and
+Domingo, from whose lips the Britons had scarce heard a syllable,
+squatted on the catamaran.  Marcel wielded a short paddle, and an
+almost imperceptible dip of its broad blade sent the strangely-built
+craft across the pool.  Once in the shadow, it disappeared completely.
+There was no visible outlet.  The rocks thrust their stark ridge
+against the sky in a seemingly impassable barrier.  Some of the men
+stared at the jagged crests as though they half expected to see the
+Brazilians making a portage, just as travelers in the Canadian
+northwest haul canoes up a river obstructed by rapids.
+
+"Well, that gives me the go-by," growled Coke, whose alert ear caught
+no sound save the rippling of the water.  "I say, mister, 'ow is it
+done?" he went on.
+
+"It is a simple thing when you know the secret," said De Sylva.  "Have
+you passed Fernando Noronha before, Captain?"
+
+"Many a time."
+
+"Have you seen the curious natural canal which you sailors call the
+Hole in the Wall?"
+
+"Yes, it's near the s'uth'ard end."
+
+"Well, the sea has worn away a layer of soft rock that existed there.
+In the course of centuries a channel has been cut right across the two
+hundred yards of land.  Owing to the same cause the summer rains have
+excavated a ravine through the crater up above, and a similar passage
+exists here, only it happens to run parallel to the line of the cliff.
+It extends a good deal beyond its apparent outlet, and is defended by a
+dangerous reef.  Marcel once landed on a rock during a very calm day,
+and saw the opening.  He investigated it, luckily for me--luckily, in
+fact, for all of us."
+
+Watts interrupted De Sylva's smooth periods by a startled ejaculation,
+and Coke turned on him fiercely.
+
+"Wot's up now?" he demanded.  "Ain't you sober yet?"
+
+"Some dam thing jumped on me," explained Watts.
+
+"Probably a crab," said De Sylva.  "There are jumping crabs all around
+here.  It will not hurt you.  It is quite a small creature."
+
+"Oh, if it's on'y a crab," muttered Watts, "sorry I gev' tongue,
+skipper.  I thought it was a rat, an' I can't abide 'em."
+
+"Then you must learn to endure them while you are in Fernando do
+Noronha itself," went on the Brazilian.  "The island absolutely swarms
+with rats; some of the larger varieties are rather dangerous."
+
+"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Watts.  "It'll be the death o' me."
+
+"Wot color are they?" asked Coke.  De Sylva's reply was given in a tone
+of surprise.  Certainly these hardy mariners had selected an unusual
+topic for discussion at a critical moment.
+
+"The common dark gray," he said.
+
+"That's all right, then," sneered Coke.  "Watts don't mind 'em gray.
+They're old messmates of his.  It's w'en they're pink or green that he
+fights shy of 'em."
+
+"I hate rats of any sort----" began Watts hotly, spurred to anger by an
+audible snigger among the men, but De Sylva stopped his protest
+peremptorily.  It was idiotic, this bantering when the next half hour
+might be their last.
+
+"You must learn to guard your tongue," he said with harsh distinctness.
+"We cannot have our plans marred by a fool's outcry."
+
+Nevertheless, the chief officer of the _Andromeda_ was far from being a
+fool.  He had cut an inglorious figure during the wreck, but he was
+sober enough now, and it hurt his pride to be jeered at by his own
+skipper and treated with contumely by one whom he privately classed as
+a Dago.  He had the good sense to realize that the present was no fit
+time for a display of temper; but he nursed his wrath.  Dom Corria
+would have been well advised had he followed the counsel given so
+ungraciously, and guarded his own tongue.
+
+It might well be that the ex-President, whose fortunes were on the
+tiptoe of desperate hazard, was beginning to despair.  He may have
+scanned the meager forces at his disposal and felt that he was asking
+the gods for more than they could grant.  A few minutes earlier he had
+put forth the suave suggestion that Hozier should be given the
+speediest chance of securing the girl's safety.  That was politic;
+perhaps his stanch nerve was yielding to the strain, now that the two
+islanders were gone on their doubtful quest.  Be that as it may, his
+attitude did not encourage light conversation.  Even Coke withheld some
+jibe at the unfortunate mate's expense.  A chill silence fell on the
+little group.  The more imaginative among them were calculating the
+exact kind of lurch taken by the unstable raft that would mean
+"drowning without a cry."
+
+Thus the minutes sped, until a dim shape emerged from the opposite
+blackness.  It came unheard, growing from nothing into something with
+ghostly subtlety.  Iris, a prey to many emotions, managed to stifle the
+exclamation of alarm that rose unbidden.  But Hozier read her distress
+in a hardly audible sob.
+
+"It is our friend, Marcel," he whispered.  "So Domingo has made good
+his landing.  Be brave!  The sea is quite calm.  This man has been to
+the island and back in less than a quarter of an hour."
+
+His confidence gave her new courage.  She even tried to turn danger
+itself into a jest.
+
+"We seem to be living in spasms just now," she said.  "We certainly
+crowd a good deal of excitement into a very few minutes."
+
+The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle.  Marcel was in a
+hurry.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris.
+
+"Yes," she said.
+
+"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself by
+placing your hands on his shoulders.  Yes, that is it.  Do not change
+your position until you are ashore.  Now you, Mr. Hozier."
+
+Marcel murmured something.
+
+"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly.  "Domingo, too, has secured a
+catamaran.  He is bringing it at once in order to save time."
+
+A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom.  Without waiting for
+further instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passed
+the other in the center of the pool.  Iris felt Hozier's hands on her
+waist.  He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told her
+that she might trust him implicitly.  When the narrow cleft was
+traversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample need
+for some such assurance of guardianship.  Viewed from the cliff, the
+swell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, but
+it presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seen
+in profile.  It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man to
+propel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across a
+wide channel through which such a sea was running.  Indeed, Hozier
+himself, sailor as he was, felt more than doubtful as to the fate of
+their argosy.  But Marcel paddled ahead with unflagging energy once he
+was clear of the tortuous passage, and, before the catamaran had
+traveled many yards, even Iris was able to understand that the outlying
+ridge of rocks both protected their present track and created much of
+the apparent turmoil.
+
+At last the raft, for it was little else, bore sharply out between two
+huge bowlders that might well have fallen from the mighty pile of
+Grand-pere itself.  Pointed and angular they were, and set like a
+gateway to an abode of giants.  Beyond, there was a shimmer of
+swift-moving water, with a silver mist on the surface, though from a
+height of a few feet it would have been easy to distinguish the bold
+contours of Fernando Noronha itself.
+
+Marcel plied his paddle vigorously, and Iris thought they were heading
+against the current, since there was a constant swirl of white-tipped
+waves on both sides of the curved plank, and her dress soon became
+soaked.  But Hozier knew that one man could not drive a craft that had
+no artificial buoyancy in the teeth of a four-knot tidal stream.
+Marcel was edging across the channel, and making good use of the very
+force that threatened to sweep him away.  Indeed, in less than five
+minutes, a definite clearing yet darkening of the atmospheric light
+showed that land was near.  The hiss of the ripple subsided, the tide
+ceased its chant, and a dark mass sprang into uncanny distinctness
+right ahead.
+
+The girl's first sensation on nearing the island was an unpleasant one.
+She was conscious of a slight but somewhat nauseating odor, quite
+unlike anything within her ken previously.  It suffused the air, and
+grew more pronounced as the catamaran crept noiselessly into a tiny bay.
+
+Hozier sympathized with her distress; knowing that acquaintance with an
+evil often helps to minimize its effect, he bent close to her ear and
+whispered the words:
+
+"Mangrove swamp."
+
+Iris had read of mangroves.  In a dim way, she classed them with
+tamarinds, and cocoa-palms, and other sub-tropical products.  At any
+rate, she was exceedingly anxious to tell Hozier that if mangroves
+tasted as they smelt she would need to be very hungry before she ate
+one!
+
+Marcel was endowed with quick ears.  Though Hozier's whisper could
+hardly have reached him, he held up a warning hand, even while he
+brought the catamaran ashore on the shingle, so gently that not a
+pebble was disturbed.  He rose, a gaunt scarecrow, stepped off, and
+drew the shallow craft somewhat further up the sloping beach.  Then he
+helped Iris to her feet.  She became conscious at once that his
+thumb-nail was of extraordinary length, and--so strangely constituted
+is human nature--this peculiarity made a lasting impression on her mind.
+
+Hozier, thinking that he ought to remain near the catamaran, stood
+upright, but did not offer to follow the others.  Iris, filled with a
+sudden fear, hung back.  The Brazilian, aware of her resistance, sought
+its cause.  He saw Hozier, grinned, and beckoned to him.  So the three
+went in company, and at each upward stride the disagreeable stench,
+ever afterwards associated with Fernando Noronha in the girl's
+memories, became less and less perceptible, until, after a short walk
+through a clump of banana trees, it vanished altogether.
+
+At that instant, when Iris was beginning to revel in the sweet incense
+of a multitude of unseen flowers, Marcel halted, motioned to Hozier to
+stand fast, and indicated that Iris was to come with him.  At once she
+shrank away in terror.  Though in some sense prepared for this parting,
+she felt it now as the crudest blow that fortune had dealt her during a
+day crowded with misfortunes.  In all likelihood, those two would never
+meet again.  She needed no telling as to the risk he would soon be
+called on to face, and her anguish was made the more bitter by the
+necessity that they should go from each other's presence without a
+spoken word.
+
+Nevertheless, she forced herself to extend a hand in farewell.  Her
+eyes were blinded with tears.  She knew that Hozier drew her nearer.
+With the daring of one who may well cast the world's convention to the
+winds, he gathered her to his heart and kissed her.  Then she uttered a
+little sob of happiness and sorrow, and fainted.
+
+It was not until she was lying helpless in his embrace, with her head
+pillowed on his breast, and an arm thrown limply across his shoulder,
+that Philip understood what had happened.  He loved her, and she, the
+promised wife of another man, had tacitly admitted that she returned
+his love.  Born for each other, heirs of all the ages, they were
+destined to be separated under conditions that could not have been
+brought about by the worst tyrant that ever oppressed his fellow
+creatures.  Small blame should be his portion if in that abysmal moment
+there came to Philip a dire temptation.  There was every reason to
+believe that he and Iris, if they found some hiding-place on the island
+that night, might escape.  He could send Marcel crashing into the
+undergrowth with a blow, carry the unconscious girl somewhere,
+anywhere, until the darkness shrouded them, and wait for the dawn with
+some degree of confidence.  In a red fury of thought he pictured her
+face when she regained possession of her senses and was told that they
+had no more to fear.  He saw, with a species of fantastic intuition,
+that the island authorities would actually acclaim them for the tidings
+they brought.  And then, he would find those grave brown eyes of hers
+fixed on his in agonized inquiry.  What of the others?  Why had he
+betrayed his trust?  Dom Corria de Sylva had sent him ashore in advance
+of any among the little band of fugitives.  Marcel and Domingo were
+outside the pale.  Their lives, at least, were surely forfeit when
+recaptured.  It was not a prayer but a curse that Hozier muttered when
+Marcel whispered words he did not understand, but whose obvious meaning
+was that now the girl must be carried to the convict's hut, since they
+were losing time, and time was all-important.
+
+So they strode on, across ground that continued to rise in gentle
+undulations.  Even in his present frenzied mood, Hozier noticed that
+they were following the right bank of a rivulet, the catamaran being
+beached on the same side of its cove-like estuary.  Progress was rather
+difficult.  They were skirting a wood, and the trailers of a great
+scarlet-flowered bean and a climbing cucumber smothered the ground,
+canopied the trees, and swarmed over the rocks.  He could not
+distinguish these hindrances in the darkness, but he soon found that he
+must walk warily.  As for the effort entailed by his forlorn burden he
+did not give a thought to it until Marcel indicated that he must stand
+fast.  The Brazilian went on, leaving Hozier breathless.  Evidently he
+went to warn the inhabitants of a wretched hut, suddenly visible in the
+midst of a patch of maize and cassava, that there were those at hand
+who needed shelter.
+
+A dog barked--Marcel whistled softly, and the animal began to whimper.
+The Brazilian vanished.  Hozier still held Iris in his arms; his heart
+was beating tumultuously; his throat ached with the labor of his lungs.
+His straining ears caught rustlings among the grass and roots, but
+otherwise a solemn peace brooded over the scene.  Just beyond the hut,
+which was shielded from the arid hill by a grove of curiously contorted
+trees, the inner heights of the island rose abruptly.  Something that
+resembled a column of cloud showed behind the rugged sky-line of the
+land.  Even while he waited there, he saw a glint of light on its
+eastern side.  He fancied that under stress of emotion and physical
+weakness his eyes were deceiving him; but the line of golden fire grew
+brighter and more definite.  It was broken but unwavering, and black
+shadows began to take form as part of this phenomenon.  Then he
+remembered the giant peak of Fernando Noronha, that mis-shapen mass
+which thrusts its amazing beacon a thousand feet into the air.  The
+rising moon was gilding El Pico long ere its rays would illumine the
+lower land--that was all--yet he hailed the sight as a token of
+deliverance.  It was not by idle chance that that which he had taken
+for a cloud should be transmuted into a torch; there sprang into his
+heated brain a new trust.  He recalled the unceasing vigilance of One
+All-Powerful, who, ages ago, when His people were afflicted, "went
+before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by
+night in a pillar of fire, to give them light."
+
+Then Marcel came, and aroused him from the stupor that had settled on
+him, and together they entered into the hovel, where a dark-skinned
+woman and a comely girl uttered words of sympathetic sound when Iris
+was laid on a low trestle, and Hozier took a farewell kiss from her
+unheeding lips.
+
+The Englishman stumbled away with his guide; he fancied that Marcel
+warned him several times to be more circumspect.  He did his best, but,
+for the time, he was utterly spent.  At last the Brazilian signified
+that they were near a trysting place.  He uttered a cry like a
+night-jar's, and the answer came from no great distance.  Soon they
+encountered Coke and De Sylva, who were awaiting them anxiously, and
+wondering, no doubt, why Hozier was missing, since Domingo and Marcel
+had fixed on an aged fig-tree as a rendezvous, and Hozier was not to be
+found anywhere near it.
+
+The two boatmen hurried away, and De Sylva placed his lips close to
+Philip's ear.
+
+"What went wrong?" he asked.
+
+"Iris--Miss Yorke--fainted," was the gasping reply.
+
+"Ah.  You had to carry her?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+De Sylva fumbled in a pocket.  He produced a flask.
+
+"Here is some brandy.  I kept it for just such an extremity.  We cannot
+have you breaking down.  Drink!"
+
+Two weary hours elapsed before the little army of the Grand-pere Rock
+was reunited on the shore of Cotton-Tree Bay.  Then there was a further
+delay, while their indefatigable scouts brought milk and water, some
+coarse bread, and a good supply of fruit from the hut.  It was part of
+their scheme that they should give their friend's habitation a wide
+berth.  If their plans miscarried he was instructed to say that he had
+found the English lady wandering on the shore soon after daybreak.  In
+any event, there would be no evidence that he had entertained the
+invaders in his hovel; otherwise, he would lose the first-class badge
+that permitted him, a convict, to dwell apart with his wife and
+daughter.
+
+It was with the utmost difficulty that the men could be restrained from
+expressing their delight when they were given water and milk to drink.
+The water was poor, brackish stuff; the milk was sour and had lost
+every particle of cream; yet they deemed each a nectar of rank, and
+even the miserable Watts, who had long ago ascertained that the
+rustlings in the herbage were caused by countless numbers of rats and
+mice, was ready to acclaim beverages which he was too apt to despise.
+
+About midnight there was a bright moon sailing overhead, and De Sylva
+gave a low order that they were to form in Indian file.  Marcel led,
+the ex-President himself followed, with San Benavides, Coke, and Hozier
+in close proximity.  Domingo brought up the rear, in order to prevent
+straggling, and assist men who might stray from the path.
+
+Avoiding the cultivated land surrounding the creek, the party struck up
+the hillside.  A few plodding minutes sufficed to clear the trees and
+dense undergrowth.  A rough, narrow path led to the saddle of the
+central ridge.  They advanced warily but without any real difficulty.
+Hozier took a listless interest in watching the furtive glances cast
+over his shoulder by San Benavides so long as the south coast of the
+island was visible.  At each turn in the mountain track the Brazilian
+officer searched the moonlit sea for the agreed signal.  At last, when
+the northern side also came in sight, and the whole island lay spread
+before them, San Benavides resigned himself to the inevitable.  For a
+little while, at least, he was perforce content to survey events
+through the eyes of his companions, and throw in his lot irrevocably
+with theirs.
+
+Roughly speaking, Fernando Noronha itself, irrespective of the group of
+islands at its northeasterly extremity, stretches five miles from east
+to west, and averages a mile and a half in width.  From Cotton-Tree
+Bay, to which the catamarans had brought the small force, it was barely
+a mile to the village, convict settlement, and citadel.  Some few
+lights twinkling near the shore showed the exact whereabouts of the
+inhabited section.  Another mile away to the right lay Fort San
+Antonio, which housed the main body of troops.  Watch-fires burning on
+South Point, whence came the shells that disabled the _Andromeda_,
+revealed the presence of soldiers in that neighborhood.  De Sylva
+explained that a paved road ran straight from the town and
+landing-place to the hamlet of Sueste and an important plantation of
+cocoanuts and other fruit-bearing trees that adjoined South Point.  It
+was inadvisable to strike into that road immediately.  A little more to
+the right there was a track leading to the Curral, or stockyard.  If
+they headed for the latter place the men could obtain some stout
+cudgels.  The convict peons in charge of the cattle should be
+overpowered and bound, thus preventing them from giving an alarm, and
+it was also possible to avoid the inhabited hillside overlooking the
+main anchorage until they were close to the citadel.  Then, crossing
+the fort road, they would advance boldly to the enemy's stronghold,
+first making sure that the launch was moored in her accustomed station
+in the roadstead beneath the walls.  San Benavides would answer the
+sentry's questions, there would be a combined rush for the guard-room
+on the right of the gate, and, if they were able to master the guard,
+as many of the assailants as possible would don the soldiers' coats,
+shakos, and accouterments.  Granted success thus far, there should not
+be much difficulty in persuading the men in charge of the launch that a
+cruise round the island was to be undertaken forthwith.  Marcel would
+remain with them until the citadel was carried.  He would then hurry
+back to bring Iris across the island to an unfrequented beach known as
+the Porto do Conceicao, where he would embark her on a catamaran and
+row out to the steamer, which, by that time, would be lying off the
+harbor out of range of the troops who would surely be summoned from the
+distant fort.
+
+The project bristled with audacity, and that has ever been the soul of
+achievement.  Even the two wounded men from the _Andromeda_ took heart
+when they listened to De Sylva's low-toned explanation, given under the
+shadow of a great rock ere the final advance was made.  If all went
+well at the beginning, the small garrison of the citadel would be
+astounded when they found themselves struggling against unknown
+adversaries.  Haste, silence, determination--these things were
+essential; each and all might be expected from men who literally
+carried their lives in their hands.
+
+A keen breeze was blowing up there on the ridge.  A bank of cloud was
+rising in the southwest horizon, and, at that season, when the months
+of rain were normally at an end, the mere presence of clouds heralded
+another spell of broken weather, though the preceding gale had probably
+marked the worst of it.  Indeed, valuable auxiliary as the moon had
+proved during the march across rough country, it would be no ill hap if
+her bright face were veiled later.  The mere prospect of such an
+occurrence was a cheering augury, and it was in the highest spirits
+that the little band set out resolutely for the Curral.
+
+Here they encountered no difficulty whatever.  Perhaps the prevalent
+excitement had drawn its custodians to the town, since they found no
+one in charge save a couple of barking dogs, while, if there were
+people in the cattle-keepers' huts, they gave no sign of their
+presence.  A few stakes were pulled up; they even came upon a couple of
+axes and a heavy hammer.  Equipped with these weapons, eked out by
+three revolvers owned by the Brazilians and the dapper captain's sword,
+they hurried on, quitting the road instantly, and following a cow-path
+that wound about the base of a steep hill.
+
+They met their first surprise when they tried to cross the road to the
+fort.  Quite unexpectedly, they blundered into a small picket stationed
+there.  Its object was to challenge all passers-by during the dark
+hours, and it formed part of the scheme already elaborated by the
+authorities for a complete search of every foot of ground.  But
+Brazilian soldiers are apt to be lax in such matters.  These men were
+all lying down, and smoking.  For a marvel, they happened to be silent
+when Marcel led his cohort into the open road.  They were listening, in
+fact, to the crackling of the undergrowth, though utterly unsuspicious
+of its cause, and the first intimation of danger was given by the
+startling challenge:
+
+"Who goes there?"
+
+It was familiar enough to island ears, and the convict answered readily:
+
+"A friend!"
+
+"Several friends, it would seem," laughed a voice.  "Let us see who
+these friends are."
+
+Luckily, in response to De Sylva's sibilant order, most of the
+_Andromeda's_ crew were hidden by the scrub from which they were about
+to emerge.
+
+The soldiers rose, and strolled nearer leisurely.
+
+"Now!" shouted De Sylva, leaping forward.
+
+There was a wild scurry, two or three shots were fired, and Hozier
+found himself on the ground gripping the throat of a bronzed man whom
+he had shoved backward with a thrust, for he had no time to swing his
+stake for a blow.  He was aware of a pair of black eyes that glared up
+at him horribly in the moonlight, of white teeth that shone under long
+moustachios of peculiarly warlike aspect, but he felt the man was as
+putty in his hands, and his fingers relaxed their pressure.
+
+He looked around.  The fight was ended almost as soon as it began.  The
+soldiers, six in all, were on their backs in the roadway.  Two of them
+were dead.  The Italian sailor had been shot through the body, and was
+twisting in his last agony.
+
+The bloodshed was bad enough, but those shots were worse.  They would
+set the island in an uproar.  The reports would be heard in town,
+citadel, and fort, and the troops would now be on the _qui vive_.  But
+De Sylva was a man of resource.
+
+"Strip the prisoners!" he cried.  "Take their arms and ammunition, but
+bind them back to back with their belts."
+
+"Butt in there, me lads," vociferated Coke, who had accounted for one
+of the Brazilians with an ax.  "Step lively!  Now we've got some
+uniforms an' guns, we can rush that dam cittydel easy."
+
+Hozier was busy relieving his man of his coat.  When the prone warrior
+realized that he was not to be killed, he helped the operation, but
+Philip was thinking more of Iris than of deeds of derring-do.
+
+"Why attempt to capture the citadel at all?" he asked.  "Now that we
+can make sufficient display, is there any reason that we should not go
+straight for the launch?"
+
+"Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?" said Coke to De Sylva.  "There's horse
+sense in it.  The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest of
+wasps till they find out wot the shots meant."
+
+"I think it is a good suggestion," came the calm answer, "provided,
+that is, the launch is in the harbor."
+
+"She's just as likely to be there now as later.  If she isn't, we must
+hark back to the first plan.  Now, you swabs, all aboard!  See to them
+buckles afore you quit."
+
+A bell began to toll in the convict settlement.  Lights appeared in
+many houses scattered over the seaward slope.  In truth, Fernando
+Noronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied three
+years earlier because arrears of pay were not forthcoming.  It was
+impossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was at
+her berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck.
+Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel still
+remained with his leader.  Under these new circumstances, it certainly
+would be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of the
+launch.  So he hurried after them, struggling the while into a coat far
+too small, though fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was big
+in proportion to the rest of his body.
+
+Some few men were met, running from the town to the main road where
+they had located the shooting.  Each breathlessly demanded news, and
+was forthwith given most disconcerting information by a savage blow.
+The _Andromeda_ had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now.
+They did not deliberately murder anyone, but they took good care that
+none of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to work
+mischief until the night was ended.
+
+It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they were
+descending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees and
+houses rendered it impossible to see the actual landing-place.  Hence,
+there was no course open but to race on at the utmost speed, though De
+Sylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace was
+necessarily that of its slowest members.  Among these was Coke, who had
+never walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate.  He
+swore copiously as he lumbered along, and, what between shortness of
+breath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability being
+added to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barely
+able to reach the water's edge.
+
+Happily, the launch was there, moored alongside a small quay.  From the
+nearest building it was necessary to cross a low wharf some fifty yards
+in width, and De Sylva's whispered commands could not restrain the
+eager men when escape appeared no longer problematical but assured.
+They broke, and ran, an almost fatal thing, as it happened, since the
+soldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board.  One
+of them noticed the inexplicable disorder among a body of men some of
+whom resembled his own comrades.  He had heard the firing, and was
+discussing it with others when this strange thing happened.
+
+He challenged.  San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill and
+unofficer-like.
+
+The engines were started.  A man leaped to the wharf.  He was in the
+act of casting a mooring rope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shot
+him between the shoulder-blades.
+
+"On board, all of you!" shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy.
+
+"At 'em, boys!" gasped Coke, though scarce able to stagger another foot.
+
+The men needed no bidding.  Sheets of flame leaped from the vessel's
+deck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at these
+mysterious assailants who spoke in a foreign language.  But flame alone
+could not stop that desperate attack.  Some fell, but the survivors
+sprang at the Brazilians like famished wolves on their prey.  There was
+no more shooting.  Men grappled and fell, some into the water, others
+on deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in frantic
+struggle in the narrow cabin.  The fight did not last many seconds.  An
+engineer, finding a lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor to
+take the wheel, and already the launch was curving seaward when Hozier
+shouted:
+
+"Where is Marcel?"
+
+"Lyin' dead on the wharf," said Watts.
+
+"Are you certain?"
+
+"He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shot
+rabbit."
+
+"Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?"
+
+"No one.  D'ye think that this d--d President cares for anybody but
+hisself?"
+
+Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw.  The
+lights on shore were gliding by.  The launch was leaving Fernando
+Noronha, and Iris was waiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill,
+waiting for the summons that would not reach her, for Marcel was dead,
+and Domingo, the one other man who could have gone to her, was lying in
+the cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY
+
+Iris came back from the void to find herself lying on a truckle bed in
+a dimly-lighted hovel.  A cotton wick flickered in a small lamp of the
+old Roman type.  It was consuming a crude variety of castor oil, and
+its gamboge-colored flame clothed the smoke-darkened rafters and mud
+walls in somber yet vivid tints that would have gladdened the heart of
+a Rubens.  This scenic effect, admirable to an artist, was lost on a
+girl waking in affright and startled by unfamiliar surroundings.  She
+gazed up with uncomprehending eyes at two brown-skinned women bending
+over her.
+
+One, the elder, was chafing her hands; the other, a tall, graceful
+girl, was stirring something in an earthenware vessel.  She heard the
+girl murmur joyfully:
+
+"Gracas a Deus, elh' abria lhes olhas!"
+
+Iris was still wandering in that strange borderland guarded by unknown
+forces that lies between conscious life and the sleep that is so close
+of kin to death.  If in full possession of her senses, she might not
+have caught the drift of the sentence, since it was spoken in a
+guttural patois.  But now she understood beyond cavil that because she
+had opened her eyes, the girl was giving thanks to the Deity.  The
+first definite though bewildering notion that perplexed her faculties,
+at once clouded and unnaturally clear, was an astonished acceptance of
+the fact that she knew what the strange girl had said, though the
+phrase only remotely resembled its Spanish equivalent.  She gathered
+its exact meaning, word for word, and it was all the more surprising
+that both women should smile and say something quite incomprehensible
+as soon as Iris lifted herself on an elbow and asked in English:
+
+"Where am I?  How did I come here?"
+
+[Illustration: "How did I come here?"]
+
+Then she remembered, and memory brought a feeling of helplessness not
+wholly devoid of self-reproach.  It was bad enough that her presence
+should add so greatly to the dangers besetting her friends; it was far
+worse that she should have fainted at the very moment when such
+weakness might well prove fatal to them.
+
+Why did she faint?  Ah!  A lively blush chased the pallor from her
+cheeks, and a few strenuous heartbeats restored animation to her limbs.
+Of course, in thinking that she had yielded solely to the stress of
+surcharged emotions, Iris was mistaken.  What she really needed was
+food.  A young woman of perfect physique, and dowered with the best of
+health, does not collapse into unconsciousness because a young man
+embraces her, and each at the same moment makes the blissful discovery
+that the wide world contains no other individual of supreme importance.
+Iris's great-grandmother might have "swooned" under such
+circumstances--not so Iris, who fainted simply because of the strain
+imposed by failure to eat the queer fare provided by De Sylva and his
+associates.  She hardly realized how hungry she was until the girl
+handed her the bowl, which contained a couple of eggs beaten up in
+milk, while small quantities of rum and sugar-cane juice made the
+compound palatable.
+
+"Bom!" said the girl, "bebida, senhora!"
+
+It certainly was good, and the senhora drank it with avidity, the
+mixture being excellent diet for one who had eaten nothing except an
+over-ripe banana during thirty hours.  Indeed, it would be no
+exaggeration to extend that period considerably.  Iris had left
+practically untouched the meals brought her by the steward during the
+gale, and the early morning cup of coffee, which would have proved most
+grateful after a storm-tossed night, was an impossible achievement
+owing to the lack of water.
+
+So Iris tackled the contents of the bowl with a vigorous appetite oddly
+at variance with the seeming weakness that ended in a prolonged
+fainting fit, and the hospitable Brazilians, to whom this fair English
+girl was a revelation in feature and clothing, bestirred themselves to
+provide further dainties.  But, excepting some fruit, Iris had the
+wisdom to refuse other food just then.  Her thoughts were rapidly
+becoming coherent, and she realized that a heavy meal might be
+absolutely disastrous.  If the men made good their project she would be
+called on within an hour to cross the island.  It seemed reasonable
+that, hungry though she was, she would be better fitted to climb the
+island hills at a fast pace if she ate sparingly.  Still, she longed
+for a drink of water, and taxed her small stock of Spanish to make
+known her desire.
+
+"Agua, senhora," she said with a smile, and the delight of mother and
+daughter was great, since they thought she could speak their language.
+
+Therein, of course, they were disappointed, but not more so than Iris
+when she tasted the brackish fluid alone procurable on the south coast
+of Fernando Noronha.  That was a fortunate thing in itself.  Only those
+who have endured real thirst can tell how hard it is to refrain from
+drinking deeply when water is ultimately obtained; but the mixture of
+milk and eggs had already soothed her parched mouth and palate, and she
+quickly detected an unpleasantly salt flavor in the beverage they gave
+her.
+
+Then she set herself to discover her whereabouts.  The women were eager
+to impart information, but, alas, Iris's brain had regained its
+every-day limitations, and she could make no sense of their words.  At
+last, seeing that the door was barred and the hut was innocent of any
+other opening, she stood upright, and signified by a gesture that she
+wished to go out.  There could be no mistaking the distress, even the
+positive alarm, created by this demand.  The girl clasped her hands in
+entreaty, and the older woman evidently tried most earnestly to
+dissuade her visitor from a proceeding fraught with utmost danger.
+
+Being quite certain that they meant to be friendly, Iris sat down
+again.  She knew, of course, that Marcel would come for her, if
+possible, and the relief displayed by her unknown entertainers was so
+marked that she resolved to await his appearance quietly.  She would
+not abandon hope till daylight crept through the chinks of the hut.
+How soon that might be she could not tell.  It seemed but a few seconds
+since she felt Hozier's arms around her, since her lips met his in a
+passionate kiss.  But, meanwhile, someone had brought her here.  Her
+dress, though damp, was not sopping wet.  Even the slight token of the
+beaten eggs showed how time must have sped while she was lying there
+oblivious of everything.  She tried again to question the women, and
+fancied that they understood her partly, as she caught the words "meia
+noite," but it was beyond her powers to ascertain whether they meant
+that she had come there at midnight, or were actually telling her the
+hour.
+
+At any rate, they were most anxious for her well-being.  The island
+housewife produced another dish, smiled reassuringly, and said,
+"Manioc--bom," repeating the phrase several times.  The compound looked
+appetizing, and Iris ate a little.  She discovered at once that it was
+tapioca, but her new acquaintance suggested "cassava" as an
+alternative.  The girl, however, nodded cheerfully.  She had heard the
+gentry at Fort San Antonio call it tapioca, and her convict father
+cultivated some of the finer variety of manioc for the officers' mess.
+
+"Ah," sighed Iris, smiling wistfully, "I am making progress in your
+language, slow but sure.  But please don't give me any mangroves."
+
+The girl apparently was quite fascinated by the sound of English.  She
+began to chatter to her mother at an amazing rate, trying repeatedly to
+imitate the hissing sound which the Latin races always perceive in
+Anglo-Saxon speech.  Her mother reproved her instantly.  To make
+amends, the girl offered Iris a fine pomegranate.  Iris, of course,
+lost nothing of this bit of by-play.  It was almost the first touch of
+nature that she had discovered among the amazing inhabitants of
+Fernando Noronha.
+
+These small amenities helped to pass the time, but Iris soon noted an
+air of suspense in the older woman's attitude.  Though mindful of her
+guest's comfort, Luisa Gomez had ever a keen ear for external sounds.
+In all probability, she was disturbed by the distant reports of
+fire-arms, and it was a rare instance of innate good-breeding that she
+did not alarm her guest by calling attention to them.  Iris, amid such
+novel surroundings, could not distinguish one noise from another.
+Night-birds screamed hideously in the trees without; a host of crickets
+kept up an incessant chorus in the undergrowth; the intermittent
+roaring of breakers on the rocks invaded the narrow creek.  The medley
+puzzled Iris, but the island woman well knew that stirring events were
+being enacted on the other side of the hill.  Her husband was there--he
+had, indeed, prepared a careful alibi since Marcel visited him--and
+wives are apt to feel worried if husbands are abroad when bullets are
+flying.
+
+So, while the girl, Manoela, was furtively appraising the clothing worn
+by Iris, and wondering how it came to pass that in some parts of the
+world there existed grand ladies who wore real cloth dresses, and lace
+embroidered under-skirts, and silk stockings, and shining leather
+boots--wore them, too, with as much careless ease as one draped one's
+self in coarse hempen skirt and shawl in Fernando Noronha--her mother
+was listening ever for hasty footsteps among the trailing vines.
+
+At last, with a muttered prayer, she went to the door, and unfastened
+the stout wooden staple that prevented intruders from entering unbidden.
+
+It was dark without.  Dense black clouds veiled the moon, and a gust of
+wind moaned up the creek in presage of a tropical storm.  Someone
+approached.
+
+"Is that you, Manoel?" asked Luisa Gomez in a hushed voice.
+
+There was no answer.  The woman drew back.  She would have closed the
+door, but a slim, active figure sprang across the threshold.  She
+shrieked in terror.  The new-comer was a Brazilian officer, one of
+those glittering beings whom she had seen lounging outside the
+Prindio[1] during her rare visits to the town.  She was hoping to greet
+her Manoel, she half expected to find Marcel, but to be faced by an
+officer was the last thing she had thought of.  In abject fear, she
+broke into a wild appeal to the Virgin; the officer merely laughed,
+though not loudly.
+
+"Be not afraid, senhora--I am a friend," he said with quiet confidence,
+and the fact that he addressed her so courteously was a wondrously
+soothing thing in itself.  But he raised a fresh wave of dread in her
+soul when he peered into the cabin and spoke words she did not
+understand.
+
+"I think you are here, mademoiselle," he said in French.  "I am come to
+share your retreat for a little while.  Perchance by daybreak I may
+arrive at some plan.  At present, you and I are in difficulties, is it
+not?"
+
+Iris recognized the voluble, jerky speech.  A wild foreboding gripped
+her heart until she was like to shudder under its fierce anguish.
+
+"You, Captain San Benavides?" she asked, and her utterance was
+unnaturally calm.
+
+"I, mademoiselle," he said, "and, alas!  I am alone.  May I come in?
+It is not well to show a light at this hour, seeing that the island is
+overrun with infuriated soldiers."
+
+The concluding sentence was addressed to Luisa Gomez in Portuguese.
+Realizing instinctively that the man came as a friend, she stood aside,
+trembling, on the verge of tears.  He entered, and the door was closed
+behind him.  The yellow gleam of the lamp fell on his smart uniform,
+and gilded the steel scabbard of his sword.  In that dim interior the
+signs of his three days' sojourn on Grand-pere were not in evidence,
+and he had not been harmed during the struggle on the main road or in
+the rush for the launch.
+
+He doffed his rakish-looking kepi and bowed low before Iris.  Perhaps
+the white misery in her face touched him more deeply than he had
+counted on.  Be that as it may, a note of genuine sympathy vibrated in
+his voice as he said:
+
+"I am the only man who escaped, mademoiselle.  The others?  Well, it is
+war, and war is a lottery."
+
+"Do you mean that they have been killed, all killed?" she murmured with
+a pitiful sob.
+
+"I--I think so."
+
+"You . . . think?  Do you not know?"
+
+He sighed.  His hand sought an empty cigarette case.  Such was the
+correct military air, he fancied--to treat misfortunes rather as jests.
+He frowned because the case was empty, but smiled at Iris.
+
+"It is so hard, mademoiselle, when one speaks these things in a strange
+tongue.  Permit me to explain that which has arrived.  We encountered a
+picket, and surprised it.  Having secured some weapons and
+accouterments, we hastened to the quay, where was moored the little
+steamship.  Unhappily, she was crowded with soldiers.  They fired, and
+there was a short fight.  I was knocked down, and, what do you call
+it?--_etourdi_--while one might count ten.  I rose, half blinded, and
+what do I see?  The vessel leaving the quay--full of men engaged in
+combat, while, just beyond the point, a warship is signaling her
+arrival.  It was a Brazilian warship, mademoiselle.  She showed two red
+rockets followed by a white one.  It was only a matter of minutes
+before she met the little steamship.  I tell you that it was bad luck,
+that--a vile blow.  I was angry, yes.  I stamp my foot and say foolish
+things.  Then I run!"
+
+Iris made no reply.  She hid her face in her hands.  She could frame no
+more questions.  San Benavides was trying to tell her that Hozier and
+the rest had been overwhelmed by fate at the very instant escape seemed
+to be within reach.  The Brazilian, probably because of difficulties
+that beset him in using a foreign language, did not make it clear that
+he had flung himself flat in the dust when he heard the order to fire
+given by someone on board the launch.  He said nothing of a tragic
+incident wherein Marcel, shot through the lungs, fell over him, and he,
+San Benavides, mistaking the convict for an assailant, wrestled
+furiously with a dying man.  He even forgot to state that had he
+charged home with the others, he would either have met a bullet or
+gained the deck of the launch, and that his failure to reach the vessel
+was due to his own careful self-respect.  For San Benavides was not a
+coward.  He could be brave spectacularly, but he had no stomach for a
+fight in the dark, when stark hazard chooses some to triumph and some
+to die.  That sort of devilish courage might be well enough for those
+crude sailors; a Portuguese gentleman of high lineage and proved mettle
+demanded a worthier field for his deeds of derring-do.  Saperlotte!  If
+one had a cigarette one could talk more fluently!
+
+"Believe me, mademoiselle," he went on, speaking with a proud humility
+that was creditable to his powers as an actor, "the tears came to my
+eyes when I understood what had happened.  For myself, what do I care?
+I would gladly have given my life to save my brave companions.  But I
+thought of you, solitary, waiting here in distress, so I hurried into
+the village, and my uniform secured me from interruption until I was
+able to leave the road and cross the hills."
+
+Then the lightning of a woman's intuition pierced the abyss of despair.
+Surely there were curious blanks in this thrilling narrative.  As was
+her way when thoroughly aroused, Iris stood up and seized San Benavides
+almost roughly by the arm.  Her distraught eyes searched his face with
+a pathetic earnestness.
+
+"Why do you think that the launch did not get away?" she cried.  "It
+was dark.  The moon might have been in shadow.  If the launch met the
+warship and was seen, there must have been firing----"
+
+"Chere mademoiselle, there was much firing," he protested.
+
+"At sea?"
+
+The words came dully.  She was stricken again, even more shrewdly.  The
+gloom was closing in on her, yet she forced herself to drag the truth
+from his unwilling lips.
+
+"Yes.  Of course, I could not wait there in that open place.  I was
+compelled to seek shelter.  Troops were running from town and citadel.
+I avoided them by a miracle.  And my sole concern then was your safety."
+
+"Oh, my safety!" she wailed brokenly.  "How does it avail me that my
+friends should be slain?  Why was I not with them?  I would rather have
+died as they died than live in the knowledge that I was the cause of
+their death."
+
+San Benavides essayed a confidential hand on her shoulder.  She shrank
+from him; he was not pleased but he purred amiably:
+
+"Mademoiselle is profoundly unhappy.  Under such circumstances one says
+things that are unmerited, is it not?  If anyone is to blame, it is my
+wretched country, which cannot settle its political affairs without
+bloodshed.  Ah, mademoiselle, I weep with you, and tender you my most
+respectful homage."
+
+A deluge of tropical rain beat on the hut with a sudden fury.
+Conversation at once became difficult, nearly impossible.  Iris threw
+herself back on the trestle in a passion of grief that rivaled the
+outer tempest.  San Benavides, by sheer force of habit, dusted his
+clothes before sitting on the chair brought by Luisa Gomez.  The
+woman's frightened gaze had dwelt on Iris and him alternately while
+they spoke.  She understood no word that was said, but she gathered
+that the news brought by this handsome officer was tragic, woeful,
+something that would wring the heartstrings.
+
+"Was there fighting, senhor?" she asked, close to his ear, her voice
+pitched in a key that conquered the storm.
+
+He nodded.  He was very tired, this dandy; now that Iris gave no
+further heed to him, he was troubled by the prospects of the coming day.
+
+"Were they soldiers who fought?"
+
+He nodded again.
+
+"No islanders?"
+
+Then he raised a hand in protest, though he laughed softly.
+
+"Your good man is safe, senhora," he said.  "Marcel told him to go to
+Sueste and tend his cattle.  When he comes home it will be his duty to
+inform the Governor that we are here.  He will be rewarded, not
+punished.  _Sangue de Deus_!  I may be shot at dawn.  I pray you, let
+me rest a while."
+
+The girl, Manoela, weeping out of sympathy, crept to Iris's side and
+gently stroked her hair.  Like her mother, she could only guess that
+the English lady's friends were captured, perhaps dead.  Even her
+limited experience of life's vicissitudes had taught her what short
+shrift was given to those who defied authority.  The Republic of Brazil
+does not permit its criminals to be executed, but it shows no mercy to
+rebels.  Manoela, of course, believed that the Englishmen were helping
+the imprisoned Dom Corria to regain power.  She remembered how a mutiny
+was once crushed on the island, and her eyes streamed.
+
+Meanwhile, Luisa Gomez was touched by the good-looking soldier's
+plight.  Never, since she came to Fernando Noronha to rejoin her
+convict husband, had she been addressed so politely by any member of
+the military caste.  The manners of the officers of the detachment at
+Fort San Antonio were not to be compared with those of Captain San
+Benavides.  Her heart went out to him.
+
+"We must try to help you, Senhor Capitano," she said.  "If the others
+are dead or taken, you may not be missed."
+
+He threw out his hands in an eloquent gesture.  Life or death was a
+matter of complete indifference to him, it implied.
+
+"We shall know in the morning," he said.  "Have you any cigarettes?  A
+milrei[2] for a cigarette!"
+
+"But listen, senhor.  Why not take off your uniform and dress in my
+clothes?  You can cut off your mustaches, and wear a mantilha over your
+face, and we will keep you here until there is a chance of reaching a
+ship.  Certainly that is better than being shot."
+
+He glanced at Iris.  Vanity being his first consideration, it is
+probable that he would have refused to be made ridiculous in her eyes,
+had not a knock on the door galvanized him into a fever of fright.  He
+sprang up and glared wildly around for some means of eluding the
+threatened scrutiny of a search party.  Luisa Gomez flung him a rough
+skirt and a shawl.  He huddled into a corner near the bed,--in such
+wise that the figures of Iris and Manoela would cloak the rays of the
+lamp,--placed his drawn sword across his knees, and draped the two
+garments over his head and limbs.
+
+Then, greatly agitated, but not daring to refuse admittance to the
+dreaded soldiery, the woman unbarred the door.  A man staggered in.  He
+was alone, and a swirl of wind and rain caused the lamp to flicker so
+madly that no one could distinguish his features until the door was
+closed again.
+
+But Iris knew him.  Though her eyes were dim with tears, though the
+new-comer carried a broken gun in his hands, and his face was
+blood-stained, she knew.
+
+With a shriek that dismayed the other women--who could not guess that
+joy is more boisterous than sorrow, she leaped up and threw her arms
+around him.
+
+"Oh, Philip, Philip!" she sobbed.  "He told me you were dead . . . and
+I believed him!"
+
+The manner of her greeting was delightful to one who had faced death
+for her sake many times during the past hour, yet Hozier was so
+surprised by its warmth that he could find never a word at the moment.
+But he had the good sense to throw aside the shattered rifle and return
+her embrace with interest.  Long ago exhausted in body, his mind reeled
+now under the bewildering knowledge that this most gracious woman did
+truly love him.  When they parted in that same squalid hut at midnight,
+he took with him the intoxication of her kiss.  Yet he scarce brought
+himself to believe that the night's happenings were real, or that they
+two would ever meet again on earth.  And now, here was Iris quivering
+against his breast.  He could feel the beating of her heart.  The
+perfume of her hair was as incense in his nostrils.  She was clinging
+to him as if they had loved through all eternity.  No wonder he could
+not speak.  Had he uttered a syllable, he must have broken down like
+the girl herself.
+
+San Benavides supplied a timely tonic.
+
+Throwing aside the rags which covered him, he tried to rise.  Philip
+caught a glimpse of the uniform, the sheen of the naked sword.  He was
+about to tear himself from Iris's clasp and spring at this new enemy
+when the Brazilian spoke.
+
+"Mil diabos!" he cried in a rage, "this cursed Inglez still lives, and
+here am I posing before him like an old hag."
+
+His voice alone saved him from being pinned to the floor by a man who
+had adopted no light measures with others of his countrymen during the
+past half-hour, as the dented gun-barrel, minus its stock, well showed.
+But the captain's mortified fury helped to restore Philip's sanity.
+Lifting Iris's glowing face to his own, he whispered:
+
+"Tell me, sweetheart, how comes it that our Brazilian friend is here?"
+
+"He ran away when some shots were fired," which was rather unfair of
+Iris.  "He said the launch had been sunk by a man-of-war----"
+
+"But he is wrong.  I saw no man-of-war.  We captured the launch.  By
+this time she is well out to sea.  Unfortunately, Marcel was killed,
+and Domingo badly wounded.  There was no one to come for you, so I
+jumped overboard and swam ashore.  I had to fight my way here, and it
+will soon be known that there are some of us left on the island.  I
+thought that perhaps I might take you back to the Grand-pere cavern.
+These people may give us food.  I have some few sovereigns in my
+pocket. . . ."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes!"  She was excited now and radiantly happy.  "Of course,
+Captain San Benavides must accompany us.  He says the soldiers will
+shoot him if they capture him.  I, too, have money.  Let me ask him to
+explain matters to this dear woman and her daughter.  They have been
+more than kind to me already."
+
+She turned to the sulky San Benavides and told him what Hozier had
+suggested.  He brightened at that, and began a voluble speech to Luisa
+Gomez.  Interrupting himself, he inquired, in French, how Hozier
+proposed to reach the rock.
+
+"On a catamaran.  There are two on the beach, and I can handle one of
+them all right," said Philip.  "But what is this yarn of a warship?
+When last I sighted the launch she was standing out of the harbor, and
+the first clouds of the storm helped to screen her from the citadel."
+
+Iris interpreted.  San Benavides repeated his story of the rockets.  In
+her present tumult, the girl forgot the touch of realism with regard to
+the firing that he had heard.  Certainly there was a good deal of
+promiscuous rifle-shooting after the departure of the launch, but
+warships use cannon to enforce their demands, and the boom of a big gun
+had not woke the echoes of Fernando Noronha that night.  Philip deemed
+the present no time for argument; he despised San Benavides, and gave
+no credence to him.  Just now the Brazilian was an evil that must be
+endured.
+
+Luisa Gomez promised to help in every possible way.  Her eyes sparkled
+at the sight of gold, but the poor woman would have assisted them out
+of sheer pity.  Nevertheless, the gift of a couple of sovereigns,
+backed by the promise of many more if her husband devoted himself to
+their service, spurred her to a frenzy of activity.
+
+There was not a moment to be lost.  The squall had spent itself, and a
+peep through the chinks of the door showed that the moon would quickly
+be in evidence again.  It was essential that they should cross the
+channel while the scattering clouds still dimmed her brightness; so
+Manoela and her mother collected such store of food, and milk, and
+water, as they could lay hands on.  Well laden, all five hastened to
+the creek, and Hozier, Iris, and San Benavides, boarded the larger of
+the two catamarans.  The strong wind had partly dissipated the noisome
+odor, but it was still perceptible.  Iris was sure she would never like
+mangroves.
+
+Having a degree of confidence in the queer craft that was lacking
+during their earlier voyage, they did not hesitate to stack jars and
+baskets against the curved prow in such a manner that the eatables
+would not become soaked with salt water.  Then, after a hasty farewell,
+during which Iris showed her gratitude to those kindly peasants by a
+hug and a kiss, Hozier pushed off and tried to guide the catamaran as
+Marcel had done.
+
+Oddly enough, he and Iris now saw the majestic outlines of the
+Grand-pere for the first time.  The great rock rose above the water
+like some immense Gothic cathedral.  The illusion was heightened by a
+giant spire that towered grandly from the center of the islet.  It
+looked a shrine built by nature in honor of its Creator, a true temple
+of the infinite, and the semblance was no illusion to these three
+castaways, since they regarded it as a sanctuary to which alone, under
+Heaven, they might owe their lives.  Hozier, of course, realized that
+there was a certain element of risk in returning there.  The island
+authorities would surely endeavor to find out where the party of
+desperadoes had lain _perdu_ between the sinking of the ship and the
+attack on the picket.  But the ill-starred Marcel had been confident
+that none could land on the rock who was not acquainted with the
+intricacies of the approach, and Philip was content to trust to the
+reef-guarded passage rather than seek shelter on the mainland.
+
+Once embarked in the fairway, the management of the catamaran occupied
+his mind to the complete exclusion of all other problems.  He was
+puzzled by the discovery that the awkward craft was traveling too far
+to the westward, until he remembered that the tide had turned, and that
+the current was either slack or running in the opposite direction.
+Changing the paddle to the starboard side, he soon corrected this
+deviation in the route.  But he had been carried already a hundred
+yards or more out of the straight line.  To reach the two pointed rocks
+that marked the entrance to the secret channel, he was obliged to creep
+back along the whole shoreward face of the Grand-pere; and to this
+accident was due a surprise that ranked high in a day replete with
+marvels.
+
+When the catamaran rounded the last outlying crag, and they were all
+straining their eyes to find the sentinel pillars, they became aware
+that a small boat was being pulled cautiously toward them from the
+opposite side of the rock.
+
+Iris gasped.  She heard Hozier mutter under his breath, while San
+Benavides revealed his dismay by an oath and a convulsive tightening of
+the hands that rested on the girl's shoulders.
+
+Hozier strove with a few desperate strokes of the paddle to reach the
+shadows of the passage before the catamaran was seen by the boat's
+occupants.  He might have succeeded.  Many things can happen at night
+and on the sea--strange escapades and hair's-breadth 'scapes--thrills
+denied to stay-at-homes dwelling in cities, who seldom venture beyond a
+lighted area.  But there was even a greater probability that the
+unwieldy catamaran might be caught by the swell and dashed side-long
+against one of the half-submerged rocks that thrust their black fangs
+above the water.
+
+Happily, they were spared either alternative.  At the very instant that
+their lot must be put to the test of chance, Coke's hoarse accents came
+to their incredulous ears.
+
+"Let her go, Olsen," he was growling.  "We've a clear course now, an'
+that dam moon will spile everything if we're spotted."
+
+In this instance hearing was believing, and Philip was the first to
+guess what had actually occurred.
+
+"Boat ahoy, skipper!" he sang out in a joyous hail.
+
+Coke stood up.  He glared hard at the reef.
+
+"Did ye 'ear it?" he cried to De Sylva, who was steering.  "Sink me, I
+'ope I ain't a copyin' pore ole Watts, but if that wasn't Hozier's
+voice I'm goin' dotty."
+
+"It's all right, skipper," said Philip, sending the catamaran ahead
+with a mighty sweep.  "Miss Yorke is here--Captain San Benavides, too.
+I was sure you would look for us if you cleared the harbor safely."
+
+Then Coke proclaimed his sentiments in the approved ritual of the high
+seas, while the big Norseman at the oars swung the boat's head round
+until both craft were traveling in company to the waiting launch.  But
+before anything in the nature of an explanation was forthcoming from
+the occupants of either the boat or the catamaran, a broad beam of
+white light swept over the crest of the island from north to south.  It
+disappeared, to return more slowly, until it rested on Rat Island, at
+the extreme northwest of the group.  It remained steady there, showing
+a wild panorama of rocky heights and tumbling sea.
+
+"A search-light, by G--d!" growled Coke.
+
+"Then there really _was_ a warship," murmured Iris.
+
+"Ha!" said San Benavides, and his tone was almost gratified, for he had
+gathered that Hozier was skeptical when told of the rockets.  But in
+that respect, at least, he was not mistaken.  A man-of-war had entered
+the roadstead, and her powerful lamp was now scouring sea and coast for
+the missing launch.  And in that moment of fresh peril it was forgotten
+by all but one of the men who had survived so many dangers since the
+sun last gilded the peak of Fernando Noronha, that were it not for Iris
+having been left behind, and Philip's mad plunge overboard to go to
+her, and the point-blank refusal of the _Andromeda's_ captain and crew
+to put to sea without an effort to save the pair of them, the launch
+would not now be hidden behind the black mass of the Grand-pere rock.
+
+Nevertheless, the fact was patent.  Had the little vessel sailed to the
+west, in the assumption that her only feasible course lay in that
+direction, she must have been discovered by the cruiser's far-seeing
+eye.  And what that meant needed no words.  The bones of the
+_Andromeda_ supplied testimony at once silent and all-sufficing.
+
+
+
+[1] The Governor's residence.
+
+[2] The Brazilian milrei is worth 55 cents, or 2s. 3 1/2d.  The
+Portuguese is worth only one-tenth of a cent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE HIGH SEAS
+
+Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the
+sky.  But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base.
+The warship was in motion.  She was about to steam around the group of
+islands.
+
+Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange
+oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's
+hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech.  Under pressure of this new
+peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline.
+The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the
+_Andromeda's_ crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when
+they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial.  It may
+be urged that they had suffered much.  Out of a ship's company of
+twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors.  Domingo was
+lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he
+lived or died.  With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from
+the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every
+Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he
+was best able.  Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that
+Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed.  He landed at the same
+moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except
+their own dangerous plight.
+
+Small wonder, then, if authority was cast to the winds now that capture
+seemed to be unavoidable.  Coke tried to still the tumult by thundering
+a command to Norrie, second engineer, to throw open the throttle valve.
+He took the wheel in person, meaning to shape a course due east, and
+thus endeavor to avoid the cruiser's baleful glance.  But some of the
+men realized instantly that this expedient would fail.  They were in no
+mood for half measures.  Norrie felt a bayonet under his left
+shoulder-blade.  Coke was roared down, and a hoarse voice growled:
+
+"Me for the tall timbers, maties.  It's each one for hisself now."
+
+"Aye, aye!" came the chorus . . .  "Shove her ashore! . . .  Give us a
+chanst there. . .  We've none at sea."
+
+Dom Corria, being something of a fatalist, did not interfere.  On this
+cockleshell of a craft, among these rude spirits of alien races, he was
+powerless.  On land a diplomat and strategist of high order, here he
+was a cipher.  Moreover, he was beaten to his knees, and he knew it.
+The arrival of the warship had upset his calculations.  After many
+months' planning of flight, he had been forced, by the events of a few
+hours, into an aggressive campaign.  His little cohort had done
+wonders, it is true, but of what avail were these ill-equipped
+stalwarts against a fast-moving fort, armed with heavy guns and
+propelled by thousands of steam horses?  None, absolutely none.  Dom
+Corria drew San Benavides aside.
+
+"All is ended!" he said quietly.  "We shall never see Brazil again,
+Salvador _meu_!  Carmela must find another lover, it seems."
+
+Salvador did not appear to be specially troubled by the new quest
+imposed on Carmela, but he was much perturbed by an uproar betokening
+disunion among the men who had already saved his life twice.  He was
+beginning to believe in them.  It was night, and they possessed a
+vessel under steam.  Why did they not hurry into the obscurity of the
+smooth dark plain that looked so inviting?
+
+It was left to Hozier to solve a problem that threatened to develop
+into a disastrous brawl.  Danger sharpens a brave man's wits, but love
+makes him fey.  To succor Iris was now his sole concern.  He swung a
+couple of the excited sailors out of his way and managed to stem the
+torrent of Coke's futile curses.
+
+"Give in to them!" he cried eagerly.  "Tell them they are going ashore
+in the creek.  That will stop the racket.  If they listen to me, I can
+still find a means of escape."
+
+"Avast yelpin', you swabs!" bellowed Coke.  "D'ye want to let every
+bally sojer on the island know where you are?  We're makin' for the
+creek.  Will _that_ please you?  Now, Mr. Norrie, let her rip!"
+
+The head of the launch swung toward the protecting shadows.  The men
+knew the bearings of Cotton-Tree Bay, so the angry voices yielded to
+selfish thought.  If it was to be _sauve qui peut_ when the vessel
+grounded, there was ample room for thought, seeing that each man's
+probable fate would be that of a mad dog.
+
+Hozier seized the precious respite.  He spoke loudly enough that all
+should hear, and he began with a rebuke.
+
+"I am sorry that those of us who are left should have disgraced the
+fine record set up by the _Andromeda's_ crew since the ship struck," he
+said.  "Your messmates who fell fighting would hardly believe St. Peter
+himself if he told them that we were on the verge of open mutiny.  I am
+ashamed of you.  Let us have no more of that sort of thing.  Sink or
+swim, we must pull together."
+
+There was some discordant muttering, but he gained one outspoken
+adherent.
+
+"Bully for you!" said the man who had suggested tree-climbing as an
+expedient.
+
+"Shut up!" was the wrathful answer.  "You've made plenty of row
+already.  I only hope you have not attracted attention on the island.
+You may not have been heard, owing to the disturbance on the other
+side, but no thanks to any of you for that.  Our skipper's first notion
+was to put to sea.  Wasn't it natural?  Do you want to be hunted over
+Fernando Noronha at daybreak?  But he would have seen the uselessness
+of trying to slip the cruiser before the launch had gone a cable's
+length.  Now, here is a scheme that strikes me as workable.  At any
+rate, it offers a forlorn hope.  There is a sharp bend in the creek
+just where the tidal water ends.  I fancy the launch will float a
+little higher up, but we must risk it.  We will take her in, unship the
+mast, tie a few boughs and vines on the funnel, and not twenty
+search-lights will find us."
+
+A rumble of approving murmurs showed that he had scotched the dragon.
+It was even ready to become subservient again.  He continued rapidly:
+
+"No vessel of deep draught can come close in shore from the east.  The
+cruiser will have the Grand-pere rock abeam within an hour, but, to
+make sure, two of you will climb the ridge and watch her movements.
+The rest will load up every available inch of space with wood and water
+and food.  How can we win clear of Fernando Noronha without fuel?  It
+is a hundred to one that the launch would not steam twenty miles on her
+present coal supply.  Such as it is, we must keep it for an emergency,
+even if we are compelled to tear up the deck and dismantle the cabin."
+
+"Talks like a book!" snorted Coke, and some of the men grinned
+sheepishly.
+
+Hozier was coolly reminding them of those vital things which frenzy had
+failed wholly to take into account.  Confidence was reborn in them.
+They wanted to cheer this fearless young officer who seemed to forget
+nothing, but the island promontories were so close at hand that
+perforce they were dumb.
+
+The simplicity of the project was its best recommendation.  Sailors
+themselves, the mind of the cruiser's commander was laid bare to them.
+He would soon be convinced that the launch had passed him in the dark
+ere the search-light looked out over the sea.  Long before the circuit
+of Fernando Noronha was completed he would be itching to rush at top
+speed along the straight line to Pernambuco.  It was a bold thing, too,
+to land on the island and stock their vessel for a voyage, the end of
+which no man could foresee.  The dare-devil notion fascinated them.  In
+that instant, the _Andromeda's_ crew returned to their allegiance,
+which was as well, since it was fated to be stiffly tested many times
+ere they were reported inside 1 degree West again.
+
+Unfortunately, Coke was in a raging temper.  Never before had his
+supremacy been challenged.  Having lost control over his men, he owed
+its restoration to Hozier.  Such a fact was gall and wormwood to a man
+of his character, and he was mean-souled enough to be vindictive.
+Promising himself the future joy of pounding to a jelly the features of
+every mother's son among the forecastle hands, he began to snarl his
+orders.
+
+"Watts, you must leg it to the sky-line, an' pipe the cruiser.  Olsen,
+you go, too, an' see that Mr. Watts doesn't find a brewery.  Hozier,
+p'raps you'd like to rig the mistletoe.  Miss Yorke 'll 'elp, I'm sure.
+It's up to you, mister, an' his nibs with the sword, to parly-voo to
+the other convicts about the grub.  Is there a nigger's wood-pile
+handy?  If not, we must collar the hut.  I'll take care of the stowage."
+
+He meant each jibe to hurt, and probably succeeded, but Watts was too
+despondent, and Hozier and De Sylva too self-controlled, to say aught
+that would add to their difficulties.  Nevertheless, he was answered,
+from a quarter whence retort was least expected.
+
+"You must modify your instructions, Captain Coke," said Iris with quiet
+scorn.  "It would be a shameful act to destroy the house of those who
+befriended us.  They gave freely of their stores, as you will see by
+the supplies lashed to the catamaran, and will assist us further if
+Senhor De Sylva appeals to them----"
+
+"You can safely leave that to me," broke in Dom Corria.
+
+But Iris was not to be placated thus easily.
+
+"I know that," she said.  "I only wished Captain Coke to understand
+that if he cannot make clear his meaning he should obey rather than
+command."
+
+"The lady 'as 'ad the last word.  Now let's get busy," sneered Coke.
+
+Hozier, who had not quitted his side since the incipient outbreak was
+quelled, gripped his shoulder.
+
+"There is a pile of wood near the cottage," he said in Coke's ear.  "I
+saw it there.  It must be paid for.  Have you any money?"
+
+"A loose quid or two--no more."
+
+"A sovereign will be ample.  Miss Yorke has already given the owners
+two pounds."
+
+"Wot for?"
+
+"For their kindness.  You are all there when it comes to a scrap,
+skipper, but at most other times you ought to be muzzled.  No, don't
+talk now.  We will discuss the point on some more suitable occasion,
+when we can deal with it fully, and Miss Yorke is not present."
+
+Philip spoke in a whisper, but the low pitch of his voice did not
+conceal its menace.  He was longing to twine his fingers round Coke's
+thick neck, and some hint of his desire was communicated by the clutch
+of his hand.  Coke shook himself free.  He feared no man born, but it
+would be folly to attack Hozier then, and he was not a fool.
+
+"Let go, you blank ijjit," he growled.  "I've no grudge ag'in you.  If
+we pull out of this mess you'll 'ave to square matters wi' David Verity
+an' that other ole ninny, Dickey Bulmer.  She's promised to 'im, you
+know.  Told me so 'erself, so there's no mistake.  I got me rag out, I
+admit, an' 'oo wouldn't after bein' 'owled down by those swine forrard.
+My godfather!  Watch me put it over 'em w'en I get the chanst.  Stop
+'er, Norrie!  There's plenty of way on 'er to round that bend."
+
+Hozier reflected that he had chosen an odd moment to quarrel with his
+captain, whose mordant humor in the matter of the mistletoe was only
+accentuated by his reference to Iris's reported engagement.  The
+pungent smell of the mangrove swamp was wafted now to his nostrils.  It
+brought a species of warning that the disagreeable conditions of life
+in Fernando Noronha were yet active.  It was not pleasant to be thus
+suddenly reminded of pitfalls that might exist in England; meanwhile,
+here was the launch thrusting her nose into the mud and shingle of this
+malevolent island.
+
+To his further annoyance, San Benavides, who depended on his compatriot
+for a summary of the latest scheme, asked Iris to accompany De Sylva
+and himself to the hut.
+
+"They are stupid creatures, these peasants," he said.  "When they see
+you they will not be frightened."
+
+There was so much reason in the statement that Iris was a ready
+volunteer.  Soon all hands were at work, and it was due to the girl's
+forethought that strips of linen were procured from Luisa Gomez, and
+healing herbs applied to the cuts and bruises of the injured men.
+Sylva was all for leaving the two soldiers on the island, but Coke's
+sailor-like acumen prevented the commission of that blunder.
+
+"No, that will never do," he said, with irritating offhandness.  "These
+jokers will be found at daylight, an' they'll be able to say exactly
+wot time we quit.  The wimmin can make out they was scared stiff an'
+darsent stir.  It 'ud be different with the sojers.  An' we ain't goin'
+to have such a 'eart-breakin' start, even if the cruiser clears away
+soon after two o'clock."
+
+"Where do you propose to make for?"
+
+"Where d'ye think, mister?  Nor'-east by nor', to be sure, until we
+sight some homeward-bound ship."
+
+There was a pause.  The pair could talk unheard, since they were
+standing on the bank, and the men were either loading firewood and
+fruit and cassava, or stripping trees and vines to hide the
+superstructure of the launch.
+
+"You mean to abandon everything, then?" said De Sylva.  He seemed to be
+watching the onward sweep of the search-light as the warship went to
+the north.  But Coke was shrewd.  He felt that there was something
+behind the words, and he suspected the ex-President's motives.
+
+"I don't see any 'elp for it," he answered.  "Gord's trewth, wot is
+there to abandon?  I've lost me ship, an' me money, an' me papers, an'
+'arf me men.  Unless one was lookin' for trouble, this ain't no
+treasure island, mister."
+
+"Yet it might be made one."
+
+"As how?"
+
+"Do you not realize how greatly the members of the present Government
+fear my return to Brazil?  Here, I am their prisoner, practically
+friendless, almost alone.  They dare not kill me by process of law, yet
+they are moving heaven and earth to prevent my escape, or shoot me down
+in the act.  Why?  Because they know that the people are longing to
+hail me as President again.  Suppose you and your men took me to
+Pernambuco----"
+
+"S'pose hell!" snapped Coke.
+
+"Please listen.  You can but refuse when you look at the facts fairly.
+If, as I say, I were put ashore at Pernambuco, or at any other of half
+a dozen ports I can name, I should be among my own followers.  You,
+Captain Coke, and every officer and man of your ship, and her owners,
+and the relatives of those who have lost their lives, would not only be
+paid all just claims by the new Government, but adequately rewarded.
+In your own case, the recompense would be princely.  But, assuming that
+we board a vessel bound for Europe, what certainty have you that you
+will ever receive a penny?"
+
+"Oh, reely, that's comin' it a bit thick, mister," growled Coke.
+
+"You believe I am exaggerating the difficulties of your position?  Pray
+consider.  Your vessel is broken up.  She was fired on while at anchor
+on the wrong side of the island, on the very day selected for my
+escape.  You and your men manage to dodge the bullets, and, under my
+leadership, assisted by Captain San Benavides, you overrun the place by
+night, kill several soldiers, seize a launch, despoil peasants of their
+crops and stores, and make off with a good deal of property belonging
+to the Brazilian Government, not to mention the presence in your midst
+of such a significant personage as myself.  Speaking candidly, Senhor
+Captain, what chance have you of convincing any international court of
+your innocence?  Who will believe that you were not a true filibuster?
+That is what Brazil will say you are.  How will you disprove it?  In
+any event, who will enforce your claims against my country?  English
+public opinion would never compel your Government to take action in
+such an exceedingly doubtful case, now would it?"
+
+"If we was to try and land you in Brazil, we'd bust up our claim for
+good an' all," muttered Coke.  Though this was a powerful argument
+against De Sylva's theory, it revealed certain qualms of perplexity.
+The other man's brilliant eyes gleamed for an instant, but he guarded
+his voice.  He was in his element now.  When words were weapons he
+could vanquish a thousand such adversaries.
+
+"I think otherwise," he said slowly.  "A judge might well hold that in
+a small vessel like the launch you were entitled to make for the
+nearest land.  But I grant you that point; it is really immaterial.  If
+I fail, you lose everything.  Accept my offer, and you have a
+reasonable chance of winning a fortune."
+
+"Wot exactly is your offer?"
+
+"Ample compensation officially.  Five thousand pounds to you in person."
+
+"Five thousand!"  Coke cleared a throat husky with doubt.  He scratched
+his head under the absurd-looking kepi which he was still wearing; for
+a moment, his lips set in grim calculation.  "That 'ud make things
+pretty easy for the missus an' the girls," he muttered.  "An' there's
+no new ship for me w'en Dickey Bulmer cocks 'is eye at Hozier.  It's a
+moral there'll be a holy row between 'im an' David. . . .  D'ye mean
+it, mister?"
+
+"Even if I fail, and my life is spared, I will pay you the money out of
+my own private funds," was the vehement reply.
+
+"Well, well, leave the job to me.  You sawr 'ow them tinkers jibbed
+just now.  I must 'umor 'em a bit, d--n 'em.  But wait till the next
+time some of 'em ships under me.  Lord luv' a duck, won't I skin 'em?
+Not 'arf!"
+
+De Sylva, with all his admirable command of English, could not follow
+the Coke variety in its careless freedom.  But he knew his man.  Though
+bewildered by strange names and stranger words, he was alive to the
+significance of things being made easy "for the missus and the girls."
+So, even this gnarled sea-dog had a soft spot in his heart!  On the
+very brink of the precipice his mind turned to his women-kind, just as
+De Sylva himself had whispered a last memory of his daughter to San
+Benavides when their common doom was seemingly unavoidable.
+
+He would urge no more, since Coke was willing to fall in with his
+designs, but he could not forbear from clinching matters.
+
+"I promise on my honor----" he began.
+
+But the nearer surface of the sea flashed into a dazzling distinctness,
+and Coke dragged him down to the launch.  The cruiser had rounded Rat
+Island, and was devoting one sweeping glance eastward ere she sought
+her prey in creek or tortuous channel.  The men were summoned hastily.
+Watts and Olsen had been warned to crouch behind the rocks on the
+crest, while those who remained near the launch were told to hide among
+the trees or crowd into the small cabin.  Movement of any kind was
+forbidden.  There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a
+sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay.
+Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the
+vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery.  The long, large-leafed
+vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this
+crisis.  Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened
+the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high
+above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess
+her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light
+as day.
+
+The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the _Andromeda_ on
+Grand-pere.  She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in
+many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren.  It did not occur to
+anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on
+South Point.  De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright.  He
+whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship
+continued her scrutiny of the coast-line.
+
+At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished.  Five minutes later,
+Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the
+roadstead.
+
+It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after
+five.  Now or never the launch must make her effort.  Ready hands tore
+away her disguise, she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every
+man on board, the engines throbbed, and she was afloat.
+
+At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur
+on the western horizon.  No sail or smudge of smoke broke the remainder
+of the far-flung circle.  The fugitives could breathe freely once more.
+They were not pursued.
+
+Iris fell asleep when assured that the dreaded warship was not in
+sight.  Hozier, too, utterly exhausted by all that he had gone through,
+slept as if he were dead.  Coke, whose iron constitution defied
+fatigue, though it was with the utmost difficulty that he had walked
+across the narrow breadth of Fernando Noronha, took the first watch in
+person.  He chatted with the men, surprised them by his candor on the
+question of compensation, and announced his resolve to make for the
+three-hundred-mile channel between Fernando Noronha and the mainland.
+
+"You see, it's this way, me lads," he explained affably.  "We're short
+o' vittles an' bunker, an' if we kep' cruisin' east in this latitood
+we'd soon be drawrin' lots to see 'oo'd cut up juiciest.  So we must
+run for the tramp's track, which is two hundred miles to the west.
+We'll bear north, an' that rotten cruiser will look south for sartin,
+seein' as 'ow they know we 'ave the next President aboard."
+
+Coke paused to take breath.
+
+"Wot a pity we can't give 'im a leg up," he added confidentially.  "It
+'ud be worth a pension to every man jack of us.  'Ere 'e is, special
+freight, so to speak.  W'y _'e'd sign anythink_."
+
+Once the train was laid, it was a simple matter to fire the mine.  When
+Hozier awoke, to find the launch heading west, he was vastly astonished
+by Coke's programme.  It was all cut and dried, and there was really
+nothing to cavil at.  If they met a steamship, and she stopped in
+response to their signals, her captain would be asked to take care, not
+only of Miss Yorke, but of any other person who shirked further
+adventure.  As for Coke, and Watts, and the majority of the men, they
+were pledged to De Sylva.  Even Norrie, the engineer, a hard-headed
+Scot, meant to stick to the launch until the President that was and
+would be again was safely landed among his expectant people.
+
+Watts let the cat out of the bag later.
+
+"Those of us 'oo don't leave Dom Wot's-'is-name in the lurch are to get
+ten years' full pay, extry an' over an' above wot the court allows," he
+said.  "Just think of it!  Don't it make your mouth water?  Reminds me
+of a chap I wonst read about in a trac'.  It tole 'ow 'e took to booze.
+One 'ot Sunday, bein' out for a walk, 'e swiped 'arf a pint of ginger
+beer, the next 'e tried shandy-gaff, the third 'e went the whole hog,
+an' then 'e never stopped for ten years.  My godfather!  Ten years' pay
+an' a ten years' drunk!  It's enough to make a sinner of any man."
+
+Hozier laughed.  Two days ago he would have asked no better luck than
+the helping of Dom Corria to regain his Presidentship.  Now, there was
+Iris to protect.  He would not be content to leave her in charge of the
+first grimy collier they encountered, nor was he by any means sure that
+she would agree to be thus disposed of.  He was puzzled by the singular
+unanimity of purpose displayed by his shipmates.  But that was their
+affair.  His was to insure Iris's safety; the future he must leave to
+Providence.
+
+And, indeed, Providence contrived things very differently.
+
+By nightfall the launch was a hundred miles west of the island.  Norrie
+got eight knots out of her, but it needed no special calculation to
+discover that she would barely make the coast of Brazil if she consumed
+every ounce of coal and wood on board.  The engines were strong and in
+good condition, but she had no bunker space for a long voyage.  Were it
+not for Hozier's foresight she would have been drifting with the Gulf
+Stream four hours after leaving the island.  As it was, unless they
+received a fresh supply of fuel from another ship, they must
+unquestionably take the straightest line to the mainland.
+
+During the day they had sighted three vessels, but at such distances
+that signaling was useless, each being hull down on their limited
+horizon.  Moreover, they had to be cautious.  The cruiser, trusting to
+her speed, might try a long cast north and south of the launch's
+supposed path.  She alone, among passing ships, would be scouring the
+sea with incessant vigilance, and it behooved them, now as ever, not to
+attract her attention.  They were burning wood, so there was no smoke,
+and the mast was unstepped.  Yet the hours of daylight were tortured by
+constant fear.  Even Iris was glad when the darkness came and they were
+hidden.
+
+At midnight a curious misfortune befell them.  The compass had been
+smashed during the fight, and not a sailor among them owned one of the
+tiny compasses that are often worn as a charm on the watchchain.  This
+drawback, of little consequence when sun or stars could be seen,
+assumed the most serious importance when a heavy fog spread over the
+face of the waters.  The set of the current was a guide of a sort, but,
+as events proved, it misled them.  Man is ever prone to over-estimate,
+and such a slight thing as the lap of water across the bows of a small
+craft was sure to be miscalculated; they contrived to steer west, it is
+true, but with a southerly inclination.
+
+At four o'clock, by general reckoning, they were mid-way between island
+and continent.  They were all wide awake, too weary and miserable to
+sleep.  Suddenly a fog-horn smote the oppressive gloom.  It drew near.
+A huge blotch crossed their bows.  They could feel it rather than see
+it.  They heard some order given in a foreign language, and De Sylva
+whispered:
+
+"The _Sao Geronimo_!"
+
+"The wot-ah?" demanded Coke, who was standing beside him.
+
+"The cruiser!"
+
+Coke listened.  He could distinguish the half-speed beating of twin
+screws.  He knew at once that the ex-President must have recognized the
+warship as she passed the creek, but, by some accident, had failed to
+mention her name during the long hours that had sped in the meantime.
+The sinister specter passed and the launch crept on.  Everyone on board
+was breathless with suspense.  Faces were shrouded by night and the
+fog, but some gasped and others mumbled prayers.  One of the wounded
+soldiers shouted in delirium, and a coat was thrust over his head with
+brutal force.  The fog-horn blared again, two cables' lengths distant.
+They were saved, for the moment!
+
+In a little while, perhaps twenty minutes, they heard another siren.
+It sounded a different note, a quaintly harsh blend of discords.
+Whatsoever ship this might be, it was not the _Sao Geronimo_.  And in
+that thrilling instant there was a coldness on one side of their faces
+that was not on the other.  Moist skin is a weather-vane in its way.  A
+breeze was springing up.  Soon the fog would be rolled from off the sea
+and the sun would peer at them in mockery.
+
+Coke's gruff voice reached every ear:
+
+"This time we're nabbed for keeps unless you all do as I bid you," he
+said.  "When the fog lifts, the cruiser will see us.  There's only one
+thing for it.  Somewhere, close in, is a steamer.  She's a tramp, by
+the wheeze of 'er horn.  We've got to board 'er an' sink the launch.
+If she's British, or American, O.K., as 'er people will stand by us.
+If she's a Dago, we've got to collar 'er, run every whelp into the
+forehold, an' answer the cruiser's signals ourselves.  That's the
+sittiwation, accordin' to my reckonin'.  Now, 'oo's for it?"
+
+"Butt right in, skipper," said a gentleman who claimed Providence,
+Rhode Island, as the place of his nativity.
+
+Hozier, who had contrived to draw near Iris while Coke was speaking,
+breathed softly, so that none other could hear:
+
+"This is rank piracy.  But what else can we do?"
+
+"Is it wrong?" she asked.
+
+"Well--no, provided we kill no one.  We are justified in saving our own
+lives, and the average German or Italian shipmaster would hand us over
+to the Brazilians without scruple."
+
+Iris was far from Bootle and its moralities.
+
+"I don't care what happens so long as you are not hurt," she whispered.
+
+"Mr. Hozier," said Coke thickly.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You've got good eyes an' quick ears.  Lay out as far forrard as you
+can, an' pass the word for steerin'."
+
+Hozier obeyed.  The discordant bleat of a foghorn came again,
+apparently right ahead.  In a few seconds he caught the flapping of a
+propeller, and silenced the launch's engines.
+
+"We are close in now," he said to Coke, after a brief and noiseless
+drift.  "Why not try a hail!"
+
+"Ship ahoy!" shouted Coke, with all the force of brazen lungs.
+
+The screw of the unseen ship stopped.  The sigh of escaping steam
+reached them.
+
+"_Holla_!  _Wer rufe_?" was the gruff answer.
+
+"Sink me if it ain't a German!" growled Coke, _sotto-voce_, "Norrie,
+you must stick here till I sing out to you.  Then open your exhaust an'
+unscrew a sea-cock. . . .  Wot ship is that?" he vociferated aloud.
+
+Some answer was forthcoming--what, it mattered not.  The launch bumped
+into the rusty ribs of a twelve-hundred ton tramp.  A rope ladder was
+lowered.  A round-faced Teuton mate--fat and placid--was vastly
+surprised to find a horde of nondescripts pouring up the ship's side in
+the wake of a short, thick, bovine-looking person who neither
+understood nor tried to understand a word he was saying.
+
+These extraordinary visitors from the deep brought with them a girl and
+three wounded men.  By this time the captain was aroused; he spoke some
+English.
+
+"Vas iss diss?" he asked, surveying the newcomers with amazement, and
+their bizarre costumes with growing nervousness.  "Vere haf you coomed
+vrom?"
+
+Coke pushed him playfully into the cook's galley.
+
+"This is too easy," he chortled.  "Set about 'em, you swabs.  Don't
+hurt anybody unless they ax for it.  Round every son of a gun into the
+fo'c'sle till I come.  Mr. Watts, the bridge for you.  Olsen, take the
+wheel.  Mr. Hozier, see wot you can find in their flag locker.  _Now_,
+Mr. Norrie!  Sharp for it.  You're wanted in the engine-room."
+
+And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the
+nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock
+forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS
+
+Coke and his merry men became pirates during the early morning of
+Thursday, September 2d; the curious reader can ascertain the year by
+looking up "Brazil" in any modern Encyclopedia, and turning to the
+sub-division "Recent History."  On Monday, September 6th, David Verity
+entered his office in Exchange Buildings, Liverpool, hung his hat and
+overcoat on their allotted pegs, swore at the office boy because some
+spots of rain had come in through an open window, and ran a feverish
+glance through his letters to learn if any envelopes bearing the
+planetary devices of the chief cable companies had managed to hide
+themselves among the mass of correspondence.
+
+The act was perfunctory.  Well he knew that telephone or special
+messenger would speedily have advised him if news of the _Andromeda_
+had arrived since he left the office on Saturday afternoon.  But it is
+said that drowning men clutch at straws, and the metaphor might be
+applied to Verity with peculiar aptness.  He was sinking in a sea of
+troubles, sinking because the old buoyancy was gone, sinking because
+many hands were stretched forth to push him under, and never one to
+draw him forth.
+
+There was no cablegram, of course.  Dickey Bulmer, who had become a
+waking nightmare to the unhappy shipowner, had said there wouldn't
+be--said it twelve hours ago, after wringing from Verity the astounding
+admission that Iris was on board the _Andromeda_.  It was not because
+the vessel was overdue that David confessed.  Bulmer, despite his
+sixty-eight years, was an acute man of business.  Moreover, he was
+blessed with a retentive memory, and he treasured every word of the
+bogus messages from Iris concocted by her uncle.  They were lucid at
+first, but under the stress of time they wore thin, grew disconnected,
+showed signs of the strain imposed on their author's imagination.
+Bulmer, a typical Lancashire man, blended in his disposition a genial
+openhandedness with a shrewd caution.  He could display a princely
+generosity in dealing with Verity as the near relative and guardian of
+his promised wife; to the man whom he suspected of creating the
+obstacles that kept her away from him he applied a pitiless logic.
+
+The storm had burst unexpectedly.  Bulmer came to dinner, ate and drank
+and smoked in quiet amity until David's laboring muse conveyed his
+niece's latest "kind love an' good wishes," and then----
+
+"Tell you wot," said Dickey, "there's another five thousand due
+to-morrow on the surveyor's report."
+
+"There is," said Verity, knowing that his guest and prospective partner
+alluded to the new steamer in course of construction on the Clyde.
+
+"Well, it won't be paid."
+
+David lifted his glass of port to hide his face.  Was this the first
+rumbling of the tempest?  Though expected hourly, he was not prepared
+for it.  His hand trembled.  He dared not put the wine to his lips.
+
+"Wot's up now?" he asked.
+
+"You're playin' some underhand game on me, David, an' I won't stand
+it," was the unhesitating reply.  "You're lyin' about Iris.  You've bin
+lyin' ever since she disappeared from Bootle.  Show me 'er letters an'
+their envelopes, an' I'll find the money.  But, of course, you can't.
+They don't exist.  Now, own up as man to man, an' I'll see if this
+affair can be settled without the lawyers.  You know wot it means once
+_they_ take hold."
+
+Then David set down the untasted wine and told the truth.  Not
+all--that was not to be dreamed of.  In the depths of his heart he
+feared Bulmer.  The old man's repute for honesty was widespread.  He
+would fling his dearest friend into prison for such a swindle as that
+arranged between Coke and the shipowner.  But it was a positive relief
+to divulge everything that concerned Iris.  From his pocket-book David
+produced her frayed letter, and Bulmer read it slowly, aloud, through
+eyeglasses held at a long focus.
+
+Now, given certain definite circumstances, an honest man and a rogue
+will always view them differently.  David had interpreted the girl's
+guarded phrases in the light of his villainous compact with Coke.
+Dickey, unaware of this disturbing element, was inwardly amazed to
+learn that Verity had lied so outrageously with the sole object of
+carrying through a commercial enterprise.
+
+"'Tell him I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England
+from South America,'" he read.  And again . . .  "'The vessel is due
+back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not have
+long to wait.'"
+
+If, in the first instance, David had not been swept off his feet by the
+magnitude of the catastrophe, if he had not commenced the series of
+prevarications before the letter reached him, he might have adopted the
+only sane course and taken Bulmer fully into his confidence.  It was
+too late now.  Explanation was useless.  The only plea that occurred to
+him was more deadly than silence, since it was her knowledge of the
+contemplated crime that made Iris a stowaway.  He had never guessed how
+that knowledge was attained and the added mystery intensified his
+torture.
+
+Dickey rose from the table.  His movements showed his age that night.
+
+"I'll think it over, David," he said.  "There's more in this than meets
+the eye.  I'll just go home an' think it over.  Mebbe I'll call at your
+place in the mornin'."
+
+So here was Verity, awaiting Bulmer's visit as a criminal awaits a
+hangman.  There was no shred of hope in his mind that his one-time
+crony would raise a finger to save him from bankruptcy.  Some offenses
+are unforgivable, and high in the list ranks the folly of separating a
+wealthy old man from his promised bride.
+
+Now that a reprieve was seemingly impossible, he faced his misfortunes
+with a dour courage.  It had been a difficult and thankless task during
+the past month to stave off pressing creditors.  With Iris in Bootle
+and Bulmer her devoted slave, Verity would have weathered the gale with
+jaunty self-confidence.  But that element of strength was lacking; nay,
+more, he felt in his heart that it could never be replaced.  He was no
+longer the acute, blustering, effusive Verity, who in one summer's
+afternoon had secured a rich partner and forced an impecunious sailor
+to throw away a worn-out ship.  The insurance held good, of course, and
+there simply _must_ be some sort of tidings of the _Andromeda_ to hand
+before the end of September.  Yet things had gone wrong, desperately
+wrong, and he was quaking with the belief that there was worse in store.
+
+He began to read his letters.  They were mostly in the same vein, duns,
+more or less active.  His managing clerk entered.
+
+"There's an offer of 5s. 6d. Cardiff to Bilbao and Bilbao to the Tyne
+for the _Hellespont_.  It is better than nothing.  Shall we take it,
+sir?"
+
+The _Hellespont_ was the firm's other ship.  She, too, was old and
+running at a loss.
+
+"Yes.  Wot is it, coal or patent fuel?"
+
+"Coal, with a return freight of ore."
+
+"Wish it was dynamite, with fuses laid on."
+
+The clerk grinned knowingly.  Men grow callous when money tilts the
+scale against human lives.
+
+"There's no news of the _Andromeda_, and _her_ rate is all right," he
+said.
+
+David scowled at him.
+
+"D--n the rate!" he cried.  "I want to 'ear of the ship.  Wot the----"
+
+But his subordinate vanished.  David read a few more letters.  Some
+were from the families of such of the _Andromeda's_ crew as lived in
+South Shields, the Hartlepools, Whitby.  They asked as a great favor
+that a telegram might be sent when----
+
+"Oh, curse my luck!" groaned the man, quivering under the conviction
+that the _Andromeda_ was lost "by the act of God" as the charter-party
+puts it.  The belief unnerved him.  Those words have an ominous ring in
+the ears of evil-doers.  He could show a bold front to his fellowmen,
+but he squirmed under the dread conception of a supernatural vengeance.
+So, like every other malefactor, David railed against his "luck."
+Little did he guess the extraordinary turn that his "luck" was about to
+take.
+
+The office boy announced a visitor, evidently not the terrible Bulmer,
+since he said:
+
+"Gennelman to see yer, sir."
+
+"Oo is it?" growled the shipowner.
+
+"Gennelman from the noospaper, sir."
+
+"Can't be bothered."
+
+"'E sez hit's most himportant, sir."
+
+"Wot is?"
+
+"I dunno, sir."
+
+"Well, show 'im in.  I'll soon settle 'im."
+
+A quiet-mannered young man appeared.  He ignored David's sharp, "Now,
+wot can I do for you?" and drew up a chair, on which he seated himself,
+uninvited.
+
+"May I ask if you have received any private news of the _Andromeda_?"
+he began.
+
+"No."
+
+"In that case, you must prepare yourself for a statement that may give
+you a shock," said the journalist.
+
+David creaked round in his chair.  His face, not so red as of yore,
+paled distinctly.
+
+"Is she lost?" said he in a strangely subdued tone.
+
+"I--I fear she is.  But there is much more than an ordinary shipwreck
+at issue.  Several telegrams of the gravest import have reached us this
+morning.  Perhaps, before I ask you any questions, you ought to read
+them.  They are in type already, and I have brought you proofs.  Here
+is the first."
+
+David took from the interviewer's outstretched hand a long strip of
+white paper.  For an appreciable time his seething brain refused to
+comprehend the curiously black letters that grouped themselves into
+words on the limp sheet.  And, indeed, he was not to be blamed if he
+was dull of understanding, for this is what he read:
+
+
+  "REVOLUTION IN BRAZIL.
+
+  "SERIOUS POSITION.
+
+  "STARTLING ESCAPADE OF A BRITISH SHIP.
+
+"RIO DE JANEIRO, September 5th.  A situation of exceptional gravity has
+evidently arisen on the island of Fernando do Noronha, whence, it is
+said, ex-President De Sylva recently attempted to escape.  A battleship
+and two cruisers have been despatched thither under forced draught.  No
+public telegrams have been received from the island during the past
+week, and the authorities absolutely refuse any information as to
+earlier events, though the local press hints at some extraordinary
+developments not unconnected with the appearance off the island of a
+British steamship known as the _Andromeda_.
+
+"_Later_--De Sylva landed last night at the small port of Maceio in the
+province of Alagoas, a hundred miles south of Pernambuco.  It is
+currently reported that Fernando Noronha was captured by a gang of
+British freebooters.  De Sylva's return is unquestionable.  To-day he
+issued a proclamation, and his partisans have seized some portion of
+the railway.  Excitement here is at fever heat."
+
+
+Verity glared at the journalist.  He laughed, almost hysterically.
+
+"The _Andromeda_!" he gasped.  "Wot rot!  Wot silly rot!"
+
+"Better withhold your opinion until you have mastered the whole story,"
+was the unemotional comment.  "Here is a more detailed message.  It is
+printed exactly as cabled.  We have not added a syllable except the
+interpolation of such words as 'that' and 'the.'  You will find it
+somewhat convincing, I imagine."
+
+The shipowner grasped another printed slip.  This time he was able to
+read more lucidly:
+
+
+"PERNAMBUCO, September 4th.  Public interest in the abortive attempt to
+reinstate Dom Corria De Sylva as President was waning rapidly when it
+was fanned into fresh activity by news that reached this port to-day.
+It appears that on the 31st ulto. a daring effort was made to free De
+Sylva, who, with certain other ministers expelled by the successful
+revolution of two years ago, is a prisoner on the island of Fernando do
+Noronha.  Lloyd's agent on that island reports that the British steamer
+_Andromeda_, owned by David Verity & Co. of Liverpool, put into South
+Bay, on the southeast side of Fernando do Noronha, early on the morning
+of August 31st, and it is alleged that her mission was to take De Sylva
+and his companions on board.  The garrison, forewarned by the central
+government, and already on the _qui vive_ owing to the disappearance of
+their important prisoners from their usual quarters, opened fire on the
+_Andromeda_ as soon as she revealed her purpose by lowering a boat.
+
+"The steamer, being unarmed, made no attempt to defend herself, and was
+speedily disabled.  She sank, within five minutes, off the Grand-pere
+rock, with all on board.  With reckless bravado, her commander ran up
+the vessel's code signals and house flag while she was actually going
+down, thus establishing her identity beyond a shadow of doubt.  A note
+of pathos is added to the tragedy by the undoubted presence of a lady
+on board--probably De Sylva's daughter, though it was believed here
+that the ex-President's family were in Paris.  Telegrams from the
+island are strictly censored, and the foregoing statement is
+unofficial, but your correspondent does not question its general
+accuracy.  Indeed, he has reason to credit a widespread rumor that the
+island is still in a very disturbed condition.  No one knows definitely
+whether or not De Sylva has been recaptured.  It is quite certain that
+he has not landed in Brazil, but the reticence of the authorities as to
+the state of affairs on Fernando Noronha leads to the assumption that
+he and a few stanch adherents are still in hiding in one of the many
+natural fastnesses with which the island abounds.
+
+"The British community on the littoral is deeply stirred by the drastic
+treatment received by the _Andromeda_.  It is pointed out that another
+ship, the _Andros-y-Mela_, believed to have been chartered by the
+insurgents, is under arrest at Bahia, and the similarity between the
+two names is regarded as singular, to say the least.  Were it not that
+Lloyd's agent, whose veracity cannot be questioned, has stated
+explicitly that the _Andromeda_ put in to South Bay--a point
+significantly far removed from the regular track of trading vessels--it
+might be urged that a terrible mistake had been made.  In any event,
+the whole matter must be strictly inquired into, and one of His
+Majesty's ships stationed in the South Atlantic should visit the island
+at the earliest date possible.  _Delayed in transmission_."
+
+
+Something buzzed inside Verity's head and stilled all sense of
+actuality.  He was unnaturally calm.  Though the weather was chilly for
+early September, great beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead.
+His eyes were dull; they lacked their wonted shiftiness.  He gazed at
+the reporter unblinkingly, as though thought itself refused to act.
+
+"Is that the lot?" he inquired mechanically.
+
+"Nearly all, at present.  These cablegrams reached us through London,
+and the agency took the earliest measures to substantiate their
+accuracy.  The Brazilian Embassy pooh-poohs the whole story, but
+Embassies invariably do that until the news is stale.  By their own
+showing, Ambassadors are singularly ill-informed men, especially in
+matters affecting their own countries.  Here, however, is a short
+telegram from Paris which is of minor interest."
+
+And Verity read again:
+
+
+"PARIS, September 6th.  The members of Dom Corria De Sylva's family,
+seen early this morning at the Hotel Continental, deny that any lady
+connected with the cause of Brazilian freedom took part in the
+attempted rescue of the ex-President.  They are much annoyed by the
+unfounded report, and hold strongly to the opinion that the revolution
+would now have been a _fait accompli_ had not a traitor revealed the
+destination of the _Andros-y-Mela_ and thus led to that vessel's
+detention at Bahia."
+
+
+The lady!  Iris Yorke!  At last David's supercharged mind was beginning
+to assimilate ideas.  He was conscious of a fierce pain in the region
+of his heart.  The buzzing in his head continued, and the journalist's
+voice came to him as through a dense screen.
+
+"You will observe that the former President's relatives tacitly admit
+that there was a plot on foot," the other was saying.  "It is important
+to note, too, that the long message from Pernambuco, marked 'delayed in
+transmission' seems to imply a prior telegram which was suppressed.  It
+alludes to a revolt of which nothing is known here.  Now, Mr. Verity, I
+want to ask you----"
+
+The door was flung open.  In rushed Dickey Bulmer with a speed
+strangely disproportionate to his years.  In his hands he held a
+crumpled newspaper.
+
+"You infernal blackguard, have you seen this?" he roared, and his
+attitude threatened instant assault on the dazed man looking up at him.
+The reporter moved out of the way.  Here, indeed, was "copy" of the
+right sort.  Bulmer held a position of much local importance.  That he
+should use such language to the owner of the _Andromeda_ promised
+developments "of the utmost public interest."
+
+David stood up.  His chair fell over with a crash.  He held on to the
+table to steady himself.  Even Bulmer, white with rage, could not fail
+to see that he was stunned.
+
+But Dickey was not minded to spare him on that account.
+
+"Answer me, you scoundrel!" he shouted, thrusting the paper almost into
+David's face.  "You are glib enough when it suits your purpose.  Were
+_you_ in this?  Is this the reason you didn't tell me Iris was on board
+till I forced the truth out of you last night?"
+
+The managing clerk came in.  Behind him, a couple of juniors and the
+office boy supplied reenforcements.  They all had the settled
+conviction that their employer was a rogue, but he paid them in no
+niggardly fashion, and they would not suffer anyone to attack him.
+
+This incursion from the external world had a restorative effect on
+Verity.  Being what is termed a self-made man, he had a fine sense of
+his own importance, and his subordinates' lack of respect forthwith
+overcame every other consideration.
+
+"Get out!" he growled, waving a hand toward the door.
+
+"But, sir--please, gentlemen----" stuttered the senior clerk.
+
+"Get out, I tell you!  D--n yer eyes, 'oo sent for any of you?"
+
+Undoubtedly David was recovering.  The discomfited clerks retired.
+Even Dickey Bulmer was quieted a little.  But he still shook the
+newspaper under David's nose.
+
+"Now!" he cried.  "Let's have it.  No more of your flamin' made-up
+tales.  Wot took you to shove the _Andromeda_ into a rat-trap of this
+sort?"
+
+David staggered away from the table.  He seemed to be laboring for
+breath.
+
+"'Arf a mo'.  No need to yowl at me like that," he protested.
+
+He fumbled with the lock of a corner cupboard, opened it, and drew
+forth a decanter and some glasses.  A tumbler crashed to the floor, and
+the slight accident was another factor in clearing his wits.  He swore
+volubly.
+
+"Same thing 'appened that Sunday afternoon," he said, apparently
+obvious of the other men's presence.  "My poor lass upset one, she did.
+Wish she'd ha' flung it at my 'ed. . . .  Did it say 'went down with
+all 'ands,' mister?" he demanded suddenly of the reporter.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Verity."
+
+"Is it true?"
+
+"I trust not, but Lloyd's agent--well, I needn't tell you that Lloyd's
+is reliable.  Was your niece on board?  Is she the lady mentioned in
+the cablegram?"
+
+Then Bulmer woke up to the fact that there was a stranger present.
+
+"'Ello!" he cried angrily.  "Wot are you doin' ere?  'Oo are you?  Be
+off, instantly."
+
+"I am not going until Mr. Verity hears what I have to ask him, and
+answers, or not, as he feels disposed," was the firm reply.
+
+"Leave 'im alone, Dickey.  It's all right.  Wot does it matter now 'oo
+knows all there is to know?  Just gimme a minnit."
+
+Verity poured out some brandy.  Man is but a creature of habit, and the
+hospitable Lancastrian does not drink alone when there is company.
+
+"'Ave a tiddly?" he inquired blandly.
+
+Both Bulmer and the journalist believed that David was losing his
+faculties.  Never did shipowner behave more queerly when faced by a
+disaster of like magnitude, involving, as did the _Andromeda's_ loss,
+not only political issues of prime importance, but also the death of a
+near relative.  They refused the proffered refreshment, not without
+some show of indignation.  Verity swallowed a large dose of neat
+spirit.  He thought it would revive him, so, of course, the effect was
+instantaneous.  The same quantity of prussic acid could not have killed
+him more rapidly than the brandy rallied his scattered forces, and, not
+being a physiologist, he gave the brandy all the credit.
+
+"Ah!" he said, smacking his lips with some of the old-time relish,
+"that puts new life into one.  An' now, let's get on with the knittin'.
+I was a bit rattled when this young party steers in an' whacks 'is
+cock-an'-bull yarn into me 'and.  'Oo ever 'eard of a respectable
+British ship mixin' 'erself up with a South American revolution?  The
+story is all moonshine on the face of it."
+
+"I think otherwise, Mr. Verity, and Mr. Bulmer, I take it, agrees with
+me," said the reporter.
+
+"Wot," blazed David, into whose mind had darted a notion that dazzled
+him by its daring, "d'ye mean to insiniwate that I lent my ship to this
+'ere Dom Wot's-'is-name?  D'ye sit there an' tell me that Jimmie Coke,
+a skipper who's bin in my employ for sixteen year, would carry on that
+sort of fool's business behind 'is owner's back?  Go into my clerk's
+office, young man, an' ax Andrews to show up a copy of the ship's
+manifest.  See w'en an 'ow she was insured.  Jot down the names of the
+freighters for this run, and skip round to their offices to verify.
+An' if that don't fill the bill, well, just interview yourself, an' say
+if you'd allow your niece, a bonnie lass like my Iris, to take a trip
+that might end in 'er bein' blown to bits.  It's crool, that's wot it
+is, reel crool."
+
+David was not simulating this contemptuous wrath.  He actually felt it.
+His harsh voice cracked when he spoke of Iris, and the excited words
+gushed out in a torrent.
+
+The reporter glanced at Bulmer, who was watching Verity with a tense
+expectancy that was not to be easily accounted for, since his manner
+and speech on entering the room had been so distinctly hostile.
+
+"The lady referred to was Miss Iris Yorke, then?"
+
+"'Oo else?  I've on'y one niece.  My trouble is that she went without
+my permission, in a way of speakin'.  'Ere, you'd better 'ave the fax.
+She was engaged to my friend, Mr. Bulmer, but, bein' a slip of a girl,
+an' fond o' romancin', she just put herself aboard the Andromeeda
+without sayin' 'with your leave' or 'by your leave.'  She wrote me a
+letter, w'ich sort of explains the affair.  D'you want to see it?"
+
+"If I may."
+
+"No," said Bulmer.
+
+"Yes," blustered Verity, fully alive now to the immense possibilities
+underlying the appearance in print of Iris's references to her
+forthcoming marriage.
+
+"An' I say 'no,' an' mean it," said the older man.  "Go slow, David, go
+slow.  I was not comin 'ere as your enemy when I found this paper bein'
+cried in the streets.  It med me mad for a while.  But I believe wot
+you've said, an' I'm not the man to want my business, or my future
+wife's I 'ope, to be chewed over by every Dick, Tom, an' 'Arry in
+Liverpool."
+
+The reincarnation of David was a wonderful spectacle, the most
+impressive incident the journalist had ever witnessed, did he but know
+its genesis.  The metamorphosis was physical as well as mental.  Verity
+burgeoned before his very eyes.
+
+"Of course, that makes a h-- a tremenjous difference," said the
+shipowner.  "You 'ave my word for it, an' that is enough for most men.
+Mr. Andrews 'll give you all the information you want.  I'll cable now
+to Rio an' Pernambewco, an' see if I can get any straight news from the
+shippin' 'ouses there.  I'll let you know if I 'ear anything, an' you
+might do the same by me."
+
+The reporter gave this promise readily.  He scented a possible scandal,
+and meant to keep in touch with Verity.  Meanwhile, he was in need of
+the facts which the managing clerk could supply, so he took himself off.
+
+Bulmer went to the window and looked out.  A drizzle of sleet was
+falling from a gray sky.  The atmosphere was heavy.  It was a day
+singularly appropriate to the evil tidings that had shocked him into a
+fury against the man who had so willfully deceived him.  David picked
+up the proof slips and reread them.  He compared them with the
+paragraphs in the newspaper brought by Bulmer, and thrown by him on the
+table after his first outburst of helpless wrath.  They were identical
+in wording, of course, but, somehow, their meaning was clearer in the
+printed page: and David, despite his uncouth diction, was a clever man.
+
+He wrinkled his forehead now in analysis of each line.  Soon he hit on
+something that puzzled him.
+
+"Dickey," he said.
+
+There was no answer.  The old man peering through the window seemed to
+have bent and whitened even since he came into the room.
+
+"Look 'ere, Dickey," went on David, "this dashed fairy-tale won't hold
+water.  _You_ know Coke.  Is 'e the kind o' man to go bumpin' round
+like a stage 'ero, an' hoisting Union Jacks as the ship sinks?  I ax
+you, is 'e?  It's nonsense, stuff an' nonsense.  An', if the Andromeeda
+was scrapped at Fernando Noronha, 'oo were the freebooters that
+collared the island, an' 'ow did this 'ere De Sylva get to Maceio?  Are
+you listenin'?"
+
+"Yes," said Bulmer, turning at last, and devouring Verity with his
+deep-set eyes.
+
+"Well, wot d'ye think of it?"
+
+"Did you send the ship to Fernando Noronha?"
+
+It is needless to place on record the formula of David's denial.  It
+was forcible, and served its purpose--that should suffice.
+
+"Under ordinary conditions she would 'ave passed the island about the
+31st?" continued Bulmer.
+
+"Yes.  Confound it, 'aven't I bin cablin' there every two days for a
+fortnight or more?  B'lieve me or not, Dickey, it cut me to the 'eart
+to keep you in the dark about Iris.  But I begun it, like an ijjit, an'
+kep' on with it."
+
+"To sweeten me on account of the new ships, I s'pose?"
+
+"Yes, that's it.  No more lyin' for me.  I'm sick of it."
+
+"For the same reason you wanted that letter published?"
+
+"Well--yes.  There!  You see I'm talkin' straight."
+
+"So am I.  If--if Iris is alive, the partnership goes on.  If--she's
+dead, it doesn't."
+
+"D'ye mean it?"
+
+"I always mean wot I say."
+
+The click of an indicator on the desk showed that Verity's private
+telephone had been switched on from the general office.  By sheer force
+of routine, David picked up a receiver and placed it to his ear.  The
+sub-editor of the newspaper whose representative had not been gone five
+minutes asked if he was speaking to Mr. Verity.
+
+"Yes," said David, "wot's up now?" and he motioned to Bulmer to use a
+second receiver.
+
+"A cablegram from Pernambuco states specifically that the captain and
+crew of the _Andromeda_ fought their way across the island of Fernando
+Noronha, rescued Dom De Sylva, seized a steam launch, attacked and
+captured the German steamship _Unser Fritz_, and landed the insurgent
+leader at Maceio.  The message goes on to say that the captain's name
+is Coke, and that he is accompanied by his daughter. . . .  Eh?  What
+did you say? . . .  Are you there?"
+
+"Yes, I'm 'ere, or I think I am," said David with a desperate calmness.
+"Is that all?"
+
+"All for the present."
+
+"It doesn't say that Coke is a ravin', tearin', 'owlin' lunatic, does
+it?"
+
+"No.  Is that your view?"
+
+Bulmer's hand gripped David's wrist.  Their eyes met.
+
+"I was thinkin' that the chap who writes these penny novelette wires
+might 'ave rounded up his yarn in good shape," said Verity aloud.
+
+"But there is not the slightest doubt that something of the kind has
+occurred," said the voice.
+
+"It's a put-up job!" roared David.  "Them bloomin' Portygees 'ave sunk
+my ship, an' they're whackin' in their flam now so as to score first
+blow.  A year-old baby 'ud see that if 'is father was a lawyer."
+
+The sub-editor laughed.
+
+"Well, I'll ring you up again when the next message comes through," he
+said.
+
+But to Bulmer, David said savagely:
+
+"Wot's bitten Coke?  'E must 'ave gone stark, starin' mad."
+
+"Iris is alive!" murmured Bulmer.
+
+"Nice mess she med of things w'en she slung 'er 'ook from Linden
+'Ouse," grunted her uncle.
+
+"I don't blame 'er.  She meant no 'arm.  She's on'y a bit of a lass,
+w'en all is said an' done.  Mebbe it's my fault, or yours, or the fault
+of both of us.  An' now, David, I'll tell you wot I 'ad in me mind in
+comin' 'ere this morning.  You're hard up.  You don't know where to
+turn for a penny.  If you're agreeable, I'll put a trustworthy man in
+this office an' give 'im full powers to pull your affairs straight.
+Mind you, I'm doin' this for Iris, not for you.  An' now that we know
+wot's 'appening in South America, you an' I will go out there and look
+into things.  A mail steamer will take us there in sixteen days, an'
+before we sail we can work the cables a bit so as to stop Iris from
+startin' for 'ome before we arrive.  The trip will do us good, an'
+we'll be away from the gossip of Bootle.  Are you game?  Well, gimme
+your 'and on it."
+
+[Illustration: "Well, gimme your 'and on it"]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE LURE OF GOLD
+
+"Philip, I want to tell you something."
+
+"Something pleasant?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then why tell me?"
+
+"Because, unhappily, it must be told.  I hope you will forgive me,
+though I shall never forgive myself.  Oh, my dear, my dear, why did we
+ever meet?  And what am I to say?  I--well, I have promised to marry
+another man."
+
+"Disgraceful!" said Philip.
+
+Though Iris's faltered confession might fairly be regarded as
+astounding, Philip was unmoved.  The German captain had given him a
+cigar, and he was examining it with a suspicion that was pardonable
+after the first few whiffs.
+
+"Philip dear, this is quite serious," said Iris, momentarily
+withdrawing her wistful gaze from the far-away line where sapphire sea
+and amber sky met in harmony.  Northeastern Brazil is a favored clime.
+Bad weather is there a mere link, as it were, between unbroken weeks of
+brilliant sunshine, when nature lolls in the warmth and stirs herself
+only at night under the moon and the stars.  That dingy trader, the
+_Unser Fritz_, ostensibly carrying wool and guano from the Argentine to
+Hamburg, was now swinging west at less than half speed over the long
+rollers which alone bore testimony to the recent gale.  Already a deep
+tint of crimson haze over the western horizon was eloquent, in nature's
+speech, of land ahead.  At her present pace, the _Unser Fritz_ would
+enter the harbor at Pernambuco on the following morning.
+
+Iris, her troubled face resting on her hands, her elbows propped on the
+rails of the poop on the port side, looked at Philip with an intense
+sadness that was seemingly lost on him.  His doubts concerning the
+cigar had grown into a certainty.  He cast it into the sea.
+
+"I really mean what I say," she continued in a low voice that vibrated
+with emotion, for her obvious distress was enhanced by his evident
+belief that she was jesting.  "I have given my word--written
+it--entered into a most solemn obligation.  Somehow, the prospect of
+reaching a civilized place to-morrow induces a more ordered state of
+mind than has been possible since--since the _Andromeda_ was lost."
+
+"Who is he?" demanded Hozier darkly.  "Coke is married.  So is Watts.
+Dom Corria has other fish to fry than to dream of committing bigamy.
+Of course, I am well aware that you have been flirting outrageously
+with San Benavides----"
+
+"Please don't make my duty harder for me," pleaded Iris.  "Before I met
+you, before we spoke to each other that first day at Liverpool, I had
+promised to marry Mr. Bulmer, an old friend of my uncle's----"
+
+"Oh,--he? . . .  I am sorry for Mr. Bulmer, but it can't be done,"
+interrupted Hozier.
+
+"Philip, you do not understand.  I--I cared for nobody then . . . and
+my uncle said he was in danger of bankruptcy . . . and Mr. Bulmer
+undertook to help him if I would consent. . . ."
+
+"Yes," agreed Philip, with an air of pleasant detachment, "I see.  You
+are in a first-rate fix.  I was always prepared for that.  Coke told me
+about Bulmer--warned me off, so to speak.  I forgot his claims at odd
+times, just for a minute or so, but he is a real bugbear--a sort of
+matrimonial bogey-man.  If all goes well, and we enter Pernambuco
+without being fired at, you will be handed over to the British Consul,
+and he will send a rousing telegram about you to England.  Bulmer, of
+course, will cause a rare stir at home.  Who wouldn't?  No wonder you
+are scared!  It seems to me that there is only one safe line of action
+left open."
+
+Iris did not respond to his raillery.  She was despondent, nervous,
+uncertain of her own strength, afraid of the hurricane of publicity
+that would shortly swoop down on her.
+
+"I wish you would realize how I feel in this matter," she said, with a
+persistence that was at least creditable to her honesty of purpose.  "A
+woman's word should be held as sacred as a man's, Philip."
+
+He turned and met her eyes.  There was a tender smile on his lips.
+
+"So you really believe you will be compelled to marry Mr. Bulmer?" he
+cried.
+
+"Oh, don't be horrid!" she almost sobbed.  "I cuc--cuc--can't help it."
+
+"I have given some thought to the problem myself," he said, for, in
+truth, he was beginning to be alarmed by her tenacity, though
+determined not to let her perceive his changed mood.  "Curiously
+enough, I was thinking more of your dilemma than of the signals when we
+were overhauled by the _Sao Geronimo_ this morning.  Odd, isn't it, how
+things pop into one's mind at the most unexpected moments?  While I was
+coding our explanation that we were putting into Pernambuco for
+repairs, and that no steam yacht had been sighted between here and the
+River Plate, I was really trying to imagine what the cruiser's people
+would have said if I had told them the actual truth."
+
+His apparent gravity drew the girl's thoughts for an instant from
+contemplating her own unhappiness.
+
+"How could you have done that?" she asked.  "We are going there to suit
+Senhor De Sylva's ends.  We have suffered so much already for his sake
+that we could hardly betray him now."
+
+Hozier spread wide his hands with a fine affectation of amazement.
+
+"I wasn't talking about De Sylva," he cried.  "My remarks were strictly
+confined to the question of your marriage.  I know you far too well,
+Iris, to permit you to go back to Bootle to be lectured and browbeaten
+by your uncle.  I have never seen him, but, from all accounts, he is a
+rather remarkable person.  He likes to have his own way, irrespective
+of other folks' feelings.  I am a good guesser, Iris.  I have a pretty
+fair notion why Coke meant to leave our poor ship's bones on a South
+American reef.  I appreciate exactly how well it would serve Mr. David
+Verity's interests if his niece married a wealthy old party like
+Bulmer.  By the way how old is Bulmer?"
+
+"Nearly seventy."
+
+Even Iris herself smiled then, though her tremulous mirth threatened to
+dissolve in tears.
+
+"Ah, that's a pity," said Hozier.
+
+"It is very unkind of you to treat me in this manner," she protested.
+
+"But I am trying to help you.  I say it is a pity that Bulmer should be
+a patriarch, because his only hope of marrying you is that I shall die
+first.  Even then he must be prepared to espouse my widow.  By the way,
+is it disrespectful to describe him as a patriarch?  Isn't there some
+proverb about three score years and ten?"
+
+"Philip, if only you would appreciate my dreadful position----"
+
+"I do.  It ought to be ended.  The first parson we meet shall be
+commandeered.  Don't you see, dear, we really must get married at
+Pernambuco?  That is what I wanted to signal to the cruiser: 'The
+_Unser Fritz_ is taking a happy couple to church.'  Wouldn't that have
+been a surprise?"
+
+Iris clenched her little hands in despair.  Why did he not understand
+her misery?  Though she was unwavering in her resolution to keep faith
+with the man who had twitted her with taking all and giving nothing in
+return, she could not wholly restrain the tumult in her veins.  Married
+in Pernambuco!  Ah, if only that were possible!  Yet she did not flinch
+from the lover-like scrutiny with which Philip now favored her.
+
+"I am sure we would be happy together," she said, with a pathetic
+confidence that tempted him strongly to take her in his arms and kiss
+away her fears.  "But we must be brave, Philip dear, brave in the
+peaceful hours as in those which call for another sort of courage.
+Last night we lived in a different world.  We looked at death, you and
+I together, not once but many times, and you, at least, kept him at
+bay.  But that is past.  To-day we are going back to the commonplace.
+We must forget what happened in the land of dreams.  I will never love
+any man but you, Philip; yet--I cannot marry you."
+
+"You will marry me--in Pernambuco."
+
+"I will not because I may not.  Oh, spare me any more of this!  I
+cannot bear it.  Have pity, dear!"
+
+"Iris, let us at least look at the position calmly.  Do you really
+think that fate's own decree should be set aside merely to keep David
+Verity out of the Bankruptcy Court?"
+
+"I have given my promise, and those two men are certain I will keep it."
+
+"Ah, they shall release you.  What then?"
+
+"You do not know my uncle, or Mr. Bulmer.  Money is their god.  They
+would tell you that money can control fate.  We, you and I, might
+despise their creed, but how am I to shirk the claims of gratitude?  I
+owe everything to my uncle.  He rescued my mother and me from dire
+poverty.  He gave us freely of his abundance.  Would you have me fail
+him now that he seeks my aid?  Ah, me!  If only I had never come on
+this mad voyage!  But it is too late to think of that now.  Perhaps--if
+I had not promised--I might steel my heart against him--but, Philip,
+you would never think highly of me again if I were so ready to rend the
+hand that fed me.  We have had our hour, dear.  Its memory will never
+leave me.  I shall think of you, dream of you, when, it may be, some
+other girl--oh, no, I do not mean that!  Philip, don't be angry with me
+to-day.  You are wringing my heart!"
+
+It was in Hozier's mind to scoff in no measured terms at the absurd
+theory that he should renounce his oft-won bride because a pair of
+elderly gentlemen in Bootle had made a bargain in which she was staked
+against so many bags of gold.  But pity for her suffering joined forces
+with a fine certainty that fortune would not play such a scurvy trick
+as to rob him of his divinity after leading him through an Inferno to
+the very gate of Paradise.  For that is how he regarded the perils of
+Fernando Noronha.  He was young, and the ethics of youth cling to
+romance.  It seemed only right and just that he should have been proved
+worthy of Iris ere he gained the heaven of her love.  There might be
+portals yet unseen, with guardian furies waiting to entrap him, and he
+would brave them all for her dear sake.  But his very soul rebelled
+against the notion that he had become her chosen knight merely to
+gratify the unholy ardor of some decrepit millionaire.  He laughed
+savagely at the fantasy, and his protest burst into words strange on
+his lips.
+
+"I shall never give you up to any other man," he said.  "I have won you
+by the sword, and, please God, I shall keep you against all claimants.
+Twenty-two men sailed out of Liverpool on board the Andromeda, and it
+was given to me among the twenty-two that I should pluck you from
+darkness into light.  I had only seen you that day on the wharf, yet I
+was thinking of you constantly, little dreaming that you were within a
+few yards of me all the time.  I was planning some means of meeting you
+again when our surly-tempered skipper bade me burst in the door that
+kept you from me.  And that is what I have been doing ever since,
+Iris--breaking down barriers, smashing them, whether they were flesh
+and blood or nature's own obstacles, so that I might not lose you.
+Give you up!  Not while I live!  Why, you yourself dragged me away from
+certain death when I was lying unconscious on the _Andromeda's_ deck.
+A second time, you saved not me alone but the ten others who are left
+out of the twenty-two, by bringing us back to Grand-pere in the hour
+that our escape seemed to be assured had we put out to sea.  We are
+more than quits, dear heart, when we strike a balance of mutual
+service.  We are bound by a tie of comradeship that is denied to most.
+And who shall sever it?  The man who gains three times the worth of his
+ship by reason of the very dangers we have shared!  To state such a mad
+proposition is to answer it.  Who is he that he should sunder those
+whom God has joined together?  And what other man and woman now
+breathing can lay better claim than we to have been joined by the
+Almighty?"
+
+The strange exigencies of their lives during the past two days had
+ordained that this should be Philip's first avowal of his feelings.
+Under the stress of overpowering impulse he had clasped Iris to his
+heart when they were parting on the island.  In obedience to a stronger
+law than any hitherto revealed to her innocent consciousness the girl
+had flown to his arms when he came to the hut.  And that was all their
+love-making, two blissful moments of delirium wrenched from a time of a
+gaunt tragedy, and followed by a few hours of self-negation.  Yet they
+sufficed--to the man--and the woman is never too ready to count the
+cost when her heart declares its passion.
+
+But the morrow was not to be denied.  Its bitter awakening had come.
+In the very agony of a sublime withdrawal Iris realized what manner of
+man this was whom she had determined to thrust aside so that she might
+keep her troth.  She dared not look at him.  She could not compel her
+quivering lips to frame a word of excuse or reiterated resolve.  With a
+heart-breaking cry of sheer anguish she fled from him, running away
+along the deck with the uncertain steps of some sorely stricken
+creature of the wild.
+
+He did not try to restrain her.  Heedless of the perplexed scowl with
+which Coke was watching him from the bridge, he looked after her until
+she vanished in the cabin which had been vacated for her use by the
+chief engineer of the vessel.  Even her manifest distress gave him a
+sense of riotous joy that was hardly distinguishable from the keenest
+spiritual suffering.
+
+"Give you up!" he muttered again.  "No, Iris, not if Satan brought
+every dead Verity to aid the living one in his demand."
+
+Coke, to whom tact was anathema, chose that unhappy instant to summon
+him to take charge of the ship.  The German master and crew had not
+caused trouble to their conquerors after the first short struggle.
+They washed their hands of responsibility, professed to be satisfied
+with the written indemnity and promise of reward given by De Sylva, and
+otherwise placed the resources of the vessel entirely at his disposal.
+A more peaceable set of men never existed.  Though they numbered
+sixteen, three more than the usurpers, it was quite certain that the
+thought of further resistance never entered their minds.  If anything,
+they hailed the adventure with decorous hilarity.  It formed a welcome
+break in the monotony of their drab lives.  Of course, they were
+utterly incredulous as to the ability of a scarecrow like Dom Corria to
+fulfil his financial pledges.  Therein they erred.  He was really a
+very rich man, having followed the illustrious example set by
+generations of South American Presidents in accumulating a fine
+collection of gilt-edged scrip during his tenure of office, which said
+scrip was safely lodged in London, Paris, and New York.  But the world
+always refuses to associate rags with affluence, and these worthy
+Teutons regarded De Sylva and Coke as the leaders of a gang of
+dangerous lunatics who should be humored in every possible way until a
+port was reached.
+
+It was precisely that question of a port which had engaged Coke in
+earnest consultation with De Sylva and San Benavides on the bridge
+while Iris and Hozier were lacerating each other's feelings on the poop.
+
+Apparently, the point was settled when Hozier joined the triumvirate.
+Coke glanced at the compass, and placed the engine-room telegraph at
+"Full Speed Ahead," for the _Unser Fritz_ had once been a British ship,
+and still retained her English appliances.
+
+"Keep 'er edgin' south a bit," said he to Hozier.  "There's no knowin'
+w'en that crimson cruiser will show up again, but we must try and steal
+a knot or two afore sundown."
+
+The order roused Hozier from his stupor of wrathful bewilderment.
+
+"Why south?" he asked.  "If anything, Pernambuco lies north of our
+present course."
+
+"We're givin' Pernambuco the go-by.  It's Maceio for us, quick as we
+can get there."
+
+Hozier was in no humor for conciliatory methods.  He turned on his
+heel, and walked straight to where De Sylva was leaning against the
+rails.
+
+"Captain Coke tells me that we are not making for Pernambuco," he said,
+meeting the older man's penetrating gaze with a glance as firm and
+self-contained.
+
+"That is what we have arranged," said Dom Corria.
+
+"It does not seem to have occurred to you that there is one person on
+board this ship whose interests are vastly more important than yours,
+senhor."
+
+"Meaning Miss Yorke?" asked the other, who did not require to look
+twice at this stern-visaged man to grasp the futility of any words but
+the plainest.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She will be safer at Maceio than at Pernambuco.  Our only danger at
+either place will be encountered at the actual moment of landing.  At
+Maceio there is practically no risk of finding a warship in the harbor.
+That is why we are going there."
+
+"And not because you are more likely to find adherents there?"
+
+"It is a much smaller town than Pernambuco, and my strength lies
+outside the large cities, I admit.  But there can be no question as to
+our wisdom in preferring Maceio, even where the young lady's well-being
+is concerned."
+
+"I think differently.  At Maceio there are few, if any, Europeans.  At
+Pernambuco the large English-speaking community will protect her, no
+matter what President is in power.  I must ask you to reconsider your
+plan.  Land Miss Yorke and me at Pernambuco, and then betake yourself
+and those who follow you where you will."
+
+Coke jerked himself into the dispute.
+
+"'Ere, wot's wrong now?" he demanded angrily.  "Since w'en 'as a second
+officer begun to fix the ship's course?"
+
+"I am not your second officer, nor are you my commander," said Philip.
+"At present we are fellow-pirates, or, at best, running the gravest
+risk of being regarded as pirates by any court of law.  I don't care a
+cent personally what port we make, but I do care most emphatically for
+Miss Yorke's safety."
+
+"We've argied the pros an' cons, an' it's to be Maceio," growled Coke.
+
+Dom Corria's precise tones broke in on what threatened to develop into
+a serious dispute.
+
+"You would have been asked to join in the discussion, if, apparently,
+you were not better engaged at the moment, Mr. Hozier," he said.  "I
+assure you, on my honor, that there are many reasons in favor of Maceio
+even from the exclusive point of view of Miss Yorke's immediate future.
+She will be well cared for.  I promise to make that my first
+consideration.  The army is mainly for me, and Senhor San Benavides's
+regiment is stationed at Maceio.  The navy, on the other hand, supports
+Dom Miguel Barraca, who supplanted me, and we shall surely meet a
+cruiser or gunboat at Pernambuco.  You see, therefore, that common
+prudence----"
+
+"I see that, whether willing or not, we are to be made the tools of
+your ambition," interrupted Hozier curtly.  "It is also fairly evident
+that I am the only man of the _Andromeda's_ company whom you have not
+bribed to obey you.  Well, be warned now by me.  If circumstances fail
+to justify your change of route, I shall make it my business to settle
+at least one revolution in Brazil by cracking your skull."
+
+San Benavides, hearing the names of the two ports, understood exactly
+why the young Englishman was making such a strenuous protest.  He moved
+nearer, laying an ostentatious hand on the sword that clanked
+everlastingly at his heels.  He had never been taught, it seemed, that
+a man who can use his fists commands a readier weapon than a sword in
+its scabbard.  Hozier eyed him.  There was no love lost between them.
+For a fraction of a second San Benavides was in a position of real
+peril.
+
+Then Dom Corria said coldly:
+
+"No interference, I pray you, Senhor Adjudante.  Kindly withdraw."
+
+His tone was eminently official.  San Benavides saluted and stepped
+back.  The dark scar on De Sylva's forehead had grown a shade lighter,
+but there was no other visible sign of anger in his face, and his
+luminous eyes peered steadily into Hozier's.
+
+"Let me understand!" he said.  "You hold my life as forfeit if any
+mischance befalls Miss Yorke?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I accept that.  Of course, you no longer challenge my direction of
+affairs?"
+
+"I am no match for you in argument, senhor, but I do want you to
+believe that I shall keep my part of the compact."
+
+Coke, familiar with De Sylva's resources as a debater, and by no means
+unwilling to see Hozier "taken down a peg," as he phrased it; eager,
+too, to witness the Brazilian officer's discomfiture if the second mate
+"handed it to him," thought it was time to assert himself.
+
+"I'm goin' to 'ave a nap," he announced.  "Either you or Watts must
+take 'old.  W'ich is it to be?"
+
+"No need to ask Mr. Hozier any such question," said the suave Dom
+Corria.  "You can trust him implicitly.  He is with us now--to the
+death.  Captain San Benavides, a word with you."
+
+"South a bit," repeated the skipper.  "Call me at two bells in the
+second dog."
+
+He was turning to leave the bridge with the Brazilians when a cheery
+voice came from a gangway beneath.
+
+"Yah, yah, mine frent--that's the proper lubricant.  I wouldn't give
+you tuppence a dozen for your bloomin' lager.  Well, just a freshener.
+Thanks.  Ik danky shun!"
+
+"You spik Tcherman vare goot," was the reply.
+
+"Talk a little of all sorts.  Used to sing a Jarman song once.  What
+was that you was a-hummin' in your cabin?  Nice chune.  I've a musical
+ear meself."
+
+Someone sang a verse in a subdued baritone, tremulous with sentiment.
+The melody was haunting, the words almost pathetic under the conditions
+of life on board the disheveled _Unser Fritz_.  They told of Vienna,
+the city beloved of its sons.
+
+  Es gibt nur eine Kaiser Stadt,
+  Es gibt nur eine Wien.
+
+
+"Shake, me boy!" cried the enraptured Watts to the ship's captain.  "I
+do'n' know wot it's all about, but it's reel fine.  Something to do
+with a gal, I expect.  Well, 'ere's one of the same kidney:
+
+  I know a maiden fair to see,
+      Take care!
+  She can both false and friendly be,
+      Beware, beware!
+      Trust her not,
+  She is fooling thee!"
+
+
+Mr. Watts was both charmed and surprised when the friendly skipper
+joined in the concluding lines in his own language.  But his pleasure
+was short-lived.  Coke's inflamed visage glowered into the mess room.
+
+"Sink me if you ain't a daisy!" he roared, pouncing on a three-quarters
+filled bottle of rum.  "D'you fancy we're goin' to land you at Maceio
+cryin' drunk?  No, sir, not this time.  Over it goes, an' if you ain't
+dam careful, over you go after it!"
+
+Watts could have wept without the artificial stimulus of the rum.  To
+see good liquor slung into the sea in that fashion--well, it was a sin,
+that's wot it was!  But Coke's furious eye quelled him; and revel and
+song ceased.
+
+Above, on the bridge, Hozier smiled sourly at the squall which had so
+suddenly beset the fair argosy of the convivial-minded Watts.  He tried
+to invest the incident with an excess of humor.  Any excuse would serve
+to still certain disquieting doubts that were springing into alarming
+activity.  Had he gone the best way to work in allaying Iris's
+conscience-stricken qualms?  Was he justified in adopting such a bold
+line with De Sylva?  Could it be possible--no, he refused to harbor any
+mean thought of Iris.  She loved him, he was sure; his love for her was
+at once a torment and an excruciating bliss, and both of these wearing
+sensations sadly detracted from the efficiency of the officer of the
+watch.  So our distracted Philip pulled himself up sharply, paced back
+and forth between port and starboard, and surveyed ship, binnacle, and
+horizon with alert vigilance.
+
+On the fore-deck groups of sailors and firemen belonging to both
+vessels were fraternizing.  There could be little room for speculation
+as to the subject of their broken talk.  It was of De Sylva, of
+Brazil's new dictator, of the gold he would control when he became
+President again.  The slow-moving Teutonic mind was beginning to
+assimilate the notion that there was money in this escapade.  That the
+tatterdemalion then closeted with the _Unser Fritz's_ captain could
+obtain a certified check for a million sterling, and twenty-five times
+as many millions of francs, and even then remain a man of means, was
+unbelievable; but if he regained power, that was different.  _Ende gut,
+alles gut_.  There might be pickings in it.
+
+Soon after sunset Iris reappeared.  She walked on the after deck with
+San Benavides, and seemed to be listening with great attention to
+something he was telling her.  Hozier was often compelled to look that
+way in order to make certain that the _Sao Geronimo_ was not
+overhauling the ship in one of her circling flights over the wide
+channel.  He wondered what in the world San Benavides was saying that
+his chatter should be so interesting, and he acknowledged with a pang
+that Iris was deliberately avoiding his own occasional glances in her
+direction.
+
+There is no saying what would have happened had he known that the
+Brazilian was relating the scene that took place on the bridge,
+suppressing its prime motive, and twisting it greatly to Hozier's
+detriment, though with an adroit touch that deprived Iris of any power
+to resent his words.  Indeed, she read her own meaning into Philip's
+anxiety to reach Pernambuco, whereas San Benavides was striving to
+instill the belief that she would find excellent friends at Maceio.
+She was far too loyal-hearted to suspect Philip of a hidden purpose in
+urging that the voyage should end in one port rather than another.  But
+she could not forget that he said repeatedly they would be married in
+Pernambuco.  Indeed, the promise had a glamour of its own, even though
+it could never be fulfilled.  More than once her cheeks glowed with a
+rush of color that San Benavides attributed to his own delightful
+personality, and, when she paled again, his voice sank to a deeply
+sympathetic note.
+
+And here came Watts, rejuvenated, having imbibed many pints of the
+despised lager, and humming gaily:
+
+      Beware, Beware!
+      Trust her not!
+  She is foo-oo-ooling thee!
+
+
+Confound the fellow.  Why could he not chant the piratical doggerel
+that Coke abhorred?  That, at least, would have been more appropriate
+to present surroundings?  But would it?  Ah, Philip felt a twinge then.
+"Touche!" chortled some unseen imp who plied a venomous rapier.  Thank
+goodness, a sailor was standing by the ship's bell, with his hand on a
+bit of cord tied to the clapper.  It would soon be seven o'clock.  Even
+the companionship of the uncouth skipper was preferable to this
+brooding solitariness.
+
+When Hozier was relieved, and summoned to a meal in the saloon with
+Norrie and some of the ship's own officers, Iris was nowhere visible.
+He went straight to her cabin, and knocked.
+
+"Who is it?" she asked.
+
+"I, Philip.  Will you be on deck in a quarter of an hour?"
+
+"No."
+
+"But this time _I_ want to tell _you_ something."
+
+"Philip, dear, I am weary.  I must rest--and--I dare not meet you."
+
+"Dare not?"
+
+"I am afraid of myself.  Please leave me."
+
+He caught the sob in her voice, and it unmanned him; he stalked off,
+raging.  He remembered how the fiend, in Gounod's incomparable opera,
+whispered in the lover's ear: "Thou fool, wait for night and the moon!"
+and he was wroth with himself for the memory.  While off duty he kept
+strict watch and ward over the gangway in which Iris's cabin was
+situated.  It was useless; she remained hidden.
+
+The _Unser Fritz_ was now heading southwest, and "reeling off her ten
+knots an hour like clockwork," as Norrie put it.  The Recife, that
+enormous barrier reef which blockades hundreds of miles of the
+Brazilian coast, caused no anxiety to Coke.  He was well acquainted
+with these waters, and he held on stoutly until the occulting light of
+Maceio showed low over the sea straight ahead.  It was then after
+midnight, and the land was still ten miles distant, but the ship
+promptly resumed her role of lame duck, lest a prowling gunboat met and
+interrogated her.
+
+As Coke had told Iris she might expect to be ashore about two o'clock,
+she waited until half-past one ere coming on deck.  Despite her
+unalterable decision to abide by the hideous compact entered into with
+her uncle and Bulmer, her first thought now was to find Hozier.  Though
+the sky was radiant with stars, a slight haze on the surface of the sea
+shrouded the ship's decks and passages in an uncanny darkness.  Coke's
+orders forbade the display of any lights whatsoever, except those in
+the engine-room and the three essential lamps carried externally.  So
+the _Unser Fritz_ was gloomy, and the plash of the sea against her worn
+plates had an ominous sound, while the glittering white eye of the
+lighthouse winked evilly across the black plain in front.
+
+In a word Iris was thoroughly wretched, and not a little disturbed by
+the near prospect of landing in a foreign country, which would probably
+be plunged into civil war by the mere advent of De Sylva.  It need
+hardly be said that, under these circumstances, Hozier was the one man
+in whose company she would feel reasonably safe.  But she could not see
+him anywhere.  Coke and Watts, with the Brazilians and a couple of
+Germans, were on the bridge, but Hozier was not to be found.
+
+At last she hailed one of the _Andromeda's_ men whom she met in a
+gangway.
+
+"Mr. Hozier, miss?" said he.  "Oh, he's forrard, right up in the bows,
+keepin' a lookout.  This is a ticklish place to enter without a pilot,
+an' we've passed two already."
+
+This information added to her distress.  She ought not to go to him.
+Full well she knew that her presence might distract him from an
+all-important task.  So she sat forlornly on the fore-hatch, waiting
+there until he might leave his post, reviewing all the bizarre
+procession of events since she climbed an elm-tree in the garden of
+Linden House on a Sunday afternoon now so remote that it seemed to be
+the very beginning of life.  The adventures to which that elm-tree
+conducted her were oddly reminiscent of the story of Jack and the
+Beanstalk.  For once, the true had outrivaled the fabulous.
+
+The steamer crept on lazily, and Iris fancied the hour must be nearer
+five o'clock than two when she heard Hozier's voice ring out clearly:
+
+"Buoy on the port bow!"
+
+There was a movement among the dim figures on the bridge.  A minute
+later Hozier cried again:
+
+"Buoy on the starboard bow!"
+
+She understood then that they were in a marked channel.  Already the
+road was narrowing.  Soon they would be ashore.  At last Hozier came.
+He saw her as he jumped down from the forecastle deck.
+
+"Why are you here, Iris?" was all he said.  She looked so bowed, so
+humbled, that he could not find it in his heart to reproach her for
+having avoided him earlier.
+
+"I wanted to be near you," she whispered.  "I--I am frightened, Philip.
+I am terrified by the unknown.  Somehow, on the rock our dangers were
+measurable.  Here, we shall soon be swallowed up among a whole lot of
+people."
+
+They heard Coke's gruff order to the watch to clear the falls of the
+jolly-boat.  The _Unser Fritz_ was going dead slow.  On the starboard
+side were the lights of a large town, but the opposite shore was somber
+and vague.
+
+"Are we going to land at once, in a small boat?" said Iris timidly.
+
+"I fancy there is a new move on foot.  A gunboat is moored half a mile
+down stream.  You missed her because your back was turned.  She has
+steam up, and could slip her cables in a minute.  They saw her from the
+bridge, of course, but I did not report her, as there was a chance that
+my hail might be heard, and we came in so confidently that we are
+looked on as a local trader.  Come, let us buy a programme."
+
+He took her by the arm with that masterful gentleness that is so
+comforting to a woman when danger is rife.  Even his jesting allusion
+to their theatrical arrival in port was cheering.  They reached the
+bridge.  Some sailors were lowering a boat as quietly as possible.
+
+Dom Corria approached with outstretched hand.
+
+"Good-by, Miss Yorke," he said.  "I am leaving you for a few hours, not
+longer.  When next we meet I ought to have a sure grip of the
+Presidential ladder, and I shall climb quickly.  Won't you wish me
+luck?"
+
+"I wish you all good fortune, Dom Corria," said Iris.  "May your plans
+succeed without bloodshed!"
+
+"Ah, this is South America, remember.  Our conflicts are usually short
+and fierce.  _Au revoir_, Mr. Hozier.  By daybreak we shall be better
+friends."
+
+San Benavides also bade them farewell, with an easy grace not wholly
+devoid of melodramatic pathos.  The dandy and the man of rags climbed
+down a rope ladder, the boat fell away from the ship's side, and the
+night took them.
+
+"What did he mean by saying you would be 'better friends'?" whispered
+the girl.  "Have you quarreled?"
+
+"We had a small dispute as to the wisdom of landing you here," said
+Philip.  "Perhaps I was wrong.  He is a clever man, and he surely knows
+his own country."
+
+"Mr. Hozier!" cried Coke.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Is all clear forrard to let go anchor?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Give her thirty.  You go and see to it, will you?"
+
+Hozier made off at a run.
+
+Iris recalled the last time she heard similar words.  She shuddered.
+Would that placid foreshore blaze out into a roar of artillery, and the
+worn-out _Unser Fritz_, like the worn-out _Andromeda_, stagger and
+lurch into a watery grave.
+
+But the only noise that jarred the peaceful night was the rattle of the
+cable and winch.  The ship fell away a few feet, and was held.  There
+was no moving light on the river.  Not even a police boat or Customs
+launch had put off.  Maceio was asleep; it was quite unprepared for the
+honor of a Presidential visit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE NEW ERA
+
+A swaggering officer and a man habited like a beggar landed unobserved
+at a coal wharf, moored a ship's boat to a bolt, and passed swiftly
+through a silent town till they reached the closed gates of an infantry
+barrack perched on a hill that rose steeply above the clustering roofs
+of Maceio.
+
+Though the seeming mendicant limped slightly, his superior stature
+enabled him to keep pace with the officer.  The pair neither lagged nor
+hesitated.  The officer knocked loudly on a small door inset in the big
+gates.  After some delay it was opened.  A sentry challenged.
+
+"Capitao San Benavides," announced the officer, and the man stood to
+attention.
+
+"Enter, my friend," said San Benavides to his ragged companion.  The
+latter stepped within; the wicket was locked, and the click of the bolt
+was suggestive of the rattle of the dice with which Dom Corria De Sylva
+was throwing a main with fortune.  Perhaps some thought of the kind
+occurred to him, but he was calm as if he were so poor that he had
+naught more to lose.
+
+"Who is the officer of the guard?" San Benavides asked the soldier.
+
+"Senhor Tenente [Lieutenant] Regis de Pereira, senhor capitao."
+
+"Tell him, with my compliments, that I shall be glad to meet him at the
+colonel's quarters in fifteen minutes."
+
+The queerly-assorted pair moved off across the barrack square.  The
+sentry looked after them.
+
+"My excellent captain seems to have been brawling," he grinned.  "But
+what of the _mendigo_?"
+
+What, indeed?  A most pertinent question for Brazil, and one that would
+be loudly answered.
+
+The colonel's house was in darkness, yet San Benavides rapped
+imperatively.  An upper window was raised.  A voice was heard, using
+profane language.  A head appeared.  Its owner cried, "Who is
+it?"--with additions.
+
+"San Benavides."
+
+"Christo!  And the other?"
+
+"One whom you expect."
+
+The head popped in.  Soon there was a light on the ground floor.  The
+door opened.  A very stout man, barefooted, who had struggled into a
+pair of abnormally tight riding-breeches, faced them.
+
+"Can it be possible?" he exclaimed, striking an attitude.
+
+Dom Corria spoke not a word.  He knew the value of effect, and could
+bide his time.  The three passed into a lighted apartment.  De Sylva
+placed himself under a chandelier, and took off a frayed straw hat
+which he had borrowed from someone on board the _Unser Fritz_.  The
+colonel, a grotesque figure in his present _deshabille_, bowed low
+before him.
+
+"My President!--I salute you," he murmured.
+
+"Thank you, General," said Dom Corria, smiling graciously.  "I knew I
+could depend on you.  How soon can you muster the regiment?"
+
+"In half an hour, Excellency."
+
+"See that there is plenty of ammunition for the machine guns.  What of
+the artillery?"
+
+"The three batteries stationed here are with us heart and soul."
+
+"Colonel San Benavides, as chief of the staff, is acquainted with every
+detail.  You, General, will assume command of the Army of Liberation.
+Some trunks were sent to you from Paris, I believe?"
+
+"They are in the room prepared for your Excellency."
+
+"Let me go there at once and change my clothing.  I must appear before
+the troops as their President, not as a jail-bird.  For the moment I
+leave everything to you and San Benavides.  Let Senhor Pondillo be
+summoned.  He will attend to the civil side of affairs.  You have my
+unqualified approval of the military scheme drawn up by you and my
+other friends.  There is one thing--a gunboat lies in the harbor.  Is
+she the _Andorinha_?"
+
+The newly-promoted general smote his huge stomach with both
+hands--"beating the drum," he called it--and the rat-tat signified
+instant readiness for action.
+
+"The guns will soon scare that bird," he exclaimed.  As _Andorinha_
+means "swallow" in English there was some point to the remark.  Nor was
+he making a vain boast.  The most astounding feature of every
+revolution in a South American republic is the alacrity with which the
+army will fire on the navy, _et vice versa_.  The two services seem to
+be everlastingly at feud.  If politicians fail to engineer a quarrel,
+the soldiers and sailors will indulge in one on their own account.
+
+It was so now at Maceio.  Dawn was about to peep up over the sea when
+twelve guns lumbered through the narrow streets, waking many startled
+citizens.  A few daring souls, who guessed what had happened, rushed
+off on horseback or bicycle to remote telegraph offices.  These
+adventurers were too late.  Every railway station and post-office
+within twenty miles was already held by troops.  Revolts are conducted
+scientifically in that region.  Their stage management is perfect, and
+the cumbrous methods of effete civilizations might well take note of
+the speed, thoroughness, and efficiency with which a change of
+government is effected.
+
+For instance, what could be more admirable than the scaring of the bird
+by General Russo?  He drew up his three batteries on the wharf opposite
+the unsuspecting _Andorinha_, and endeavored to plant twelve shells in
+the locality of her engine-room without the least hesitation.  There
+was no thought of demanding her surrender, or any quixotic nonsense of
+that sort.  In the first place, no man would act as herald, since he
+would be shot or stabbed the instant his errand became known; in the
+second, as Hozier had explained to Iris, the gunboat could slip her
+cable very quickly, and Russo's artillerists might miss a moving object.
+
+As it was, every gun scored, though the elevation was rather high.  The
+shells made a sad mess of the superstructure, but left the engines
+intact.  The sailors, on their part, knew exactly what had happened.
+Every man who escaped death or serious injury from the bursting
+missiles ran to his post.  A wire hawser and mooring rope were severed
+with axes, the screw revolved, and the _Andorinha_ was in motion.
+Though winged, she still could fly.  The second salvo of projectiles
+was less damaging; again the gunners failed to reach the warship's
+vitals.  Her commander got his own armament into action, and managed to
+demolish a warehouse and a grain elevator.  Then he made off down the
+coast toward Rio de Janeiro.
+
+The sudden uproar stirred Maceio from roof to basement.  Its
+inhabitants poured into the Plaza.  Every man vied with his neighbor in
+yelling: "The revolution is here!  _Viva Dom Corria_!  _Abajo Sao
+Paulo_!"
+
+That last cry explained a good deal.  The State of Sao Paulo had long
+maintained a "corner" in Brazilian Presidents.  De Sylva, a native of
+Alagoas, was the first to break down the monopoly.  Hence the cabal
+against him; hence, too, the readiness of Maceio, together with many of
+the smaller ports and the whole of the vast interior, to espouse his
+cause.
+
+For the purposes of this story, which is mainly concerned with the
+lives and fortunes of a few insignificant people unknown to history, it
+is not necessary to follow in detail the trumpetings, proclamations,
+carousals, and arrests that followed Dom Corria's first success.  It is
+a truism that in events of international importance the very names of
+the chief actors ofttimes go unrecorded.  Future generations will ask,
+perhaps:--Who blew up the _Maine_?  Who persuaded the Tsar to break his
+word anent Port Arthur?  Who told Paul Kruger that the Continent of
+Europe would support the Boers against Great Britain?   Such instances
+could be multiplied indefinitely, and the rule held good now in Brazil.
+
+If any polite Pernambucano, Maceio-ite, or merchant of Bahia were
+informed that President De Sylva's raid was alone rendered possible by
+the help of a truculent British master-mariner and a dozen or so of his
+hard-bitten crew, he (the said Brasileiro) might be skeptical, or, at
+best, indifferent.  But let the name of some puppet politician hailing
+from Sao Paulo be mentioned, and his eyes would flash with angry
+recognition; yet the _Andromeda's_ small contingent achieved more than
+a whole army of conspirators.
+
+The one incident, then, of a political nature, in which the victors of
+the tussle on Fernando Noronha were publicly concerned, was the outcome
+of a message cabled by Dom Corria while the smoke of Russo's cannon
+still clung about the quay.
+
+It was written in German, addressed to a Hamburg shipping firm, and ran
+as follows: "Have sold _Unser Fritz_ to Senhor Pondillo of this port as
+from September 1st, for 175,000 marks.  If approved, cable
+confirmation, and draw on Paris branch Deutsche Bank at sight.  Franz
+Schmidt, care German Consul, Maceio."
+
+This harmless commercial item was read by many officials hostile to De
+Sylva, yet it evoked no comment.  Its first real effect was observable
+in the counting-house of the Hamburg owners.  There it was believed
+that Captain Schmidt had either become a lunatic himself or was in
+touch with a rich one.  Schmidt was so well known to them that they
+acted on the latter hypothesis.  They cabled him their hearty
+commendation, "drew" on the Paris bank by the next post, and awaited
+developments.  To their profound amazement, the money was paid.  As
+they had obtained 8,750 pounds for a vessel worth about one-quarter of
+the sum, they had good reason to be satisfied.  It mattered not a jot
+to them that the sale was made "as from September 1st," or any other
+date.  They signed the desired quittance, cabled Schmidt again to ask
+if Senhor Pondillo was in need of other ships of the _Unser Fritz_
+class, and the members of the firm indulged that evening in the best
+dinner that the tip-top restaurant of Hamburg could supply.
+
+They were puzzled next day by certain statements in the newspapers, and
+were called on to explain to a number of journalists that the ship had
+left their ownership.  She was at Maceio.  Where was Maceio?  Somewhere
+in South America.
+
+"_Es ist nicht von Bedeutung_," said the senior partner to his
+associates.  "Schmidt will write full particulars; when all is said and
+done, we have the money."
+
+Yet it did matter very greatly, as shall be seen.  Here, again, was an
+instance of an humble individual becoming a cog in the wheel of world
+politics.  Within less than a month Schmidt was vituperated by half the
+chancelleries of Europe.  A newspaper war raged over him.  He became
+the object of an Emperor's Jovian wrath.  "What's the matter with
+Schmidt?  He's--all--right!" thundered the whole press of the United
+States.  And all because he had made a good bargain at a critical
+moment!
+
+But no one on board the _Unser Fritz_ was vexed by aught save present
+tribulations when De Sylva and his _aide_ quitted the ship.  Be sure
+that not a soul thought of sleep.  Every man, and the one woman whom
+chance had thrown in their midst, remained on deck and watched the
+slumbering town.  It was only a small place.  The _Andorinha_ lay at
+one end of the harbor, the _Unser Fritz_ at the other.  They were
+barely half a mile apart, and Maceio climbed the sloping shore between
+the two points.
+
+Hozier, of course, had forgiven Iris for her aloofness, and Iris, with
+that delightful inconsistency which ranks high among the many charms of
+her sex, found that "Philip dear," though she might not marry him, was
+her only possible companion.  He, having acquired an experience
+previously lacking, took care to fall in with her mood.  She, weary of
+a painful self-repression, cheated the frowning gods of "just this one
+night."  So they looked at the twinkling lights, spoke in whispers lest
+they should miss any tokens of disturbance on shore, elbowed each other
+comfortably on the rails of the bridge, and uttered no word of love or
+future purpose.
+
+They were discussing nothing more important than the sufferings of
+Watts--whom Coke would not allow to go out of his sight--when a
+lightning blaze leaped from the somber shadows of some buildings on the
+quay lower down the river.  Again, and many times again, the sudden
+jets of flame started out across the black water.  Iris, or Hozier, for
+that matter, had never seen a field-piece fired by night, but before
+the girl could do other than grip Philip's arm in a spasm of fear, the
+thunder of the artillery rolled across the harbor, and the worn plates
+of the _Unser Fritz_ quivered under the mere concussion.
+
+"By jove, they're at it!" cried Philip.
+
+Iris felt the thrill that shook him.  She could not see his face, but
+she knew that his blue eyes were shining like bright steel.  She was
+horrified at the thought of red war being so near, yet she was proud of
+her lover.  At these mortal crises, the woman demands courage in the
+man.
+
+"Oh!" she gasped, and clung to him more tightly.
+
+Under such circumstances it was only to be expected that his arm would
+clasp her round the waist; Disraeli's famous epigram was coined for
+diplomacy, not for love-making.
+
+Hozier strained his eyes through the gloom to try and discover the
+effect of the cannonade on the gunboat.  He was quickly alive to the
+significance of the answering broadside.  Then the black hull grew dim
+and vanished.  His sailor's sympathies went with the escaping ship.
+
+"She has got away!  I am jolly glad of it," he cried.  "It was a dirty
+trick to open fire on her in that fashion.  Just how they served the
+_Andromeda_, the hounds, only we had never a gun to tickle them up in
+return."
+
+"Do you think that many of the poor creatures have been killed?" asked
+Iris tremulously.  The din of ordnance and bursting shells had ceased
+as suddenly as it began.  Lights appeared in nearly every house.
+Shouting men were running along the neighboring wharf.  Maceio, never a
+heavy sleeper in bulk, dreamed for a second of earthquakes, leaped out
+of bed, and ran into the streets in the negligent costume which the
+Italians describe by the delightful word, _confidenza_.
+
+"I don't suppose so," Hozier reassured her.  "If the artillery had made
+good practice at that short range the gunboat must have sunk at her
+moorings.  Her men naturally couldn't miss the town.  There was a rare
+old rattle among the crockery behind the soldiers.  Did you hear it?  I
+wonder what went over?"
+
+He was as excited as a schoolboy, almost jubilant.  Poor Iris!  Though
+she was now a veteran in scenes of death and disaster, she realized
+that fate had erred in choosing her as a heroine.
+
+Coke and Watts drew near.
+
+"Dom Wot's-'is-name wasn't long in gettin' busy," chuckled Coke.  "Gev'
+her a dose of the _Andromeda's_ physic, eh?  I'm sorry the blighters
+managed to 'ook it."
+
+Though he had just uttered an opinion directly contrary to his
+captain's, Hozier deemed it wise to be non-committal.
+
+"The guns must have been laid badly," he said.
+
+"Mebbe, an' wot's more, d--n 'em, they knew there was something in
+front that could shoot back."
+
+So Coke was at least impartial.  He cared not a jot how the Brazilians
+slaughtered each other so long as De Sylva established the new regime
+speedily.
+
+"I never was a fightin' man meself," murmured Watts weakly.  "That sort
+of thing gives me a sinkin' sensation in me innards."
+
+"Wot you want is a drink, me boy," said Coke.
+
+Watts brightened.  He drew a deep breath.
+
+"I reelly believe that's wot's wrong with me," he said.
+
+"Then I'll just ax the cook to 'urry up with the corfee," guffawed the
+unfeeling skipper.  "We'll all be the better for a snack an' somethink
+'ot."
+
+Iris managed to choke down an hysterical laugh.  Coke was incorrigible,
+yet she was conscious of a growing appreciation of his crude chivalry.
+He boasted truly that he feared neither man nor devil.  His chief
+defect lay in being born several centuries too late.  Had he flourished
+during the Middle Ages, Coke would have carved out a kingdom.
+
+Even while the men were thus callously discussing the tragedy that had
+been enacted before their eyes, the miracle of the dawn was
+transforming night into day.  In the tropics there is no hesitancy
+about sunrise.  The splendid imagery of Genesis is literally exact.
+"Let there be light; and there was light . . . and God divided the
+light from the darkness."  Long before the _Andorinha_ had crept round
+the southern headland of the Macayo estuary she became visible again.
+
+About six o'clock a grand review was held in the Plaza, or chief
+square.  Dom Corria, a resplendent personage on horseback, made a fine
+speech.  He was vociferously applauded, by both troops and populace.
+General Russo, also mounted, assured him that Brazil was pining for
+him.  In effect, when he was firmly established in the Presidency, the
+people would be allowed to vote for him.
+
+"We have borne two years of misrule," vociferated the
+commander-in-chief, "but it has vanished before the fiery breath of our
+guns.  We hail your Excellency as our liberator.  Long live Dom Corria!
+Down with----"
+
+The fierce "Vivas" of the mob, combined with the general's weight,
+proved too much for his charger, which plunged violently.  Russo was
+held on accidentally by his spurs.  There was a lively interlude until
+an orderly seized the bridle, and the general was able to disengage the
+rowels from the animal's ribs.  When tranquillity was restored, the
+soldiers marched off to their quarters, and Colonel San Benavides
+boarded the _Unser Fritz_.  He invited Iris, Schmidt, Coke, and Hozier
+to breakfast with the President at the principal hotel.
+
+Watts was not included in the list of guests.  Being indignant, he
+expressed himself freely.
+
+"Nice thing!" he said to Norrie.  "We're not good enough to be axed.
+It was a bit of all right w'en we 'elped 'im out of quod, but now 'e's
+a bloomin' toff we're low-down sailormen--that's wot we are."
+
+"Man, ye're fair daft," growled the Scot.  "It's as plain as the neb on
+yer face that he canna dae wi' a', so he just picked the twa skippers
+and the lassie; he kent weel she wadna stir an inch withoot Hozier."
+
+Norrie was right, as it happened, but Watts added another grudge to his
+score against De Sylva.
+
+Now, though dynasties totter and empires crash, the first thing a woman
+thinks of when bidden to a public gathering is her attire.  Iris
+declared most emphatically that to expect her to go ashore and meet
+certain military and civic dignitaries while she was wearing a costume
+originally purchased for mountaineering, which had endured the rough
+usage of the past two days, was "for to laugh."  She was speaking
+French, and that was the literal phrase she used.  The courteous San
+Benavides smiled away her protest.  His Excellency had foreseen the
+difficulty.  Those who knew Dom Corria best would not credit that he
+should forget anything.  The Senhora Pondillo awaited Iris at the hotel
+with a supply of new clothing.  Captain Schmidt, of course, could
+depend on his own wardrobe, but Captain Coke and the Senhor Hozier
+would find a tradesman in their rooms who had guaranteed to equip them
+suitably.  Moreover, the same outfitter would visit the ship during the
+morning and make good the lost raiment and boots of the other officers
+and men of the _Andromeda_.  San Benavides spoke like the ambassador of
+a prince, and, in the sequel, there was no stint of deeds to give
+effect to his promises.
+
+On the way to the hotel Iris saw a large building labeled "Casa do
+Correio e Telegraphia."  It was not surprising that she had not thought
+earlier of the necessity of cabling to Liverpool.  She blushed, and
+looked involuntarily at Hozier.
+
+"I must send a message to my uncle," she said.
+
+Were Philip a professed spiritualist, the spectral shapes of David
+Verity and Dickey Bulmer could not have been more effectually
+"projected" into his astral plane at Maceio than they were at that
+instant.  He had not set eyes on either of the men, but the girl's
+words conjured them into being, and the vision was vastly disagreeable.
+
+San Benavides, of course, was anxious to oblige Iris in this as in
+every other respect.  He procured the requisite form, told her the
+cost, which led to a condensed version of the original draft, smoothed
+away the slight hindrance of foreign money tendered in payment, and
+arranged the due delivery of a reply.  Perhaps he smiled when he read
+what she had written.  The words were comprehensible even to one who
+did not understand English:
+
+"_Andromeda_ lost.  Arrived here safely.  Address, Yorke, Maceio."
+
+There was a space at the foot of the form on which it was necessary to
+subscribe her name and local address.  So she wrote, "Iris Yorke,
+steamship _Unser Fritz_, Maceio harbor."  Hozier was standing by her
+side as she printed the words legibly.  She looked up at him with a
+curiously tense expression that he did not fathom immediately.  They
+were in the busy main street again ere its meaning occurred to him.
+The cable committed her irrevocably.  She felt that she was signing her
+own condemnation!
+
+Among the four people, therefore, who entered the Hotel Grande in the
+Rua do Sul there were two whose feelings were the reverse of cheerful.
+But convention is stronger than the primal impulses--sometimes it
+triumphs over death itself--and convention was all-powerful now.  It
+led Iris away captive in the train of the smiling and voluble Senhora
+Pondillo, and it immersed Hozier in a tangle of fearsome words which
+turned out to be the stock in trade of a clothier.  The mere male of
+Maceio decks himself with gay plumage.  Philip was hard put to it
+before he secured some garments which did not irresistibly recall the
+heroes of certain musical comedies popular in England.
+
+Coke experienced worse vicissitudes.  Even the variety and richness of
+a master mariner's vocabulary was taxed to its utmost resources when he
+was coaxed into "trying on" a short jacket apparently intended for a
+toreador.  Such minor troubles, however, were overcome in time.  A
+razor and a hot bath were by no means the least important items of the
+rejuvenating process, and when the two men entered the salon where Dom
+Corria was holding an impromptu reception they looked like a couple of
+coffee-planters from the Argentine.  Schmidt was there already.  For
+some reason, the new President seemed to be so fond of the _Unser
+Fritz's_ commander that he refused to be parted from him.  It was not
+until long afterward that Hozier discovered the reason of this mushroom
+friendship.  The German consul was in the room.
+
+The appearance of Iris caused something akin to a sensation.  The Dona
+Pondillo could not create English clothes, nor bad copies of French,
+but her own daughters dressed in the height of local fashion, and Dom
+Corria's earnest request had made them generous.  The dark-eyed,
+olive-complexioned women of Alagoas are often exceedingly beautiful,
+but few of those present had ever seen a brown-haired, brown-eyed,
+fair-faced Englishwoman.  Iris was remarkably good-looking, even among
+the pretty girls of her own county of Lancashire.  Her large, limpid
+eyes, well-molded nose, and perfectly formed mouth were the dominant
+features of a face that had all the charm of youth and health.  Her
+smooth skin, brown with exposure to sun and air, glowed into a rich
+crimson when she found herself in the midst of so many strangers.  The
+slightly delicate semblance induced by the hardships and loss of rest
+which fell to her lot since the _Andromeda_ went to pieces on the
+Grand-pere rock in no wise detracted from her appearance.  She wore the
+elegant costume of a Maceio belle with ease and distinction.  If she
+was flurried by the undisguised murmur of admiration that greeted her,
+she did not show it beyond the first rush of color.
+
+Dom Corria, dragging Schmidt with him, hurried to meet her.  Surprise
+at his gala attire helped to conquer her natural timidity, for the
+President was gorgeous in blue and gold.
+
+"My good wishes are soon changed into congratulations, Senhor," she
+said.
+
+"Ah, my dear young lady, I am overjoyed that you should be here to
+witness my success," he cried.  Then, as if he had waited for this
+moment, he turned to the assembled company and delivered an eloquent
+panegyric of the _Andromeda's_ crew and their _deusa deliciosa_--for
+that is what he called Iris--a delightful goddess.  He had made many
+speeches already that day, but none was more heartfelt than this.  His
+eulogy was unstinted.  Luckily for Iris, she was so conscious of the
+attention she attracted that she kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on the
+carpet.  Otherwise, having a well-developed sense of humor, she must
+have laughed outright had she seen Coke's face.
+
+He, of course, understood no word that was said.  But De Sylva's
+animated gestures and flashing eyes were enough.  Ever and anon, the
+excitable citizens of Maceio would turn and gaze at one or other of the
+three, while loud cries of "Bravo!" punctuated the President's oratory.
+When Coke's turn came for these demonstrations, he tried to grin, but
+was only able to scowl.  For once in his stormy life he was nonplused.
+His brick-red countenance glowed with heat and embarrassment.  At the
+close of the speech he muttered to Hozier:
+
+"Wish I'd ha' known wot sort of beano I was comin' to.  Dam if I ain't
+meltin'."
+
+This ordeal ended, dejeuner was served.  The President took in Iris and
+the Dona Pondillo.  They were the only ladies present.  The three
+sailors, some staff officers, and a few local celebrities, made up the
+rest of the company.
+
+Hozier, though by no means indifferent to the good fare provided, was
+wondering how many hours would elapse before Iris's cablegram reached
+Verity's office, when some words caught his ear that drove all other
+considerations from his mind.
+
+"I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, there is not the slightest
+chance of your message reaching England to-day, Miss Yorke," the
+President was saying.
+
+"But why not?" she asked, with an astonishment that was not wholly the
+outcome of regret.
+
+"The cable does not land here, and the transmitting stations will be
+closely watched, now that my arrival in Brazil is known.  Even the
+simplest form of words will be twisted into a political significance.
+No, I think it best to be quite candid.  Until I control Pernambuco,
+which should be within a week or ten days, you may rest assured that no
+private cablegrams will be forwarded."
+
+"Oh, dear, I fully expected a reply to-day," she said, and now that she
+realized the effect of a further period of anxiety on the Bootle
+partnership she was genuinely dismayed.
+
+"You may be sure it will not come," said Dom Corria.  "Indeed I may as
+well take this opportunity of explaining to you--and to my other
+English friends"--with the interpolated sentence his glance dwelt
+quietly on Hozier and Coke--"the exact position locally.  You see,
+Maceio is a small place, and easily approached from the sea.  A hostile
+fleet could knock it to pieces in half an hour, and it would be a poor
+reward for my supporters' loyalty if my presence subjected them to a
+bombardment.  I have no strong defenses or heavy guns to defy attack,
+and my troops are not more than a thousand men, all told.  It is
+obvious that I must make for the interior.  There, I gather strength as
+I advance, the warships cannot pursue, and I can choose my own
+positions to meet the half-hearted forces that Dom Miguel will collect
+to oppose me.  In fact, I and every armed man in Maceio march
+up-country this afternoon."
+
+Iris, by this time, was thoroughly frightened, and Hozier, who read
+more in De Sylva's words than was possible in her case, was watching
+the speaker's calm face with a fixity that might have disconcerted many
+men.  Dom Corria seemed to be unaware of either the girl's distress or
+Philip's white anger.
+
+"You naturally ask how I propose to safeguard the companions of my
+flight from Fernando Noronha," he went on.  "I answer at once--by
+taking them with me.  The Senhora Pondillo and her family will
+accompany her husband to my _quinta_ at Las Flores.  A special train
+will take all of us to the nearest railway station this afternoon.
+Thence my estate is but a day's march.  You and my other friends from
+both ships will be quite safe and happy there until order is restored.
+You must come.  The men's lives, at any rate, would not be worth an
+hour's purchase if my opponent's forces found them here, and I feel
+certain that one or more cruisers will arrive off Maceio to-night.  For
+you, this excursion will be quite a pleasant experience, and you can
+absolutely rely on my promise to send news of your safety to England at
+the very first opportunity."
+
+Iris could say nothing under the shock of this intelligence.  She
+looked at Philip, and their eyes met.  They both remembered the glance
+they had exchanged at the post-office.  Preoccupied by their own
+thoughts, neither of them had noticed the smile San Benavides indulged
+in on that occasion, nor did they pay heed to the fact that he was
+smiling again now, apparently at some story told him by General Russo.
+But San Benavides was sharp-witted.  He needed no interpreter to make
+clear the cause of the chill that had fallen on the President's end of
+the table.
+
+"He has told them," he thought, perhaps.  And, if further surmise were
+hazarded as to his views, they might well prove to be concerned with
+the wonderful things that can happen within a week or ten
+days--especially when things are happening at the rate taken by events
+just then in Brazil.
+
+Of course, as a philosopher, San Benavides was right; it was in the
+role of prophet that he came to grief, this being the pre-ordained fate
+of all false prophets.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+CARMELA
+
+Among the many words borrowed by the Brazilians from their
+Spanish-speaking neighbors, that for "to-morrow" is perhaps the most
+popular.  The Spaniard's _Manana_ is so elastic that it covers any
+period of time between the next twenty-four hours and the indefinite
+future.  When, therefore, Dom Sylva spoke of controlling Pernambuco
+before the month of September was barely half sped, he was either too
+sanguine, or too literal in his translation of easy-going Portuguese
+into vigorous English.
+
+His _quinta_, or country house, was situated on the upper watershed of
+the river Moxoto.  There he raised his standard, thither flocked rebels
+galore, and in that direction, with due caution, President Barraca
+pushed columns of troops by road and rail from Bahia, from Pernambuco,
+and from Maceio itself.  For Barraca held the sea, and the wealthy and
+enterprising south was strongly opposed to war, while Dom Corria
+trusted to the mountains and drew his partisans from the less energetic
+north.  This bald statement has an unconvincing sound in the ears of
+races which dwell north of the equator, but it must be remembered that
+Brazil, in more respects than one, is the land of topsy-turveydom.
+Were it not that the mass of the people was heartily sick of a corrupt
+regime, De Sylva would have been dead or in irons on his way back to
+Fernando Noronha well within the time allotted for the consolidation of
+his rule.  As it was, minor insurrections were breaking out in the
+southern provinces, the reigning President could trust only in the
+navy, and the conservatism of commerce and society, as represented by
+the great landowners of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Minas Geraes,
+alone stifled the upgrowth of an overwhelming national movement in Dom
+Corria's favor.
+
+In a word, De Sylva commanded public sympathy but small resources;
+Barraca was unpopular but controlled the navy and part of the army.
+Given such conditions--with the added absurdity that the troops on both
+sides were most unwilling to face long-range rifle fire but would
+cheerfully hack each other to mince-meat with knives--and a tedious,
+indeterminate campaign is the certain outcome.  De Sylva had said that
+local conflicts were usually "short and fierce."  Applied to such
+upheavals as had taken place in the capital during recent years, the
+phrase was strictly accurate.  He himself had been bundled out of
+office between Mass and Vespers on a memorable Sunday.  But a convict
+on a remote island cannot organize such a perfect example of a
+successful revolt.  He had done much in gaining a good foothold; the
+rest must be left to time and chance.
+
+A few indecisive but sanguinary engagements were fought in the
+neighborhood of Pesqueira, a town in the hills about one hundred miles
+from the seaboard.  These proved that General Russo was a valiant
+fighter but a poor tactician--and that was all.  He was opposed by a
+commander of little courage but singular skill in strategy.  To restore
+the balance, Dom Corria took the field in person, and Dom Miguel
+Barraca hastened from Rio de Janeiro to witness the crushing of his
+arch-enemy.
+
+The position was complicated by the arrival at Pernambuco of a German
+squadron bearing a telegraphic cartel from the Emperor.  A German ship
+had been seized on the high seas.  Why?  And by whom?  And how could
+anybody dare?  Then Brazil quivered, for every South American knows in
+his heart that the great navy of Germany is being created not so much
+to destroy England as to dispute the proud doctrine of the United
+States that no European power shall ever again be allowed to seize
+territory on the American continent.
+
+So there were strenuous days and anxious nights at Las Flores, where
+President De Sylva sought to equip and discipline his levies, and at
+Carugru, where President Barraca called on all the gods to witness that
+De Sylva was a double-dyed traitor.
+
+Under such circumstances it is not surprising that a grand display of
+money and audacity, backed by sundry distant roars of the British lion,
+should enable two elderly Britons and a young Brazilian lady to pass
+through the lines of the Exercito Nacional, as Barraca had christened
+his following, in opposition to De Sylva's army of Liberation.  Lest
+too many people should become interested, the adventure was essayed on
+the night of October 2d.  Early next day the travelers and their guides
+reached the rebel outposts.  The young lady, who seemed to be at home
+in this wild country, at once urged her horse into a pace wholly beyond
+the equestrian powers of her staid companions.  They protested vainly.
+She waved a farewell hand, cantered over several miles of a rough road,
+and dashed up to the Liberationist headquarters about eight o'clock.
+
+There was no hesitancy about her movements.  She drew rein in approved
+Gaucho style, bringing her mount to a dead stop from a gallop.
+
+"Where is the President?" she asked breathlessly.
+
+"There, senhora," said an orderly, pointing to a marquee, open on every
+side, wherein De Sylva sat in conference with his staff.
+
+So many officers and mounted soldiers were coming and going, so great
+was the bustle of preparation for some important movement then in
+train, that no one specially noted her arrival.  She dismounted, and
+drew the reins across the horse's head ere she tied him to a tree.  She
+saw a tall young man emerge from the tent, jump on a charger held by a
+soldier, and ride off at a fast pace toward the house of Las Flores,
+which stood in a large garden on the slope of a neighboring hill.  His
+appearance seemed to puzzle her momentarily.  His attire was that of
+Brazil, but neither his manner nor horsemanship was typical of the
+Brasileiro.  In walking, he moved with an air of purposeful
+concentration that differed singularly from the languorous stroll of
+the average Brazilian officer, while his seat in the saddle, though
+confident enough, could not be mistaken for that of a man who never
+walks a yard if there is an animal to bestride.
+
+The new arrival was, however, at once too weary and too excited to give
+further heed to one who was an utter stranger.  She pushed her way
+through knots of smoking loungers, entered the tent, and uttered a
+little scream of delight when the President, who was writing at a big
+table, happened to glance at her.  De Sylva rose hastily, with an
+amazed look on his usually unemotional face; forthwith the girl flung
+herself into his arms.
+
+"Father!"
+
+"Carmela!"
+
+San Benavides, whose back was turned, heard the joyous cries of the
+reunited father and daughter.  They were locked in each other's
+embrace, and the eyes of every man present were drawn to a pathetic and
+unexpected meeting.  For that reason, and because none gave a thought
+to him, the pallor that changed the bronze of his forehead and cheeks
+into a particularly unhealthy-looking tint of olive green passed
+unnoticed.  He swallowed something.  It must have been a curse, for it
+seemed to taste bitter.  But he managed to recover some shred of
+self-control ere the Senhora De Sylva was able to answer her father's
+first eager questions; then, with a charming timidity, she found breath
+to say:
+
+"And what of Salvador--is he not here?"
+
+Yes, Salvador was there--by her side--striving most desperately to look
+lover-like.  They clasped hands.  Brazilian etiquette forbade a more
+demonstrative greeting, and Carmela attributed Salvador's manifest
+sallowness to the hardships of campaigning no less than the shock of
+her sudden appearance.
+
+But the business of red war gave little scope for the many confidences
+that a girl who had journeyed more than four thousand miles for this
+reunion might naturally exchange with a father and a lover.  Some
+important move was toward, and the President and his chief-of-staff had
+no time to spare.
+
+"You have come to bring me luck, Carmela meu," said De Sylva, stroking
+his daughter's hair affectionately.  "To-day we make our first real
+advance.  Salvador and I are going to the front now, almost this
+instant.  But there will be no fighting--an affair of outposts at the
+best--and when everything is in order we shall return here to sleep.
+Expect us, then, soon after sunset.  Meanwhile, at the _quinta_ you
+will find the young English lady of whose presence you are aware.  Give
+her your friendship.  She is worthy of it."
+
+"Adeos, senhora!" echoed San Benavides, bringing his heels together
+with a click, and saluting.  He gathered a number of papers from the
+table with nervous haste, and at once began to issue instructions to
+several officers.  De Sylva renewed the signing of documents.  Russo
+and he conversed in low tones.  A buzz of talk broke out in the tent.
+Carmela felt that she had no part in this activity, that her mere
+presence was a positive hindrance to the work in hand.  A trifle
+disappointed, yet not without a thrill of high resolve to create for
+herself an indispensable share in the movement of which her father was
+the central figure, she went out, unhitched her tired horse, and walked
+to the house.
+
+In Brazil, a _quinta_, or farm, may range from a palace to a hovel.
+Dom Corria was rich; consequently Las Flores attained the higher level.
+It was a straggling, roomy structure, planned for comfort and
+hospitality rather than display, and the gardens, to whose beauty and
+extent was due the Spanish name, used to be famous throughout the
+province.  Carmela had not seen the place during five years; she
+expected to find changes, but was hardly prepared for the ravages made
+by neglect, aided by unchecked tropical growth, as the outcome of her
+father's two years in prison.  The flowers were gone, the rarer shrubs
+choked by rank weeds, the trees disfigured by rampant climbers.  But,
+in front of the long, deep veranda, even the attention of a month had
+restored much of its beauty to a widespread lawn.  Here, at that early
+hour, the air was cool and the shade abundant; indeed, so embossed in
+towering trees was the wide greensward, that it seemed to flow abruptly
+into the veranda without ever a path or garden gate to break the solid
+walls of foliage.
+
+Filled with tumultuous memories, her heart all throbbing at the
+prospect of her father's fortunes being restored, the Senhora De Sylva
+was entering a gate that led to the left front of the house, when the
+young man came out whom she had seen leaving the headquarters tent.
+Again he rode like one in a hurry, and she noted that he emerged from a
+side path which gave access to the lawn.  He gave her a sharp glance as
+he passed.  She received an impression of a strong face, with
+stern-looking, bright, steel-blue eyes, a mouth tensely set, an aspect
+at once confident yet self-contained.  She was sure now he was not a
+Brazilian, and he differed most materially from the mental picture of
+Captain James Coke created by the many conversations in which he had
+figured during her long voyage from Southampton in company with David
+Verity and Dickey Bulmer.
+
+So Carmela wondered now who he could be, nor was her wonder lessened
+when she peered through the screen of trees, and saw a girl, whom she
+recognized instantly as Iris, furtively dabbing her tear-stained face
+with a handkerchief.
+
+Unhappily, the President's daughter was not attractive in appearance.
+She had fine eyes, and she moved with the natural elegance of her race,
+but her features were somewhat angular for one of pure-blooded
+Portuguese descent, and a too well-defined chin was more effectual as
+an index of character than as an element of personal charm.  Close
+acquaintance with the cosmopolitan society of Paris and London had
+familiarized her with many types of European and American beauty, and
+her surprise that such an uncommonly good-looking girl should be the
+niece of David Verity was not unmingled with pique at finding her
+already installed in remote Las Flores.
+
+The veranda seemed to be a hive of feminine industry.  The Dona
+Pondillo and her daughters, together with the female relatives of
+several noted men among the insurgents, were cutting and stitching most
+industriously.  Iris Yorke's advice, perhaps her assistance, was
+evidently in demand.  Assuming that the young man who rode thither so
+rapidly had gone to see her, she could not have been absent from the
+sewing party more than five minutes, yet half a dozen ladies were
+clamoring for her already.  The truth was that many of them had never
+plied a needle before in their lives.  They had to be taught
+everything.  One peasant woman would have accomplished more real work
+than any five of the Librationist _grandes dames_.
+
+Despite her firm chin, Carmela De Sylva did not contemn the
+meretricious aid of dress.  Iris looked fresh and cool in soft muslin,
+whereas the newcomer was travel-stained and disheveled.  The pack-mules
+were lagging on the road, but a wash and general tidying of
+dust-covered garments would help the President's daughter to regain the
+assurance, now sadly lacking, which would be necessary ere she won her
+rightful place in a community largely composed of strangers.  As she
+led her horse back into the main avenue, she was sorry that her father
+or Salvador could not spare even the few minutes that would have
+sufficed for an introduction.  At any rate, she would probably find an
+old servant at the back of the house--some family retainer whose
+welcome would charm away this displeasing sense of intrusion.
+
+On the way to the stables she heard a man singing.  The words were in
+English.  They were also quaint, for they dealt with life from a point
+of view which differed widely from that presented by Dom Corria's
+_finca_.
+
+  "Oh, it's fine to be a sailor" [sang Watts],
+      "an' to cross the ragin' main,
+      From Hooghly bar to New Orleens to roam,
+  But I 'ope that my old woman will put me on the chain
+      Next time I want to quit my 'umble 'ome."
+
+
+Possibly the verse was an original effort, because there followed a
+marked change in tune and meter.
+
+"'Mid pleasures an' palaces----'" he began, when Senhora De Sylva came
+upon him as he sat on a fence, pipe in hand, with his back braced
+comfortably against a magnificent rosewood tree.  He stopped, grinned
+sheepishly, and, not recognizing the lady, tried to cover his confusion
+by lighting the pipe.
+
+"Are you one of the _Andromeda's_ men?" asked Carmela, speaking in the
+clear and accurate English used by her father.
+
+It was well for Watts that the tree prevented him from falling
+backwards.  He was quite sober, but cheerful withal, as he had nothing
+to do but sleep, smoke, eat, and drink the light wine of the district,
+of which his only complaint was that "one might mop up a barrel of it
+an' get no forrarder."  Nevertheless, he received a positive shock when
+addressed in his own language by a young woman who was obviously of
+Brazil.  He stared at her so hard that he forgot the steady progress of
+the slow-burning tand-stikkor match recently ignited.  Its sulphurous
+flame reached his fingers and reminded him.
+
+"My godfather!" he howled, springing from the rail, and recovering his
+wits instantly.  "Beg pardon, mum, but you took me aback all standin'
+as the saying is.  Christopher, didn't that match wake me up!"
+
+"I am afraid it is my fault," said Carmela, who could look sympathetic
+where Iris would want to laugh.  "I have just arrived here, and
+everybody seems to be so full of troubles that I am glad to hear you
+singing."
+
+"Oh, that's just hummin', mum.  If you're fond of music you ought to
+'ear Schmidt, Captain Schmidt of the _Unser Fritz_----"
+
+Carmela struck an attitude.
+
+"Wot, d'ye know 'im?" asked Watts.
+
+"No, it is something--rather important.  I must go back to my father.
+Ah, I ought to explain.  I am the Senhora De Sylva, Dom Corria's
+daughter."
+
+"Are you really, mum,--miss?" exclaimed Watts, highly interested.  "'Ow
+in the world did ye manage to come up from the coast?  Accordin' to all
+accounts----"
+
+"Yes, what were you going to say?" for the man hesitated.
+
+"Well, some of our chaps will 'ave it that we're runnin' close-hauled
+on a lee shore."
+
+Carmela knit her brows.  The Watts idioms were not those of her
+governess.
+
+"We had no great difficulty in passing through Dom Barraca's lines, if
+that is what you mean," she said.  "Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer had
+obtained special permits, but in my case----"
+
+"Mr. 'oo, did you say, miss?" demanded Watts, whose lower jaw actually
+dropped from sheer amazement.
+
+"Mr. Verity, the owner of the _Andromeda_.  You are one of the crew, I
+suppose?"
+
+"I'm the chief officer.  Watts is my name, miss.  But d'you mean to
+tell me that ole David Verity 'as come 'ere--to Brazil--to this rotten
+. . .  Sorry, miss, but you gev' me a turn, you did.  An' Dickey
+Bulmer--is _'e_ 'ere too?"
+
+"Yes, or he soon will be here.  I rode on in advance of the others."
+
+"Well--there--if that don't beat cock-fightin'!" cried Watts.  "Wot'll
+Coke say?  W'y, 'e'll 'ave a fit.  An' Miss Iris!  She's to marry ole
+Dickey.  Fancy 'im turnin' up!  There'll be the deuce an' all to pay,
+now, wot between 'im an' Hozier an' the dashin' colonel."
+
+The horse, trying to nibble some grass at Carmela's feet, suddenly
+threw his head up, for the cruel South American bit had tightened under
+a jerk of the reins.
+
+"Who is Mr. Hozier?" asked the girl calmly.
+
+"He is, or was, our second mate, but since the colonel an' 'e got to
+loggerheads 'e took an' raised a corps of scouts.  Some of our fellows
+joined, but not me.  Killin' other folks don't agree with me a little
+bit.  I don't mind a shine in a snug or a friendly scrap over an extry
+drink, but w'en it comes to them long knives----"
+
+"And the colonel--what is _his_ name?" broke in Carmela, turning to
+loosen the surcingle.  She could control her voice but not her eyes,
+and she did not wish to startle this open-mouthed gossip.
+
+"San Benavides, miss.  Captain 'e was on Fernando Noronha; 'e took a
+mighty quick jump after we kem ashore.  But I ax your pardon for
+ramblin' on in this silly way.  Won't you go inside?  There's a useful
+ole party there, name of Maria----"
+
+"Ah, Maria--dear, good Maria--she at least will not have forgotten me,"
+sobbed Carmela in her own tongue, and Watts afterwards informed Coke
+that although the inhabitants of China were noted for their peculiar
+ways, when it came to a show-down in that qualification, the average
+woman could beat any Chinky ever born.  Had he but known more, Watts
+was also in a position to state that he had squared accounts with the
+scornful President.
+
+For the Senhora De Sylva might have been seized with mortal illness if
+judged solely by the manner in which she staggered into her father's
+house, threw her arms around the neck of an elderly woman whom she
+petrified by her appearance, and almost fainted--not quite, but on the
+verge, much nearer than such a strong-minded young lady would have
+thought possible an hour earlier.
+
+Maria screamed loudly.  Tongue-tied at first, she was badly scared when
+Carmela collapsed on her ample bosom.  Restoratives and endearments
+followed.  Carmela asked to be taken to a room where she might wash and
+shake the dust from her hair and clothes.  Maria considered ways and
+means.  Every room in the big house was crowded.
+
+"Who is in my own apartment?" demanded Carmela.
+
+Even before the answer was forthcoming she guessed the truth.  The
+Senhora Ingleza, of course.  Those fine eyes of hers flashed
+dangerously.
+
+"What, then?  Does this woman come here and take all?" she cried.
+
+"Ah, _pequinina_, do not be angry," said Maria.  "Who save the good God
+could tell that you would come from Paris to-day?  And the Senhora
+Ingleza will be glad to give place to you.  She is so kind, so
+unselfish.  All the men adore her."
+
+"So I hear," murmured Carmela, trying to still the passion that
+throbbed in her heart, since she was aware that neither Maria nor any
+other among the old domestics at Las Flores knew of her engagement, and
+pride was now coming to her aid.
+
+"She will have no word to say to any of them," gabbled Maria.  "There
+is a young Englishman--well, it is no affair of mine, but I am told she
+loves him, yet is promised to another, an old man, too.  _Santa Mae_!
+That would not suit me if I were her age!"
+
+This home-coming of Carmela was quite an important event in its way.
+At first sight it bore the semblance of a mere disillusionment such as
+any girl might experience under like circumstances.  She had been taken
+from Las Flores to occupy a palace at Rio de Janeiro, and was driven
+from the palace to the hotel life of the Continent.  During two years
+she had not seen either father or lover; and lovers of the San
+Benavides ilk are apt to console themselves during these prolonged
+intervals.  Yet Carmela's shattered romance was the pivot on which
+rested the future of Brazil.
+
+Had she gone straight to Iris on leaving her father, and made known the
+astounding tidings that Verity and Bulmer were riding up the Moxoto
+Valley barely three miles away, Iris would surely have devised some
+means of acquainting Philip Hozier with the fact.  In that event,
+assuming that he awaited their arrival, the first march of an extended
+reconnaissance which he thought desirable would necessarily be
+postponed.  And then--well, the recent history of Brazil would have to
+be re-written, since there cannot be the slightest doubt that Dom
+Corria De Sylva would never have occupied the Presidential chair a
+second time.
+
+It would be idle now to inquire too closely into the springs of
+Philip's resolve to take service under a foreign flag.  Perhaps the
+irksome state of affairs at Las Flores, where there was no mean between
+loafing and soldiering, was intolerable to a spirited youngster.
+Perhaps San Benavides, constantly riding in from the front, irritated
+him beyond endurance by his superior airs.  Or it may be that a growing
+belief in Iris's determination to sacrifice herself by redeeming her
+bond made him careless as to what happened in the near future.  The
+outcome of one or all of these influences was that he sought, and was
+readily given, a commission in the Army of Liberation.  Like all
+sailors, he preferred the mounted arm, and De Sylva, having the highest
+opinion of his thoroughness, actually appointed him to command a branch
+of the Intelligence Department.
+
+Philip, trained to pin his faith in maps and charts, came to the
+conclusion that Las Flores could be attacked from the rear, which lay
+to the northwest.  The Brazilians laughed at the notion.  Where were
+the troops to come from?  Barraca must bring all his men by sea.  There
+were none stationed in those wild mountains.
+
+"Better go and make sure," quoth Philip.
+
+He ascertained the President's intentions as to the next twenty-four
+hours, assembled his little body of scouts, saw to their forage and
+equipment, took leave of Iris, and hurried off.
+
+When two stout and elderly fellow-countrymen of his climbed the last
+mile of the rough valley beneath the Las Flores slope, Philip and his
+troop were a league or more beyond the Moxoto's watershed.
+
+Meanwhile, Carmela De Sylva proved that her resolute chin was not
+deceptive as a guide to temperament.  The Dona Pondillo deemed her a
+spirit when she appeared on the veranda, but Carmela's impetuous kiss
+soon disabused the worthy dame of her error.
+
+Iris, wondering why the lively chatter of her Brazilian friends was so
+suddenly stilled, to be succeeded by a hubbub of excited words as the
+older ladies present gathered around the new-comer, asked one of the
+Pondillo girls what had happened.
+
+"It is Carmela, the President's daughter," giggled the other.  "Mother
+says she is engaged to San Benavides.  What fun!  But where has she
+come from?  When last I heard of her she was in Paris."
+
+A month of close companionship with people who spoke Portuguese all day
+long, and often far into the night, had familiarized Iris with many of
+the common phrases.  Thus, she gathered one fact as to Carmela, and
+more than suspected another.  For a reason that every woman will
+understand, she felt a subtle thrill of fear.  If San Benavides were
+really Carmela's accepted lover, then, indeed, Iris had good cause for
+foreboding.  Though the Brazilian had never directly avowed his
+passion, since he knew quite well that she would refuse to listen, she
+could not be blind to his infatuation.  Only the threat of her dire
+displeasure had restrained Hozier from an open quarrel with him.  Her
+position, difficult enough already, would become intolerable if De
+Sylva's daughter became jealous, and she had no doubt whatsoever that
+San Benavides would seek to propitiate the woman he loved by callously
+telling the woman he had promised to marry that his affections were
+bestowed elsewhere.
+
+Her heart sank when she discovered this new maelstrom in her sea of
+troubles; but here was Carmela herself speaking to her, and in English:
+
+"So you are Iris Yorke!" the girl was saying.  "I have heard so much of
+you, yet you are so utterly different from what I imagined."
+
+"You have heard of _me_?" repeated Iris, and surprise helped her to
+smile with something of her wonted self-possession.
+
+"Yes, on board the steamer.  We sailed from Southampton, and had little
+else to talk of during the voyage.  But, of course, you cannot
+understand.  Among my fellow-passengers were your uncle and Mr. Bulmer."
+
+Iris had long relinquished any hope of communicating with Bootle until
+the present deadlock in the operations of the two armies was a thing of
+the past.  Completely mystified now by Carmela's glib reference to the
+two men whose names were so often in her thoughts though seldom on her
+lips, she could only gaze at the Senhora De Sylva in silent
+bewilderment.
+
+Carmela, feeling that she was gaining ground rapidly, affected a note
+of polite regret.
+
+"Please forgive me for being so abrupt.  Perhaps I ought to have
+prepared you.  But it is quite true.  Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer came
+with me from Europe.  We all reached Pernambuco the day before
+yesterday.  Indeed, if it were not for them, and the assistance they
+gave me, I would not be here now.  No one recognized me, fortunately,
+and--I hope you will not be vexed--I passed as Mr. Verity's niece.  In
+fact, I took your place for the time."
+
+A notable feature of the De Sylva utterance was its clearness.
+Carmela's concluding words could not possibly be mistaken for anything
+else.  Their meaning, on the other hand, was capable of varying shades
+of significance; but Iris was far too amazed to seek depths beneath
+their literalness.
+
+"If Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer are in Brazil----" she began tremulously,
+but Carmela broke in with a shrill laugh.
+
+"There is no 'if.'  Look below there, near my father's tent!  They have
+arrived.  They are asking for you.  Come, let us meet them!  I must see
+my father before he departs."
+
+Iris's swimming eyes could not discern the figures to which Carmela was
+pointing.  But this strange girl's triumphant tone rang like a knell in
+her heart.  She was not thinking now of the complications that might
+arise between San Benavides and his discarded flame.  She only knew
+that, by some miracle, her uncle had come to bring her home, and with
+him was the man to whom she was plighted, while Philip, only half an
+hour ago, had told her he would not see her again until the following
+evening.
+
+So this was the end of her dream.  Bitter-sweet it had been, and long
+drawn out, but forthwith she must awake to the gray actualities of life.
+
+She felt Carmela dragging her onward, irresistibly, vindictively.  She
+saw, as through a mist, David Verity's fiery-hued face, and heard his
+harsh accents.  Yes, there was no mistake.  Here was Bootle transported
+to Brazil, Linden House to Las Flores!
+
+"By gum, lass," he was bellowing, with a touch of real sentiment in his
+voice, "you've given us a rare dance afore we caught up wi' you.  But
+'ere you are, bright as a cherry, an' 'ere is Dickey an' meself come to
+fetch you.  Dash my wig, there's life in the old dogs yet, or we'd
+never ha' bin able to ride forty mile through this God-forgotten
+country.  An' damme if that isn't Coke, red as a lobster.  Jimmie, me
+boy, put it there!  Man, but you're a dashed long way from port!"
+
+Happily, Iris was too stunned to betray herself.  She extended a hand
+to the sun-browned, white-haired old man standing by her uncle's side.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Bulmer," she said simply.  And, in that
+hour of searing agony, she meant it, for it is easier to look back on
+suffering than to await it, and she had been living in dread of this
+meeting for many a weary day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT
+
+Two thousand five hundred years ago the prophet Jeremiah expressed
+incredulity as to the power of an Ethiopian to change his skin or a
+leopard his spots.  The march of the centuries has fully justified the
+seer's historic doubt, so it makes but slight demand on the critical
+faculties to assume that two years' residence in Europe had not cooled
+the hot southern blood flowing in Carmela's veins.
+
+She had hated Iris before she set eyes on her; she hated her now that she
+had seen her rare beauty; she gloated on the suffering inflicted by the
+presence of the faded old man who claimed her as his bride.  Though it
+was of the utmost importance that she should hasten to her father, she
+returned to Las Flores in her rival's company, their arms linked in
+seeming friendship, and the Brazilian girl's ears alert to treasure every
+word that told of Bulmer's wooing.
+
+Therein she greatly miscalculated the true gentility of one whom his
+cronies described as "a rough diamond."  Bulmer realized that Iris was
+overwrought.  Vague but sensational items in newspapers had prepared him
+in some measure for the story of her wanderings since last they met in
+quiet, old-fashioned Bootle.  He felt that she was altered, that their
+ways in life had deviated with a sharpness that was not to be brought
+back into parallel grooves simply because he had traveled many thousands
+of miles to find her.
+
+So Dickey contented himself by listening to Coke's Homeric account of the
+_Andromeda's_ wrecking, and if he interposed an occasional question, and
+thus drew the girl's sweet voice into the talk, it was invariably germane
+to the strange history of the ship and her human freight.
+
+Coke's narrative was picturesque and lurid.  At times, he called himself
+to order; at times, both Iris and Carmela affected not to have heard him.
+But Carmela's interest never flagged.  Nor did Bulmer's.  As the yarn
+progressed--for Watts and Schmidt and Norrie had joined them, and the
+whole party was seated in an inner room where an impromptu meal was
+provided--both the woman of Brazil and the man of Lancashire seized on
+the same unspoken _motif_.  Every incident centered in the striking
+personality of Philip Hozier.  From the instant the second shell struck
+the winch, and laid him apparently dead on the forecastle, to the very
+hour of this coming together at Las Flores, Hozier held the stage.  It
+was he who took Iris on his shoulders and brought her to safety through
+the spume of the wrathful sea, he who carried her to the hut, he who
+crossed Fernando Noronha alone to protect her.
+
+Coke was impartial.  He would have minimized his own singular bravery in
+running up the ship's signals had not Iris given him a breathing-space
+while she enthralled the others with her description.  Otherwise, Coke
+skipped no line of his epic.
+
+"You'll rec'lect," he wheezed, in a voice that rasped like a file,
+"you'll rec'lect, Mr. Verity, as I said to you that Hozier was good
+enough to take charge of the bridge of a battleship.  By--well, any 'ow,
+if I'd said the Channel Fleet I shouldn't 'ave bin talkin' through me
+'at.  Look at 'im now.  'E's the on'y reel live man Dom Wot's-'is-name
+'as got.  Sink me! if it wasn't for the folks at 'ome, an' the fac' that
+the _Andromeeda's_ skipper ought to keep clear of politics in this
+crimson country, I'd 'ave a cut in at the game meself."
+
+It might be hoped that Carmela's mood would soften when she discovered
+her rival's hapless love, but that would be expecting something which her
+bursting southern heart could not give.  A volcano pours forth lava, not
+water.  It scorches, not heals.  Iris, willing or not, had sapped her
+Salvador's allegiance.  Carmela wanted to see those curved lips writhing
+in pain, those brown eyes dimmed, that smooth brow wrung with the grief
+that knows no remedy.
+
+A fierce joy leaped up in her when Verity spoke of an early departure.
+
+"You see, Iris," he explained, "these Brazilian bucks may be months in
+settlin' their differences.  Dickey an' me, 'elped a lot by our Consul,
+squeezed a pass out of the President--beg pardon, miss, but 'e is
+President, in Pernambuco, at all events," he said in an apologetic
+"aside" to Carmela--"an' the sooner we make tracks for ole England the
+better it'll be for all of us.  Wot do you say to an early start
+to-morrow?  We'd be off to-night, on'y I'm feared my rheumaticky bones
+wouldn't stand the racket."
+
+The color ebbed from Iris's face, but she said at once:
+
+"I shall be ready, uncle dear.  I promised Dom Corria to look after the
+hospital appliances that are so much needed by the poor soldiers, but the
+Senhora De Sylva will attend to that much more effectually than I."
+
+"Good!  Then that's settled."
+
+David pursed out his thick lips with a sigh of relief.  Though he had
+watched the spoken record of the _Andromeda_ and her company for craftier
+hints than was suspected by his fellow travelers, he was not deaf to
+Coke's appreciation of Hozier.  The silence of his niece on that same
+topic was alarming, but the position could not be so bad if she was
+willing to leave for the coast without seeing him again.  No secret was
+made of Philip's errand into the interior.  The homeward-bound cavalcade
+would be at Pesqueira ere he returned to the _finca_.
+
+Carmela, of course, did not believe in a woman's complacency in such a
+vital matter.  She was ever prepared to spring, to strike, to wrench
+their plans to suit her own ends; but, contrive as she might, she could
+not succeed in leaving Iris alone with Bulmer.  Full of device, she was
+foiled at each turn.  The day wore, the sun went down, the starlit sky
+made beautiful a parched earth, but never a word in privacy did Iris
+exchange with her husband-to-be.  Carmela's malice was not hidden from
+her, but she despised it.  There was some ease for her tortured brain in
+defeating it.  If the Senhora De Sylva had only understood how thoroughly
+the Englishwoman loathed her petty jealousy, it was possible that the few
+remaining hours of their enforced intimacy might have been rendered less
+irksome.
+
+But, by this time, fate had gathered the slackened strings of their
+destinies.  Thenceforth they became her puppets.  Permitted for a little
+while to play the tragi-comedy of life according to their own
+inclinations, now the stern edict had gone forth that they were to act
+their allotted parts in one of those fascinating if blood-stained dramas
+that the history of nations so often puts on the stage.  The future is
+the most cunning of playwrights.  No man may tell what the next scene
+shall be.  And no man, nor any woman, could guess the mad revel of hate
+and war that would rage that night around the placid homestead of Las
+Flores.
+
+Behind the veranda was a huge ballroom, converted, by the exigencies of
+the campaign, into a dining hall for the many inmates of the _finca_.
+The Brazilian ladies, the sailors, some sick or wounded officers who were
+not confined to bed, even the household servants, took their meals there
+in common.  Supper was served soon after nine o'clock.  When cigars and
+cigarettes were lighted, and the company broke up into laughing,
+gossiping, noisy groups, the place looked more like a popular Continental
+cafe than a room in a private mansion.
+
+Though De Sylva, General Russo, San Benavides, and some score of members
+of the President's staff who usually dined at the _finca_, were now
+absent, there was no lack of lively chatter.  A very Babel of tongues
+mixed in amity.  The prevalent note was one of cheery animation.  Carmela
+exerted herself to win popularity, and a President's daughter need not
+put forth very strenuous efforts in that direction to be acclaimed by
+most.
+
+Iris was listening, with real interest, to Verity's description of the
+finding of Macfarlane in the _Andromeda's_ boat by a Cardiff-bound
+collier three days after he had drifted away from Fernando Noronha.
+
+"The yarn kem to us through the Consul at Pernambuco," he said.
+"Evidently, from wot you tell me, it's all right.  Poor ole Mac 'ad a bad
+time afore 'e was picked up, but 'e was alive, an' I'm jolly glad of it,
+for 'e'll be a first-rate witness w'en this business comes up in court."
+
+"Wot court?" demanded Coke sharply.
+
+"The court that settles our claim, of course," retorted Verity, with a
+quick ferret look at his fellow-conspirator.
+
+"There'll be no claim.  The President means to stump up in style.  You
+take my tip, an' shut up about courts," said Coke.
+
+"It'll cost Brazil a tidy penny," remarked Bulmer thoughtfully.  "Nobody
+would ever imagine wot bags of gold an' parcels of di'monds sailors an'
+firemen carry around in their kit-bags till a ship is lost an' a
+Gover'ment 'as to pay."
+
+Watts deemed this an exquisite joke.  He laughed loudly.
+
+"That reminds me," he cried.  "W'en the _Gem of the Sea_ turned turtle on
+the James an' Mary----"
+
+A _criado_, a nondescript man-servant attached to the household, stooped
+over Iris and whispered something.  She gathered that she was wanted in
+the _pateo_, or court-yard, which, owing to the construction of the
+house, stood on one side instead of in front, where the lawn usurped its
+usual position.
+
+"Who is it?" she asked.
+
+The voice sank even lower.
+
+"Colonel San Benavides, Senhora."
+
+She had gathered sufficient of Brazilian ways to understand that the man
+had been bribed to convey this request to her without attracting
+attention.
+
+"Tell him to wait," she said, hoping to gain a moment wherein to decide
+how best to act.
+
+"It is urgent, Senhora--_ao mesmo tempo_, the colonel said."
+
+"Go!  That is my answer."
+
+The man's unwillingness to obey showed how imperative were his
+instructions.  She rose, and the _criado_ hurried out, satisfied that she
+would follow.  But Iris had no wish to meet San Benavides.  If she were
+seen with him in the dark _pateo_ at this late hour, fuel would be added
+to the fire of Carmela's foolish spite.  She was aware of Carmela's
+covert glance watching her from the other end of the long room.  What was
+to be done?  Why not send Carmela in her stead?  They were almost of the
+same height, and dressed somewhat alike in flowered muslin.  It would be
+an amusing mistake, though annoying, perhaps, to San Benavides; at any
+rate, Carmela would not object, and Iris was fully resolved not to keep
+the tryst in person.
+
+She walked straight to her enemy.
+
+"Colonel San Benavides awaits you in the _pateo_," she said in English.
+
+"Awaits _me_!"
+
+There was no mistaking the gleam in those jet-black eyes.  The smoldering
+fire flamed into furnace heat at the implied indignity of such a mandate
+being delivered by Iris.
+
+"I suppose so," said Iris carelessly.  "A servant brought the message.
+He came to me in the first instance, but I am just going to my room to
+pack my few belongings.  We leave here at daybreak, you know."
+
+Carmela tried to smile.
+
+"I shall be sorry to lose you," she said, "though I admit it will be
+pleasant to occupy my own room again."
+
+Then Iris was genuinely distressed.
+
+"I had not the least notion----" she began, but Carmela nodded and made
+off, saying as she went:
+
+"What matter--for one night?"
+
+So, at last, she would learn the truth.  Salvador was out there, alone.
+She would soon judge him.  If he were innocent, she would know.  If he
+had merely been made the sport of a designing woman, she was ready to
+forgive.  In a more amiable mood than she had displayed at any moment
+since her arrival at Las FIores, Carmela hastened along a dark corridor,
+crossed a bare hall, passed through a porch, and searched the shadows of
+the pateo for the form of her one-time lover.
+
+A voice whispered, in French:
+
+"Come quickly, Senhora, I pray you!"
+
+It startled her to find San Benavides talking French, until it occurred
+to her that Iris and he must converse in that language or hardly at all.
+The thought was disquieting.  The volcano stirred again.
+
+"Senhora, je vous prie!" again pleaded the man, who was on horseback
+under the trees.
+
+She did not hesitate, but ran to him.  Without a word of explanation, he
+bent sideways, caught her in his arms, drew her up until she was seated
+on the holsters strapped to a gaucho saddle, and wheeled his horse into a
+gallop.  Filled with a grim determination, she uttered no protest.  Not a
+syllable crossed her lips lest he should strive to amend his woeful
+blunder.  She noticed that they were not going toward the camp, but
+circling round the enclosed land in the direction of the hills.  Though
+the night was dark, the stars gave light enough for the horse to move
+freely.  Carmela's head was bent.  A gauze-like mantilla covered her
+black hair, and, strange though it may seem, one woman's small waist and
+slim figure can be amazingly like the same physical attributes in another
+woman.
+
+But San Benavides wondered why the cold Ingleza had surrendered so
+silently.  He expected at least a scream, a struggle, an impassioned
+demand to be released.  He was prepared for anything save a dumb
+acceptance of this extraordinary raid.
+
+So he began to explain.
+
+"One word, Senhora!" he muttered.  "You must think me mad.  I am not.
+All is lost!  Our army is defeated!  In an hour Las Flores will be in
+flames!"
+
+The girl quivered in his arms.  A moaning cry came from her.
+
+"It is true, I swear it!" he vowed.  "I mean you no ill.  I fought till
+the end, and my good horse alone carried me in advance of the routed
+troops.  Dom Corria may reach the _finca_ alive, but, even so, he and the
+rest will be killed.  I refused to escape without you.  Believe me or
+not, you are dearer than life itself.  In the confusion we two may not be
+missed.  Trust yourself wholly to me, I beseech you!"
+
+He spoke jerkily, in the labored phrase of a man who has to pick and
+choose the readiest words in an unfamiliar language.
+
+Carmela, with a sudden movement, raised her face to his, and threw aside
+her veil.
+
+"Salvador!" she said.
+
+His eyes glared into hers.  His frenzied clutch at the reins pulled the
+horse on to its haunches.
+
+"My God! . . .  Carmela!" he almost shrieked.
+
+"Yes.  So you are running away, Salvador--running away with the English
+miss--deserting my father in the hour of his need!  But she will die with
+the others, you say.  Well, then--join her!"
+
+During that quick twist on the horse's withers, she had plucked a
+revolver from a holster.  She meant to shatter that false face of his
+utterly, to blast him as with lightning . . . but the lock snapped
+harmlessly, for San Benavides had, indeed, borne himself gallantly in the
+fray.  He struck at her now in a whirl of fury.  She winced, but with
+catamount activity drew back her arm and hit him on the temple with the
+heavy weapon.  He collapsed limply, reeled from off the saddle, and they
+fell together.  The frightened horse, finding himself at liberty,
+galloped to the camp, where already there was an unusual commotion.
+
+Carmela flung herself on the man's body.  She was capable of extremes
+either of grief or passion.
+
+"Salvador, my love! my love!" she screamed.  "What have I done?  Speak to
+me, Salvador!  It is I, Carmela!  Oh, Mary Mother, come to my aid!  I
+have killed him, killed my Salvador!"
+
+He looked very white and peaceful as he lay there in the gloom.  She
+could not see whether his lips moved.  She was too distraught to note if
+his heart was beating.  It seemed incredible that she, a weak woman,
+should have crushed the life out of that lithe and active frame with one
+blow.  Then a dark stain appeared on the white skin.  Her hands, her
+lips, were covered with blood.  She tasted it.  The whole earth reeked of
+it.  It scorched her as with vitriol.  She rose and ran blindly.  The
+darkness appalled her.  No matter now what fate befell, she must have
+light, the sound of human voices. . . .  And she sobbed piteously as she
+ran:
+
+"Salvador!  Oh, God in heaven, my Salvador!"
+
+It is not the crime, but the conscience, that scourges erring humanity.
+Carmela needed some such flogging.  It was just as well that her fright
+at the horrible touch of blood was not balanced by the saner knowledge
+that a ruptured vein was nature's own remedy for a man jarred into
+insensibility.  Long before Carmela reached the _finca_, San Benavides
+stirred, groaned, squirmed convulsively, and raised himself on hands and
+knees.  He turned, and sat down, feeling his head.
+
+"The spit-fire!" he muttered.  "The she-devil!  And that other!  Would
+that I could wring _her_ neck!"
+
+A sputtering of rifles crackled in the valley.  There was a blurred
+clamor of voices.  He looked at the sky, at the black summits of the
+hills.  He stood up, and his inseparable sword clanked on the stony
+ground.
+
+"Ah, well," he growled, "I have done with women.  They have had the best
+of my life.  What is left I give to Brazil."
+
+So he, too, made for Las Flores, but slowly, for he was quite exhausted,
+and his limbs were stiff with the rigors of a wild day in the saddle.
+
+Carmela went back to a household that paid scant heed to her screaming.
+Dom Corria was there, bare-headed, his gorgeous uniform sword-slashed and
+blood-bespattered.  General Russo, too, was beating his capacious chest
+and shouting:
+
+"God's bones, let us make a fight of it!"
+
+A sprinkling of soldiers, all dismounted cavalry or gunners, a few
+disheveled officers, had accompanied De Sylva in his flight.  With
+reckless bravery, he and Russo had tried to rally the troops camped at
+headquarters.  It was a hopeless effort.  Half-breeds can never produce a
+military caste.  They may fight valiantly in the line of battle--they
+will not face the unknown, the terrible, the harpies that come at night,
+borne on the hurricane wings of panic.  Unhappily, De Sylva and his
+bodyguard were the messengers of their own disaster.  The cowardly genius
+at Pesqueira had planned a surprise.  He would not lead it, of course,
+but in Dom Miguel Barraca he found an eager substitute.  It was a coup of
+the Napoleonic order; an infantry attack along the entire front of the
+Liberationist position cloaked the launching against the center of a
+formidable body of cavalry.  The project was to thrust this lance into
+the rebel position, probe it thoroughly, as a surgeon explores a gunshot
+wound, and extract the offender in the guise of Dom Corria.
+
+The scheme had proved eminently successful.  The Liberationists were
+crumpled up, and here was Dom Corria making his last stand.
+
+He deserved better luck, for he was magnificent in failure.  Calm as
+ever, he tried to be shot or captured when the reserves in camp failed
+him.  Russo and the rest dragged him onward by main force.
+
+"They want me only," he urged.  "My death will end a useless struggle.  I
+shall die a little later, when many more of my friends are killed.  Why
+not die now?"
+
+They would not listen.
+
+"It is night!" they cried.  "The enemy's horses are spent.  A determined
+stand may give us another chance."
+
+But it was a forlorn hope.  As San Benavides lurched into the _pateo_,
+the horses of the first pursuing detachment strained up the slope between
+house and encampment.
+
+Carmela, all her fire gone, the pallid ghost of the vengeful woman who
+would have shattered her lover's skull were the revolver loaded, was the
+first to see him.  She actually crouched in terror.  Her tongue was
+parched.  If she uttered some low cry, none heard her.
+
+Dom Corria, striving to dispose his meager garrison as best he could, met
+his trusted lieutenant.  His face lit with joy.
+
+"Ah, my poor Salvador!" he cried.  "I thought we had lost you at the
+ford!"
+
+"No," said San Benavides.  "I ran away!"
+
+Even in his dire extremity, De Sylva smiled.
+
+"Would that others had run like you, my Salvador!" he said.  "Then we
+should have been in Pernambuco to-morrow."
+
+The Brazilian looked around.  His eye dwelt heedlessly on the cowering
+Carmela.  He was searching for Iris, who had been compelled by Coke and
+Bulmer and her uncle to take shelter behind the score of sailors who
+still remained at Las Flores.
+
+"It is true, nevertheless," he said laconically.  "I knew the game was
+lost, so I came here to try and save a lady."
+
+"Ah--our Carmela?  You thought of her?"
+
+"No!"
+
+Then the spell passed from Carmela.  She literally threw herself on her
+lover.
+
+"Yes, it is true!" she shrieked.  "He came to save me, but I preferred to
+die here--with you, father--and with him."
+
+Dom Corria did not understand these fire-works, but he had no time for
+thought.  Bullets were crashing through the closed Venetians.  Light they
+must have, or the defense would become an orgy of self-destruction, yet
+light was their most dangerous foe when men were shooting from the somber
+depths of the trees.
+
+The assailants were steadily closing around the house.  Their rifles
+covered every door and window.  Each minute brought up fresh bands in
+tens and twenties.  At last, Barraca himself arrived.  Some members of
+his staff made a hasty survey of the situation.  There were some three
+hundred men available, and, in all probability, Dom Corria could not
+muster one-sixth of that number.  It was a crisis that called for vigor.
+The cavalry lance was twenty miles from its base, and there was no
+knowing what accident might reunite the scattered Liberationists.  One
+column, at least, of the Nationalists had failed to keep its rendezvous,
+or this last desperate stand at Las Flores would have proved a sheer
+impossibility.
+
+So the house must be rushed, no matter what the cost.  This was a war of
+leaders.  Let Dom Corria fall, and his most enthusiastic supporters would
+pay Dom Miguel's taxes without further parley.  A scheme of concerted
+action was hastily arranged.  Simultaneously, five detachments swarmed
+against the chosen points of assault.  One crossed the _pateo_ to the
+porch, another made for the stable entrance, a third attacked the garden
+door, a fourth assailed the servants' quarters, and the fifth, strongest
+of all, and inspired by Dom Miguel's presence, battered in the shutters
+and tore away the piled up furniture of the ballroom.
+
+The Nationalist leader's final order was terse.
+
+"Spare the women; shoot every rebel; do not touch the foreigners unless
+they resist!"
+
+With yells of "Abajo De Sylva!" "Morto por revoltados!" the assailants
+closed in.  Neither side owned magazine rifles, so the fight was with
+machetes, swords, and bayonets when the first furious hail of lead had
+spent itself.  No man thought of quarter, nor ceased to stab and thrust
+until he fell.  Not even then did some of the half-savage combatants
+desist, and a many a thigh was gashed and boot-protected leg cut to the
+bone by those murderous hatchet knives wielded by hands which would soon
+stiffen in death.
+
+When three hundred desperadoes meet fifty of like caliber in a
+hand-to-hand conflict--when the three hundred mean to end the business,
+and the fifty know that they must die--fighting for choice, but die in
+any event--the resultant encounter will surely be both fierce and brief.
+And never was fratricidal strife more sanguinary than during the earliest
+onset within the walls.  Each inch of corridor, each plank of the
+ballroom floor, was contested with insane ferocity.  This was not
+warfare.  It savored of the carnage of the jungle.  Its sounds were those
+of wild beasts.  It smelled of the shambles.
+
+By one of those queer chances which sometimes decide the hazard between
+life and death, the window nearest that end of the room where the sailors
+strove to protect a few shrieking women had not been broken in.  Here,
+then, was a tiny bay of refuge; from it the men of the _Andromeda_ and
+the _Unser Fritz_, Bulmer, Verity, Iris, and such of the Brazilian ladies
+as had not fled to the upper rooms at the initial volley, looked out on
+an amazing butchery.  De Sylva, no longer young, and never a robust man,
+had been dragged from mortal peril many times by his devoted adherents.
+Carmela had snatched a machete from the fingers of a dying soldier, and
+was fighting like one possessed of a fiend.
+
+Once, when a combined rush drove the defenders nearly on top of the
+non-combatants, Iris would have striven to draw the half-demented girl
+into the little haven with the other women.
+
+But Coke thrust her back, shouting:
+
+"Leave 'er alone.  She'll set about you if you touch her!"
+
+Dickey Bulmer, too, who was displaying a fortitude hardly to be expected
+in a man of his years and habits, thought that interference was useless.
+
+"Let 'er do what she can," he said.  "She doesn't know wot is 'appenin'
+now.  If she was on'y watchin' she'd be a ravin' lunatic.  God 'elp us
+all, we've got ourselves into a nice mess!"
+
+Somehow, the old man's Lancashire drawl, with its broad vowels and
+misplaced aspirates, exercised a singularly soothing effect on Iris's
+tensely-strung nerves.  It seemed to remove her from that murder-filled
+arena.  It was redolent of home, of quiet streets, of orderly crowds
+thronging to the New Brighton sands, of the sober, industrious,
+God-fearing folk who filled the churches and chapels at each service on a
+Sunday.  These men and women of Brazil were her brothers and sisters in
+the great comity of nations, yet Heaven knows they did not figure in such
+guise during that hour of intense emotions.
+
+But if Dickey Bulmer's simple words exalted him into the kingdom of the
+heroic, David Verity occupied a lower plane.  Prayers and curses
+alternated on his lips.  He was stupefied with fear.  He had never seen
+the lust of slaying in men's eyes, and it mesmerized him.  Many of the
+sailors wanted to join in on behalf of their friends.  It needed all
+Coke's vehemence to restrain them.  "Keep out of it, you swabs," he would
+growl.  "It's your on'y chanst.  This isn't our shindy.  Let 'em rip an'
+be hanged to 'em!"  Yet he was manifestly uneasy, and he kept a wary eye
+on De Sylva, whom he appraised at a personal value of five thousand
+pounds "an pickin's."
+
+A tall, distinguished-looking man, wearing a brilliant uniform, his
+breast decorated with many orders, now appeared on the scene.  He shouted
+something, and the attacking force redoubled their efforts.  He raised a
+revolver, and took deliberate aim at Dom Corria.  Coke saw him, and his
+bulldog pluck combined with avarice to overcome his common sense.
+Without thought of the consequences, he sprang into the swaying mob and
+pulled De Sylva aside.  A bullet smashed into the wall behind them.
+
+"Look out, mister!" he bellowed.  "'Ere's a blighter 'oo wants to finish
+you quick!"
+
+De Sylva's glance sought his adversary.  He produced a revolver which
+hitherto had remained hidden in a pocket.  Perhaps its bullets were not
+meant for an enemy.  He fired at the tall man.  A violent swerve of the
+two irregular ranks of soldiers screened each from the other.  An opening
+offered, and the man who had singled out Dom Corria for his special
+vengeance fired again.  The bullet struck Coke in the breast.  The
+valiant little skipper staggered, and sank to the floor.  His fiery eyes
+gazed up into Verity's.
+
+"Damme if I ain't hulled!" he roared, his voice loud and harsh as if he
+were giving some command from the bridge in a gale of wind.
+
+David dropped to his knees.
+
+"For Gawd's sake, Jimmie!" he moaned.
+
+"Yes, I've got it.  Sarve me dam well right, too!  No business to go
+ag'in me own pore old ship.  Look 'ere, Verity, I'm done for!  If you get
+away from this rotten muss, see to my missus an' the girls.  If you
+don't--d--n you----"
+
+"Fire!" shouted a strong English voice from without.  A withering volley
+crashed through the open windows.  Full twenty of the assailants fell,
+Dom Miguel de Barraca among them.  There was an instant of terrible
+silence, as between the shocks of an earthquake.
+
+[Illustration: A withering volley crashed through the window]
+
+"Now, come on!" shouted the same voice, and Philip Hozier rushed into the
+ballroom, followed by his scouts and a horde of Brazilian regulars.  No
+one not actually an eye-witness of that thrilling spectacle would believe
+that a fight waged with such determined malevolence could stop so
+suddenly as did that fray in Las Flores.  It was true, now as ever, that
+men of a mixed race cannot withstand the unforeseen.  Dom Miguel fallen,
+and his cohort decimated by the leaden storm that tore in at them from an
+unexpected quarter, the rest fled without another blow.  They raced madly
+for their horses, to find that every tethered group was in the hands of
+this new contingent.  Then the darkness swallowed them.  Dom Miguel's
+cavalry was disbanded.
+
+At once the medley within died down.  Men had no words as yet to meet
+this astounding development.  Dom Corria went to where his rival lay.
+Dom Miguel was dying.  His eyes met De Sylva's in a strange look of
+recognition.  He tried to speak, but choked and died.
+
+Then the living President stooped over the dead one.  He murmured
+something.  Those near thought afterward that he said:
+
+"Is it worth it?  Who knows!"
+
+But he was surely President now; seldom have power and place been more
+hardly won.
+
+His quiet glance sought Philip.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Hozier," he said.  "All Brazil is your debtor.  As for
+me, I can never repay you.  I owe you my life, the lives of my daughter
+and of many of my friends, and the success of my cause."
+
+Philip heard him as in a dream.  He was looking at Iris.  Her eyes were
+shining, her lips parted, yet she did not come to him.  By her side was
+standing a white-haired old man, an Englishman, a stranger.  Bending over
+Coke, and wringing his hands in incoherent sorrow, was another elderly
+Briton.  A fear that Philip had never before known gripped his
+heartstrings now.  He was pale and stern, and his forehead was seamed
+with foreboding.
+
+"Who is that with Miss Yorke?" he said to Dom Corria.
+
+The President had a rare knack of answering a straight question in a
+straight way.
+
+"A Mr. Bulmer, I am told," he said.
+
+There was a pause.  General Russo, carved from head to foot, but so stout
+withal that his enemies' weapons had reached no vital part, approached.
+He thumped his huge stomach.
+
+"We must rally our men," he said.  "If we collect even five thousand
+to-night----"
+
+"Yes," said De Sylva, "I will come.  Before I go, Mr. Hozier, let me
+repeat that I and Brazil are grateful."
+
+"May the devil take both you and Brazil!" was Philip's most ungracious
+reply, and he turned and strode out into the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES
+
+Before the exciting story so rudely interrupted is resumed, it may be
+well to set down in their sequence the queer workings of fortune which
+led to Philip's timely reappearance at Las FIores.
+
+His troop of scouts consisted of twenty-eight men.  Five were sailors
+and firemen from the _Andromeda_; three were Germans from the _Unser
+Fritz_.  But the whole eight were ex-soldiers, and one man-at-arms
+trained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product.
+The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, and
+acquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of a
+hundred miles.  They would fight anybody if well led, and here it may
+be observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, he
+said, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!"
+these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction.  The language
+difficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of one
+of the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly by
+signs, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader.
+
+He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, and
+they were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closed
+with any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations.
+
+About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sent
+off a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions to
+arrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day.  Instantly the
+twenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted.
+From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fully
+a thousand men.  The situation was critical.  It called for prompt
+handling.  Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselves
+among the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four rifles
+indulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded with
+men and animals.
+
+Nothing more was needed.  It has been noted already that the Brazilians
+disliked long-range shooting.  There was a stampede.  The scouts
+occupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely to
+report the presence of the column, when they fell in with the first
+batch of fugitives from the valley.  Forthwith, Philip became a general
+and each scout an officer.  They reasoned and whacked the runaways into
+obedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough to
+fight if told what was expected of them--and the rest was a matter of
+simple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in the
+escalade of a snow fort.  But it was a near thing.  Five minutes later,
+and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself.
+
+And now, as to the night, and the next day.
+
+Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus.
+Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and the
+news spread like wild fire.  Before morning, the Liberationists were
+ten thousand strong.  Before night closed the roads again, the
+Pesqueira genius wrote to Dom Corria under a flag of truce, and pointed
+out that he served the _President_, not any crank who said he was
+President, but the honored individual in whom the people of Brazil
+placed their trust.  Dom Corria replied in felicitous terms, and, as
+the newspapers say, the incident ended.  The navy sulked for a while,
+because they held that Russo's treatment of the _Andorinha_ was not
+cricket, or baseball, or whatsoever game appeals most to the Brazilian
+sportsman.  It was not even professional football, they said; but an
+acrimonious discussion was closed by a strong hint from the Treasury
+that pay-day might be postponed indefinitely if too much were made of a
+regrettable accident to the guns of the Maceio artillery.
+
+Meanwhile, Dom Corria, the man who did not forget, was puzzled by two
+circumstances not of national importance.  San Benavides, never a
+demonstrative lover where Carmela was concerned, was a changed man.  He
+was severely wounded during the fight, and Carmela nursed him
+assiduously, but there could be no doubt that he was under her thumb,
+and would remain there.  The indications were subtle but unmistakable.
+Carmela even announced the date of their marriage.
+
+Dom Corria remembered, of course, what San Benavides and his daughter
+had said when they all met in the ballroom.  It seemed to him that
+Salvador was telling the truth and that Carmela was fibbing on that
+occasion.  But he let well enough alone.  It was good for Salvador that
+he should obey Carmela.  He blessed them, and remarked that a really
+"smart" wedding would be just the thing to inaugurate the new reign at
+Rio de Janeiro.
+
+He was far more perplexed by the untimely wrath of Philip Hozier.  He
+thought of it for at least five minutes next morning.  Then he sought
+Dickey Bulmer, who had just quitted Coke's bedroom, and was examining
+the rare shrubs that bordered the lawn.
+
+"What news of that brave man?" asked Dom Corria, and his deep voice
+vibrated with real feeling.
+
+"First-rate, sir," said Dickey.  "The bullet is extracted, and the
+doctor says 'e'll soon be all right.  Leastways, that's wot Iris tells
+me.  I can't talk Portuguese meself, an' pore old Jimmie's langwidge
+ain't fit to be repeated."
+
+The President laughed.
+
+"He is what you call a bundle of contradictions, eh?--a rough fellow
+with the heart of a bull.  But he saved my life, and that naturally
+counts for a good deal with me.  And how is your niece after last
+night's terrible experience?"
+
+"My niece?  D'ye mean Iris?" demanded Bulmer, obviously somewhat
+annoyed.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She's not my niece; she's----"
+
+"Your grand-daughter, then?"
+
+"No, sir.  That young lady 'as done me the honor of promisin' to be my
+wife."
+
+"Oh!" said Dom Corria, fixing his brilliant eyes on Bulmer's vexed face.
+
+"There's no 'Oh' about it," growled Dickey.  "It was all cut an' dried
+weeks ago, an' she 'asn't rued of 'er bargain yet, as far as I can make
+out."
+
+"You mean that the marriage was arranged before the _Andromeda_
+sailed?" said Dom Corria gently.
+
+"W'y, of course.  It couldn't very well be fixed after, could it?"
+
+"No--not as between you and her.  I can vouch for that.  Forgive me,
+Mr. Bulmer--I have a daughter of marriageable age, you know, and I
+speak as a parent--do you think that it is a wise thing for a man of
+your years to marry a girl of twenty?"
+
+"If I didn't, I wouldn't do it."
+
+"But may it not be selfish?"
+
+Then downright Lancashire took hold of the argument.
+
+"Look 'ere, wot are you drivin' at?" demanded Dickey, now in a white
+heat of anger.  He had yet to learn that the President preferred a
+straight-forward way of talking.
+
+"I want you to forego this marriage," he said.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because that charming girl loves another man, but feels that she is
+bound to you.  I understand the position at last.  Mr. Bulmer, you
+cannot wish to break her heart and drive that fine young fellow, Philip
+Hozier, to despair.  Come, now!  Let you and me reason this thing
+together.  Possibly, when she agreed to marry you she did not know what
+love is.  She is high-minded, an idealist, the soul of honor.  What
+other woman would have consented to be separated from her friends on
+Fernando Noronha merely because it increased their meager chances of
+safety?  How few women, loving a man like Philip Hozier, who is assured
+of a splendid reward for his services to this State, would resolutely
+deny the claims of her own heart in order to keep her word?"
+
+Bulmer had never heard anyone speak with the crystal directness of Dom
+Corria.  Each word chipped away some part of the fence which he had
+deliberately erected around his own intelligence.  Certain facts had
+found crevices in the barrier already; Dom Corria broke down whole
+sections.  But he was a hard man, and stubborn.  Throughout his long
+life he had not been of yielding habit, and his heart was set on Iris.
+
+"You are mighty sure that she is wrapped up in this young spark," he
+growled.
+
+"Were I not, I would not have interfered.  Take my advice.  First, ask
+yourself an honest question.  Then ask the girl.  She will answer.  I
+promise you that."
+
+"I'm a rich man," persisted Dickey.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Nobody forced 'er, one way or the other."
+
+"Possibly.  One wonders, though, why she hid herself on the
+_Andromeda_."
+
+"It's true, I tell you.  David said----"
+
+"Who is David?"
+
+"Her uncle."
+
+"In England, I take it, if a man wishes to marry a girl he does not woo
+her uncle.  Of course, these customs vary.  Here, in Brazil----"
+
+Then Bulmer said something about Brazil that was not to be expected
+from one of his staid demeanor.  In fact, he regarded Brazil as the
+cause of the whole trouble, and his opinion concerning that marvelous
+land coincided with Hozier's.  He turned and walked away, looking a
+trifle older, a trifle more bent, perhaps, than when he came out of the
+house.
+
+An hour later, Dom Corria and Carmela met in a corridor.  They were
+discussing arrangements for a speedy move to the capital when Iris ran
+into them.  Her face was flushed, and she had been crying.  Much to
+Carmela's amazement, the English girl clasped her round the neck and
+kissed her.
+
+"Tell your father, my dear, that he has been very good to me," she
+whispered; then her face grew scarlet again, and she hurried away.
+
+"Excellent!" said the President.  "That old man is a gentleman.  His
+friend is not.  Yet they are very much alike in other respects.  Odd
+thing!  Carmela _cara_, can you spare a few minutes from your invalid?"
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Go, then, and find that young Englishman, Philip Hozier.  Tell him
+that the engagement between Miss Yorke and Mr. Bulmer is broken off."
+
+Carmela's black eyes sparkled.  That wayward blood of hers surged in
+her veins, but Dom Corria's calm glance dwelt on her, and the spasm
+passed.
+
+"Yes, father," she said dutifully.
+
+He stroked his chin as he went out to pronounce a funeral oration on
+those who had fallen during the fight.
+
+"I think," said he reflectively, "I think that Carmela dislikes that
+girl.  I wonder why?"
+
+Philip had never, to his knowledge, seen the Senhora De Sylva.  Watts
+spoke of her, remarking that she was "a reel pleasant young lady, a bit
+flighty, p'raps, but, then, 'oo could tell wot any gal would do one
+minnit from the next?"  And that was all.
+
+It was, therefore, something more than a surprise when the
+sallow-faced, willowy girl, black-haired, black-eyed, and most demure
+of manner, whom he remembered to have met in the gateway of Las Flores
+early on the previous day, came to his tent and asked for him.
+
+She introduced herself, and Philip was most polite.
+
+"My father sent me----" she began.
+
+"I ought to have waited on the President," he said, seeing that she
+hesitated, "but several of my men are wounded, and we have so few
+doctors."
+
+She smiled, and Carmela could redeem much of her plainness of feature
+by the singular charm of her smile.
+
+"Dom Corria is a good doctor himself," she said.
+
+"His skill will be much appreciated in Brazil at the present moment,"
+said he, rather bewildered.
+
+"He mends broken hearts," she persisted.
+
+"Ah, a healer, indeed!" but he frowned a little.
+
+"He is in demand to-day.  He asked me to tell you of one most
+successful operation.  The--er--the engagement between Miss Iris
+Yorke--is that the name?--and Mr.--Mr.--dear me----"
+
+"Bulmer," scowled Philip, a block of ice in the warm air of Brazil.
+
+"Yes, that is it--well--it is ended.  She is free--for a little while."
+
+There was a curious bleaching of Philip's weather-tanned face.  It
+touched a chord in Carmela's impulsive nature.
+
+"It is all right," she nodded.  "You can go to her."
+
+She left him there, more shaken than he had ever been by thunderous sea
+or screaming bullet.
+
+"They are cold, these English," she communed, as she passed up the
+slope to the house.  "It takes something to rouse them.  What would he
+have said were he in Salvador's place last night!"
+
+It did not occur to her that Philip could not possibly have been in
+Salvador's place, since God has made as many varieties of men as of
+berries, whereof some are wholesome and some poisonous, yet they all
+have their uses.  And she might have modified her opinion of his
+coldness had she seen the manner of his meeting with Iris.
+
+Visiting the sick is one of the Christian virtues, so Philip visited
+Coke.  Iris had just finished writing a letter, partly dictated, and
+much altered in style, to Mrs. James Coke, Sea View, Ocean Road,
+Birkenhead, when a gentle tap brought her to the door.  She opened it.
+Her wrist was seized, and she was drawn into the corridor.  She had no
+option in the matter.  The tall young man who held her wrist proceeded
+to squeeze the breath out of her, but she was growing so accustomed to
+deeds of violence that she did not even scream.
+
+"There is a British chaplain at Pernambuco," was Philip's incoherent
+remark.
+
+"I must ask my uncle," she gasped.
+
+"No.  Leave that to me.  No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to me
+where you are concerned, Iris."
+
+"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear.  He was always good to me,
+and--and--I have grown a wee bit afraid of you."
+
+"Afraid!"
+
+"Yes.  You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and I
+looked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the
+_Andromeda_."
+
+"I was a boy then, Iris.  I am a man now.  I have fought, and loved,
+and suffered.  And what of you, dear heart?  We went through the
+furnace hand in hand.  What of the girl who has come forth a woman?"
+
+There was an open window at the end of the passage.  Watts had bought,
+or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine.  Schmidt and he were in a
+shaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them:
+
+  "It is always fair weather
+  When good fellows meet together . . ."
+
+
+But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door which
+Iris had left ajar.
+
+"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab.  D--n your eyes, if you come courtin' my
+nurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all.  Wot the----"
+
+"Come in, dear," said Iris.  "The doctor says he is not to excite
+himself.  And he will be so glad to see you.  He has been asking for
+you all day."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+At Pernambuco, his excellency the President of the Republic of Brazil
+was waited on by Admiral Prince Heinrich von Schnitzenhausen, who was
+attended by an imposing armed guard.  After compliments, the admiral
+stated that his Imperial master wished to be informed as to the truth
+or otherwise of a circumstantial statement made by the German Consul at
+Maceio, and confirmed by functionaries at Pernambuco, that on a certain
+date, to wit, September the 2d, he, Dom Corria De Sylva, aided and
+abetted by a number of filibusters, did unlawfully seize and
+sequestrate the steamship _Unser Fritz_, the said steamship being the
+property of German subjects and flying the German flag.
+
+Though the admiral's sentence was much longer than its English
+translation, it only contained a dozen words.  Its sound was fearsome
+in consequence, and its effect ought to have been portentous.  But Dom
+Corria was unmoved.
+
+"There is some mistake," said he.
+
+"Exactly," said the admiral,
+"an-error-the-most-serious-and-not-easily-rectifiable."
+
+"On your part," continued Dom Corria.  "The vessel you name is the
+property of my friend and colleague Dom Alfonso Pondillo, of Maceio.
+He purchased and paid for her on September 1st.  Here is the receipt of
+the former owners, given to the Deutsche Bank in Paris, and handed to
+Senhor Pondillo's agents.  You will observe the date of the
+transaction."
+
+The admiral read.  He read again.
+
+"Ach Gott!" he cried angrily.  "There are some
+never-to-be-depended-upon fools in the world, and especially in
+Hamburg."
+
+"Everywhere," agreed Dom Corria blandly.  Carmela's memory was not
+quite of the hereditary order.  She had forgotten, for three whole
+days, that the letter containing the receipt was in her pocket.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+When Coke was pronounced fit for comfortable travel, David Verity and
+Dickey Bulmer conveyed him home.  They took with them drafts on a
+London bank for amounts that satisfied every sort of claim for the
+sinking of the _Andromeda_.  Judged by the compensation given to the
+vessel's survivors, there could be no doubt that the dependants of the
+men who lost their lives would be well provided for.  Even Watts vowed
+that the President had behaved reel 'andsome, and, as a token of
+regeneration, swore that never another drop o' sperrits would cross his
+lips.  Wines and beers, of course, were light refreshments of a
+different order.  Schmidt, too, sublimely heedless of the diplomatic
+storm he had caused, seemed to be contented.  He taught Watts "_Es gibt
+nur eine Kaiser Stadt_," and Watts taught him the famous chanty of the
+_Alice_ brig and her marooned crew.  But the latter effusion was
+rehearsed far from Coke's deck-chair, because the captain of the mail
+steamer said that although he liked Coke personally, some of the lady
+passengers might complain.
+
+At odd moments David and Dickey Bulmer discussed the partnership.  The
+young people would be home in two months, and then Philip was to come
+into the business.
+
+"We're growing old, David," said Dickey.  "I've got plenty of money,
+an' you'll 'ave a tidy bit now, but there's one thing neether of us can
+buy, and that's youth."
+
+"I don't want to be young again," said David, "but I'd like to go back
+just a year or so--no more.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well, there's bin times w'en--w'en I'd 'ave acted different.  Wot do
+you say, Jimmie?"
+
+Coke, thus appealed to, glowered at his employer.
+
+"Say!" he growled.  "I say nothink.  I know you, David."
+
+Philip and Iris attended Carmela's wedding during their honeymoon.  The
+cathedral at Rio de Janeiro was packed, and Iris was quite
+inconspicuous among the many richly-attired ladies who graced the
+ceremony by their presence.  Nevertheless, Colonel Salvador San
+Benavides favored her with a peculiar smile as he led his bride down
+the central aisle.
+
+She laughed, blushed, and looked at her husband.
+
+"Yes, I saw him," he whispered.  "But I never feared him.  It was you
+that made me sit up.  By the way, old girl, let us cut out the
+reception.  I want to call at the bank, and at a shop in the Rua
+Grande.  You will be interested."
+
+Well, being a good and loving wife, she was interested deeply.  Ten
+thousand pounds was Dom Corria's financial estimate of the services
+rendered by Philip, and Iris was absolutely dumfounded by the total in
+milreis.  But her voice came back when Philip took her to a jeweler's,
+and the man produced a gold cross on which blazed four glorious
+diamonds.  Dom Corria had given her a necklace many times more
+valuable; but this----
+
+"For remembrance!" said Philip.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear!" she murmured, and her eyes grew moist.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL ***
+
+***** This file should be named 19539.txt or 19539.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/5/3/19539/
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+
diff --git a/19539.zip b/19539.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed9ca28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/19539.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d568ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #19539 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19539)