he remaining five men, therefore, went away in
the boats after breakfast, Sir Reginald taking the precaution to carry
his telephone along with him, in order that Lady Olivia might have the
means of communicating with him in the event of further and more serious
symptoms manifesting themselves in the case of the sick man.

Arrived at the shoal, the divers--Mildmay and von Schalckenberg as
before--went down and got to work; but Barker's absence was felt when it
came to hauling up the full nets, the weight of which proved to be
rather too much for one man to handle, and it therefore became necessary
to haul up the nets one at a time, discharge both into the same boat,
and, when she was as full as was thought desirable, leave her, shifting
over to the other boat and loading her in the same way. The consequence
of this was that they were late in completing their cargoes, and it was
already considerably past the luncheon-hour when at length they lifted
their anchors and started back toward the lagoon. Nothing had been
heard in the mean time from Lady Olivia, from which circumstance it was
deduced that the patient was at all events no worse.

Scarcely, however, had the boats got under way when the bell of the
telephone in Sir Reginald's pocket began to ring, and he whipped the
instrument out with the remark--

"Hillo! what does this mean? Nothing very serious, I hope."

He pressed the thumb of one hand upon the small red knob of the
instrument, and with the other hand inserted the tube of it into his
ear.

Almost instantly he heard his wife's voice calling to him--

"Reginald! Reginald! are you there, and can you hear me?"

"Yes, dear, I am here; and can hear you quite distinctly," answered Sir
Reginald. "What is the matter? Nothing wrong with Barker, I hope. Is
he any worse?"

"Worse!" echoed Lady Olivia's voice, in accents of intense indignation.
"There is nothing the matter with him--the wretch--except that he has
stolen the _Flying Fish_, and is making off with her--and us."

"_What_!" ejaculated Sir Reginald, in a tone of such profound
consternation that those in the other boat heard him, and von
Schalckenberg, sheering in close alongside, demanded to know what was
wrong. Sir Reginald, still listening at his telephone, held up his hand
for silence. Lady Olivia was still speaking.

"Yes, it is quite true," she continued. "You had scarcely been gone an
hour, this morning, when he suddenly presented hims