ke, so relieved at his respite
that he bustled away as if victorious, winking shrewdly at Mamise--who
winked back, with some difficulty.

She waited till he was a short distance off, then she murmured,
quickly:

"Don't jump--but Nicky Easton is coming here in the next few days; I
don't know just when. He told Jake; Jake told me. What shall we do?"

Davidge took the blow with a smile:

"Our little guest is coming at last, eh? He promised to see you first.
I'll have Larrey keep close to you, and the first move he makes we'll
jump him. In the mean while I'll put some new guards on the job
and--well, that's about all we can do but wait."

"I mustn't be seen speaking to you too friendly. Jake thinks I'm
fooling you."

"God help me, if you are, for I love you. And I want you to be
careful. Don't run any risks. I'd rather have the whole shipyard
smashed than your little finger."

"Thanks, but if I could swap my life for one ship it would be the best
bargain I ever bought. Good-by."

As she ran back to her post Davidge smiled at the womanishness of her
gait, and thought of Joan of Arc, never so lovably feminine as in her
armor.

CHAPTER V

Days of harrowing restiveness followed, Mamise starting at every word
spoken to her, leaping to her feet at every step that passed her
cottage, springing from her sleep with a cry, "Who's there!" at every
breeze that fumbled a shutter.

But nothing happened; nobody came for her.

The afternoon of the Liberty Loan drive was declared a half-holiday.
The guards were doubled at the gates, and watchmen moved among the
crowds; but strangers were admitted if they looked plausible, and
several motor-loads of them rolled in. Some of them carried bundles of
circulars and posters and application blanks. Some of them were of
foreign aspect, since a large number of the workmen had to be
addressed in other languages than English.

Mamise drifted from one audience to another. She encountered her
team-mate Pafflow and tried to find a speaker who was using his
language.

At length a voice of an intonation familiar to him threw him into an
ecstasy. What was jargon to Mamise was native music to him, and she
lingered at his elbow, pretending to share his thrill in order to
increase it.

She felt a twitch at her sleeve, and turned idly.

Nicky Easton was at her side. Her mind, all her minds, began to
convene in alarm like the crew of a ship attacked.

"Nicky!" she gasped.

"No n