held Hope in her arms for an instant, and kissed her, and then gave
her hand in turn to Langham and to MacWilliams.

"I do not know whether I shall ever see you again," she said, looking
slowly from one to the other, "but I will pray for you every day, and
God will reward you for saving a worthless life."

As she finished speaking King came up to the group, followed by three
of his men.

"Is Hope with you, is she safe?" he asked.

"Yes, she is with me," Madame Alvarez answered.

"Thank God," King exclaimed, breathlessly. "Then we will start at
once, Madame. Where is she? She must come with us!"

"Of course," Clay-assented, eagerly, "she will be much safer on the
yacht."

But Hope protested. "I must get back to father," she said. "The yacht
will not arrive until late to-morrow, and the carriage can take me to
him five hours earlier. The family have worried too long about me as
it is, and, besides, I will not leave Ted. I am going back as I came."

"It is most unsafe," King urged.

"On the contrary, it is perfectly safe now," Hope answered. "It was not
one of us they wanted."

"You may be right," King said. "They don't know what has happened to
you, and perhaps after all it would be better if you went back the
quicker way." He gave his arm to Madame Alvarez and walked with her
toward the shore. As the men surrounded her on every side and moved
away, Clay glanced back at Hope and saw her standing upright in the
carriage looking after them.

"We will be with you in a minute," he called, as though in apology for
leaving her for even that brief space. And then the shadow of the
trees shut her and the carriage from his sight. His footsteps made no
sound in the soft sand, and except for the whispering of the palms and
the sleepy wash of the waves as they ran up the pebbly beach and sank
again, the place was as peaceful and silent as a deserted island,
though the moon made it as light as day.

The long-boat had been drawn up with her stern to the shore, and the
men were already in their places, some standing waiting for the order
to shove off, and others seated balancing their oars.

King had arranged to fire a rocket when the launch left the shore, in
order that the captain of the yacht might run in closer to pick them
up. As he hurried down the beach, he called to his boatswain to give
the signal, and the man answered that he understood and stooped to
light a match. King had jumped into the stern an