g. But the newcomer evidently
changed his mind, and turned back. Then came Courtenay's voice, low
but compelling:

"One moment, M'sieu' de Poincilit. A word with you."

The French Count! During the whirl of the previous night, and by
reason of the abiding joy of her morning's reverie, she had failed to
miss the dapper Frenchman. Once, indeed, she had mentioned him to
Isobel, who offered a brief surmise that he might be ill, and keeping
to his cabin. Yet, here he was on deck, and possibly on the point of
seeking an interview with the lady to whom he had paid such close
attention during the early days of the voyage. Perhaps Mrs. Somerville
had told him of the fainting fit, and he was about to make a friendly
inquiry when the captain accosted him. But Elsie's ears, tuned to fine
precision where her lover's utterances were concerned, had caught the
note of contemptuous command, and she was even more surprised by the
Count's flurried answer in French:

"Another time, M'sieu'. I pray you pardon me now. I find I am not
strong enough yet to venture on deck."

"Oh yes, you are, M'sieu'. I want to give you the chance of your life.
Mr. Gray has told me of your behavior, and he charitably added that
your cowardice and treachery might have arisen from ungovernable fear.
Now, if you wish to atone for your conduct, here is an opportunity. I
am taking a boat ashore to try to save some of my men who are
imprisoned there. There is a fair risk in the venture. The outcome
may be death. Will you volunteer to take an oar? That would whitewash
your weather-marks."

"It is impossible. I am too feeble. I cannot row."

"Ah, you swine! Can it be possible that you are a Frenchman? What
sort of countship is it you boast of?"

"Sir, I am a passenger on this ship--"

Courtenay's voice was raised a little.

"Mr. Boyle," he said, "give orders that if this skunk shows his nose
inside the saloon again he is to be kicked out. He can eat his meals
in his stateroom, or in the forecabin with the other savages."

Elsie heard every word. She fancied, too, that Isobel was listening,
though she gave no sign. But the unknown cause of the captain's anger
was as naught compared with the statement that he was about to leave
the ship. That stabbed her with a nameless fear. "Love looks not with
the eyes, but with the mind;" she saw her idyl destroyed, her sweet
dreaming roused into cruel reality. Her understanding heart told her