y ostentatiously bought thin summer
clothing, saying that it would be summer weather on the sea before she
bade good-bye to the water. Still, Virginia announced that she did not
wish to be bound down to a definite programme, and Kate Gardiner had to
be satisfied with a prospect of vagueness if she intended to be of the
party.

Not for a single moment had she abandoned that intention. Even if she had
not stood to earn a thousand pounds she would have moved heaven and earth
to go, for more and more, as the days of preparation went on, her
curiosity and excitement increased.

Roger Broom, it was clear, had been intensely annoyed when he was
informed that Lady Gardiner had so far overcome her fear of the sea, as
to wish to be a passenger on the _Bella Cuba_. He had said little, but
his face was expressive, and Kate was of opinion that he would have said
a great deal more, had not some strong motive restrained him. Perhaps,
she thought, this motive was fear of rousing her suspicions if he too
emphatically advocated her stopping behind. But--suspicions of _what_?
That was the question she often asked herself, and could never answer.

She had asked it of Loria also, when they met--as secretly as if the bond
between them had been a forbidden love. But if the truth about the
yachting trip had been told, even he had no solution ready for the
puzzle.

At last the yacht, which had been re-painted, was ready, the captain and
crew of picked men, all Englishmen, were engaged, and the _Bella Cuba_
steamed into the harbour at Mentone, exactly one month from the date (as
Kate happened to remember) of the eventful ride into the Valley of the
Shadow.

They were to start in two days, and Lady Gardiner's heart sank at the
thought of all the physical suffering she was doomed to endure.
Nevertheless, when Virginia hinted that, if she chose to think better of
her decision, it was not yet too late, she courageously assured the girl
that she was looking forward to the trip. She had always wanted to see
Egypt!

The yacht was swift, and had proved herself seaworthy, but she was
comparatively small, and when Kate went on board with Virginia to inspect
the accommodation, she was surprised to be shown only five passenger
cabins. Still, as she had been informed that there were to be but four in
the party, she did not see why it would be impossible for Virginia's maid
to go, and ventured to say as much.

"But we have decided to take a doctor,"