nd for the money you lent me; but now
that I know what was underneath your seeming kindness I am no more
grateful, and I shall do my best to punish you for the wicked trick you
have played upon me. As for attempting to prove that I am--what name did
you give the woman?--well, anybody except myself, you will find it
impossible. I have powerful friends who would travel far to save me from
any trouble. You cannot keep me a prisoner on board this yacht. You must
touch again at land before long, and then I shall go away and tell every
one what has happened on your _Bella Cuba_."

"We shall see," said Virginia.

"We _shall_ see," echoed the Countess. "And now I am going to my
stateroom. Perhaps I may hope to be free from persecution there."

She swept away, looking gorgeously beautiful, and as proud as a queen
bent on holding her crown against the people's will.

Virginia stood still, watching her; and when the tall, stately figure had
disappeared, a crushing sense of defeat fell upon the girl.

Only a few moments ago, as time counted, she had felt that, with Maxime
Dalahaide's rescue, she had every wish of her heart fulfilled. But now
she saw the position of affairs with changed eyes. It was as different as
a flower-decked ballroom seen by the light of a thousand glittering
candles, and again by sunrise when the candles had burnt down and the
flowers faded.

Maxime was out of prison; there was that, at all events, to be thankful
for, and there was nothing at New Caledonia which could even attempt to
give chase to the wicked little _Bella Cuba_. Nevertheless, the French
Government had a long arm, and would not quietly let a convict sentenced
for life be snatched away without making a grab to get him back again.
Virginia had known this from the first, but when Roger had pointed the
fact out to her as one of the difficulties to be encountered, she had
said in the beginning: "If we have the luck to rescue him we shall have
the luck to hide him," and afterward, when she had seen the Countess de
Mattos at Cairo, she had amended the prophecy by saying: "If they catch
us we shall be able to prove his innocence."

It had all seemed very simple, and she had been impatient with Roger for
bringing up so many discouraging objections to her impulsively formed
plans. He had gone in with them at last, without, however, pretending to
be convinced, and she had bribed him with a virtual promise of marriage.
He had done all that she had