met his in a steady grip.

"That is all for the present, Pedro. She--and he, too--thinks that the
_Loelia_ will not be back in Levuka for three months. But we shall be
here in less than a month. And if I find that Danvers has gone to Sydney
in the monthly steamer, then I shall know how to act," and he tapped the
copy of the letter that was in his breast pocket.

Then Pedro told him the real cause of the quarrel between Dr. Bruce and
Danvers. Brabant heard him with an unmoved face. "I thought as much," he
said briefly.

A few days later, the _Loelia_, instead of laying northwards for the
Line Islands, was at anchor in Apia Harbour in Samoa, and Brabant,
leaving the vessel in charge of his mate, paid a round of visits to
several of his old friends in various parts of the island. At the end
of three weeks he returned on board as calm as usual, and told Diaz to
heave up anchor. By sunset that evening the _Loelia_ was sailing between
the islands of Savaii and Manono, and heading due west for Fiji before
the strong south-east trade wind. Just four weeks from the date of her
departure she re-entered Levuka harbour, and the first news that Brabant
heard was that the _Eagle_, the monthly steamer to Sydney, had sailed a
few days previously, and that among her passengers was Captain Danvers,
who had "been called to Melbourne on matters connected with his
business," but would be returning in a couple of months. He had left
a letter for Brabant, in which, after speaking of company matters, he
said: "I do hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Brabant in
Sydney before she leaves. I daresay I can get her address from your
agents there." As he was reading his letters Bruce came on board.

"You are back sooner than you thought, Brabant."

"Yes. When I got to Samoa I met a German brig bound to the line Islands,
and arranged with her captain to see all my traders for me, as the
_Loelia_ is as leaky as a basket. I'm going to give her a good overhaul
here."

There were of course the usual sneering comments made by the local
female gossips on Captain Danvers's sudden departure for Sydney, so soon
after Mrs. Brabant had left in the _Maritana_. If Brabant knew of them
he took no heed. He went about his work as usual, met his friends, and
attended to the _Loelia's_ repairs in his methodical manner.

Eight weeks passed by, and then the _Eagle_, a slow-crawling old
ex-collier, which did duty as a mail and passenger steamer, entered