. They'd soon have a
blaze that could be seen fifty miles out at sea. Taking from his pocket
once more the little box, he unwrapped the oilskin and took out one of
the three precious matches. Then, with infinite precautions, stooping
and covering the tiny flicker with one hand to protect it from the wind,
he applied the light. Only one match was necessary. Owing to the extreme
dryness of the wood, the pile caught instantly. A thick column of smoke
rose to the sky, followed by a sharp crackling and long tongue of flame.
More wood and more he kept piling on until he had before him a roaring
furnace. Pleased with the quick result, he shouted to Grace, who was
still inside the cave.

"See here. You'll soon dry yourself by this fire!"

Grace appeared at the mouth of the cave. Busy tending to the fire, his
back turned toward the cliff, he did not see her suddenly recoil as she
perceived him, nor the expression of consternation and terror that came
into her pale, wan face. As he stood there full in the strong light of
the roaring fire, she saw the face of her rescuer distinctly for the
first time. She saw vividly a picture she had seen once before on the
ill-fated ship--the handsome profile of a man bending low over a glowing
furnace, with the shoulders and muscles of a Hercules, and the head and
grace of a Greek god. Transfixed, her bosom heaving, she stood rooted to
the ground. Now she remembered! Now she knew him! He was the fireman
Armitage--the terrible man of the _Atlanta_'s stoke-hole. She was alone
on the island--with that terrible man!

CHAPTER X.

The rest of that morning, Grace, to her intense relief, saw little of
the man into whose abhorrent company she had been so strangely and
unceremoniously thrown. Once the fire was well started Armitage had
disappeared, leaving her in privacy to attend to her immediate needs.
For this much consideration she felt grateful to him. But, after she had
dried her clothes and had time to realize her terrible situation, she
was overwhelmed by the hopeless horror of it. Her faculties well-nigh
paralyzed, her nerves shattered almost to the point of total collapse,
she sank down on a rock under the frowning cliffs, and, looking
helplessly out over the vast and now peaceful sea, started to take
mental stock of the extraordinary predicament in which she suddenly
found herself.

Things had happened so quickly that she had no time for reflection. Bad
as the situation had been