hese signs his courage flickered
out and left him speechless. Even commonplace statements of fact were
denied him. At last in sheer desperation he referred to the loudness of
the clock's ticking.

"It seems to me to be the same as usual," said the girl, with a slight
emphasis on the pronoun.

The clock ticked on undisturbed. Upstairs the amiable captain did his
part nobly. Drawers opened and closed noisily; doors shut and lids of
boxes slammed. The absurdity of the situation became unbearable, and
despite her indignation at the treatment she had received Miss Drewitt
felt a strong inclination to laugh. She turned her head swiftly and
looked out of window, and the next moment Edward Tredgold crossed and
took the captain's empty chair.

"Shall I call him down?" he asked, in a low voice.

"Call him down?" repeated the girl, coldly, but without turning her
head. "Yes, if you----"

A loud crash overhead interrupted her sentence. It was evident that in
his zeal the captain had pulled out a loaded drawer too far and gone over
with it. Slapping sounds, as of a man dusting himself down, followed,
and it was obvious that Miss Drewitt was only maintaining her gravity by
a tremendous effort. Much emboldened by this fact the young man took her
hand.

"Mr. Tredgold!" she said, in a stifled voice.

Undismayed by his accident the indefatigable captain was at it again, and
in face of the bustle upstairs Prudence Drewitt was afraid to trust
herself to say more. She sat silent with her head resolutely averted,
but Edward took comfort in the fact that she had forgotten to withdraw
her hand.

"Bless him!" he said, fervently, a little later, as the captain's foot
was heard heavily on the stair. "Does he think we are deaf?"

CHAPTER XXII

Much to the surprise of their friends, who had not expected them home
until November or December, telegrams were received from the adventurers,
one day towards the end of September, announcing that they had landed at
the Albert Docks and were on their way home by the earliest train. The
most agreeable explanation of so short a voyage was that, having found
the treasure, they had resolved to return home by steamer, leaving the
Fair Emily to return at her leisure. But Captain Bowers, to whom Mrs.
Chalk propounded this solution, suggested several others.

He walked down to the station in the evening to see the train come in,
his curiosity as to the bearing and general state of