ey're darned persevering."

"It can't be business that brings him here," said the Queen.

"No," said Donovan. "Salissa is not a business centre. It's my opinion
that steamer is having trouble with her engines and has come in here
to tinker a bit; or maybe she's short of water; or the captain's taken
a notion that he'd like some fresh fish and a few dozen eggs. It
doesn't seem to me that we need fret any about what brings him here."

The Queen was not satisfied. She sat for some time on her balcony
looking at the steamer. With the help of a pair of glasses she could
watch what was going on. The long hose which she had seen in the
morning was got on deck and coiled in three great heaps. Then the men
knocked off work for breakfast. After that they became active again.
One end of the hose was lowered into a boat. It seemed to the Queen to
be a rubber hose like those used by firemen. The boat rowed towards
the cave. Another boat lay close to the steamer's bow and received a
loop of the hose, taking some of the strain and drag off the first
boat. She too rowed towards the cave. A third boat followed in the
same way. The Queen saw that the hose was being carried into the
depths of the cave, drooping into the water between the boats, but
sufficiently supported to be dragged on. The work was very slow, but
it was carried on steadily, methodically.

The Queen was much interested in what she saw. After awhile she became
very curious. The proceedings of the men on the steamer were difficult
to understand. There seemed no reason why they should tug a large
quantity of rubber hose into the cave. It was a senseless thing to do.
Then it occurred to her that the cave was hers, part of an island of
which she was Queen, which her father had bought for her from its
legal owner. Any householder would feel himself entitled to
investigate the doings of a party of strangers who appeared suddenly
and pushed a rubber hose through his drawing-room window. They might
be the servants of the gas company or officials sent by the water
board, or sanitary inspectors, but the owner of the house would want
to satisfy himself about them. The Queen felt that she had every right
to find out what von Moll's men were doing.

She called Kalliope and they went off together in their boat, rowing
across the bay towards the steamer.

Kalliope was excited. She talked rapidly in her own language, turning
round now and then and pointing towards the steamer. It