e Spanish point that edged the tablecloth. At last his
lordship broke the silence.

"He amazes me, this man," said he, in his slow, languid voice that never
seemed to change its level. "That he should alter his course for us
is in itself matter for wonder; but that he should take a risk on our
behalf--that he should venture into Jamaica waters.... It amazes me, as
I have said."

Miss Bishop raised her eyes, and looked at him. She appeared to be very
thoughtful. Then her lip flickered curiously, almost scornfully, it
seemed to him. Her slender fingers drummed the table.

"What is still more amazing is that he does not hold us to ransom," said
she at last.

"It's what you deserve."

"Oh, and why, if you please?"

"For speaking to him as you did."

"I usually call things by their names."

"Do you? Stab me! I shouldn't boast of it. It argues either extreme
youth or extreme foolishness." His lordship, you see, belonged to my
Lord Sunderland's school of philosophy. He added after a moment: "So
does the display of ingratitude."

A faint colour stirred in her cheeks. "Your lordship is evidently
aggrieved with me. I am disconsolate. I hope your lordship's grievance
is sounder than your views of life. It is news to me that ingratitude is
a fault only to be found in the young and the foolish."

"I didn't say so, ma'am." There was a tartness in his tone evoked by
the tartness she had used. "If you would do me the honour to listen,
you would not misapprehend me. For if unlike you I do not always say
precisely what I think, at least I say precisely what I wish to convey.
To be ungrateful may be human; but to display it is childish."

"I... I don't think I understand." Her brows were knit. "How have I been
ungrateful and to whom?"

"To whom? To Captain Blood. Didn't he come to our rescue?"

"Did he?" Her manner was frigid. "I wasn't aware that he knew of our
presence aboard the Milagrosa."

His lordship permitted himself the slightest gesture of impatience.

"You are probably aware that he delivered us," said he. "And living as
you have done in these savage places of the world, you can hardly fail
to be aware of what is known even in England: that this fellow Blood
strictly confines himself to making war upon the Spaniards. So that to
call him thief and pirate as you did was to overstate the case against
him at a time when it would have been more prudent to have understated
it."

"Prudence?" Her voice was scornful