could reach him, symptoms of cramp in one leg had set
in--possibly, because of late he had entirely neglected his exercises.
The first twinge scared him mightily. If it should increase, he would be
doubled up in the water and, in spite of the buoy, go down like a stone.
The prospect racked him with suspense. The cramp again seized him with
demoniacal violence and a red-hot band seemed to tighten round about his
limb....

Was it cramp, or the jaws of a shark?

Petrifying thought!

If ever he had been punished in his life for folly, he was being
punished now!

He glanced wildly over his shoulder, then at the advancing boat. He
tried to call aloud, but his voice was choked with spray. The pain
intensified. It seemed to rise into his thigh and the leg felt wrenched
from its socket. Surely this was the end? A shark----?

Jack remembered no more. He had fainted with the pain of severe cramp
combined with the shock of terror. He had never been wanting in courage,
but physical agony, and the notion of falling a prey to sharks before he
had time to show fight, had caused him to swoon.

And it was at that moment that the boat reached him, and eager hands
snatched him into safety.

Before the boat reached the ship he had recovered, and after a stiff
dose of brandy, was able to take an interest in his rescue.

"I could have sworn a shark had got me," he explained. "The pain was so
excruciating."

"In the water, cramp is the very devil!" said the third officer.

It was a shamed and chastened young man who disappeared into his cabin,
amid hearty congratulations, to change into dry garments. In the face of
so much honest relief and thankfulness, he felt a very worm for his
deceit and trickery. It had been a mean game--a dirty trick he had
played everybody, and Kitty in particular; which might easily have cost
him his life. Truly, he had come to the conclusion that he was not fit
to aspire to any nice girl. Kitty was properly fastidious, and she was
not to be blamed for having recoiled from his unsavoury story, though it
had been the barest outline of his misdemeanours that he had given her.
All the same, it was hardly a yarn for the ears of even modern eighteen!

She being his promised wife, he had felt it due to her to reveal his
past--(lest others should do so!)--and he had no right to rebel against
her verdict, however blasting to his life and happiness--and so on, and
so forth.

In downright self-disgust he kept hi