der
lock and key. It occurred to her that she could have no end of
housewifely thrills if she doled them out to him in niggardly
quantities, at stated times, instead of turning them over to him in
profligate abundance.

"I'm sure I don't know," he said, taking a short inhalation. "I've never
had the poison habit."

"I say, Chase, can't you just see Rasula's face when he learns that
we've been drinking the water all along and haven't passed away?" cried
Deppingham, brightening considerably in contemplation of the enemy's
disgust.

"And to think, Mr. Chase, we once called you 'the Enemy,'" said Lady
Agnes in a low, dreamy voice. There was a far-away look in her eyes.

"I appear to have outlived my usefulness in that respect," he said. He
tossed the stub of his cigarette over the balcony rail. "Good-bye!" he
said, with melancholy emphasis. Then he bent an inquiring look upon the
face of the Princess.

"Yes," she said, as if he had asked the question aloud. "You shall have
three a day, that's all."

"You'll leave the entire fortune to me when you sail away, I trust," he
said. The Deppinghams were puzzled.

"But you also will be sailing away," she argued.

"I? You forget that I have had no orders to return. Sir John expects me
to stay. At least, so I've heard in a roundabout way."

"You don't mean to say, Chase, that you'll stay on this demmed Island if
the chance comes to get away," demanded Lord Deppingham earnestly. The
two women were looking at him in amazement.

"Why not? I'm an ally, not a deserter."

"You are a madman!" cried Lady Agnes. "Stay here? They would kill you in
a jiffy. Absurd!"

"Not after they've had another good long look at my warships. Lady
Deppingham," he replied, with a most reassuring smile.

"Good Lord, Chase, you're not clinging to that corpse-candle straw, are
you?" cried his lordship, beginning to pace the floor. "Don't be a fool!
We can't leave you here to the mercy of these brutes. What's more, we
won't!"

"My dear fellow," said Chase ruefully, "we are talking as though the
ship had already dropped anchor out there. The chances are that we will
have ample time to discuss the ethics of my rather anomalous position
before we say good-bye to each other. I think I'll take a stroll along
the wall before turning in."

He arose and leisurely started to go indoors. The Princess called to
him, and he paused.

"Wait," she said, coming up to him. They walked down the hallway
togeth