cal forces and which, within the circumference of the
frenzied circle, revolved upon itself in a sort of madness: all this
was so terrifying that women fainted and men threatened the captain
with their levelled revolvers.

The _Castor_ also had begun by fleeing the spot. But the Conte de
Bauge, detecting through his field-glasses the handkerchief which
Simon was waving, persuaded his sailors, despite the desperate
opposition of his friends, to put about, while avoiding contact with
the dangerous zone.

For that matter, the sea was subsiding. The eruption had lasted less
than a minute; and it was as though the monster was now resting,
sated, content with its meal, like a beast of prey after its kill. The
squall had passed. The whirlpool broke up into warring currents which
opposed and annulled one another. There were no more breakers, no more
foam. Beneath the great undulating shroud which the little waves,
tossing in harmless frolic, spread above the sunken vessel, the
tragedy of five hundred death-struggles was consummated.

Under these conditions, the rescue was an easy task. Isabel and Simon,
who could have held out for hours longer, were taken to the two cabins
and supplied with a change of clothing. Isabel had not even lost
consciousness. The yacht sailed away immediately. Those on board were
eager to escape from the accursed circle. The sudden subsidence of the
sea seemed as dangerous as its fury.

Nothing occurred before they reached the French coast. The
oppressive, menacing lull continued. Simon Dubosc, directly he had
changed his clothes, joined the count and his party. A little
embarrassed in respect of Miss Bakefield, he spoke of her as a friend
whom he had met by chance on the _Queen Mary_ and by whose side he had
found himself at the moment of the catastrophe.

For the rest, he was not questioned. The company on board the yacht
were still profoundly uneasy; the thought of what might happen
obsessed them. Further events were preparing. All had the impression
that an invisible enemy was prowling stealthily around them.

Twice Simon went below to Isabel's cabin. The door was closed and
there was no sound from within. But Simon knew that Isabel, though she
had recovered from her fatigue and was already forgetting the dangers
which had threatened them, nevertheless could not shake off the horror
of what she had seen. He himself was still terribly depressed, haunted
by the vision so frightful that it seem