of those who remained. Now
that the sheer frenzy of the wreck had relaxed, Philip's head was like
to split with the throbbing anguish of the blow he had received. But
his mind was clearer. De Sylva's words, amplifying his own vague
recollection of the scene on board the _Andromeda_, enabled him to
construct a picture of events as they were. And his blood boiled when
he thought of Iris, snatched many times from death, only to face it
once more in the ravening form of starvation and thirst.

"Attack!" he said hoarsely. "How is that possible? A deep and wide
channel separates us from the main island."

The Brazilian, who seemed to have argued himself into a state of stoic
despair, gave a startling answer.

"We have a boat, a sort of boat," he said quietly.

"How many will it hold?"

"Three, in a smooth sea, and with skilled handling. It nearly
overturned when I and two others crossed from the island, a distance of
three hundred yards."

"But we have ropes, clothes, perhaps some few pieces of wreckage. Can
nothing be done to repair it?"

"Meaning that we draw lots to see who shall endeavor to escape
to-night?"

"The men might even do that."

"Ah, yes--the men, of course. I think it hopeless. But, try it! Yes,
certainly, try it!"

A pause, more eloquent than the most impassioned speech, showed how
this frail straw, eddying in the vortex of their fate, might yet be
clutched at. San Benavides, trying vainly to guess what was being
said, blurted forth an anxious inquiry. His compatriot explained
briefly. Somehow, the measured cadence of their talk had a less
reliable sound than the vigorous Anglo-Saxon. They were both brave
men. They had not scrupled to risk their lives in an enterprise where
success beckoned even doubtingly. But they were lacking when all that
remained to be settled was how best to die; in such an hour the men of
an English speaking race will ever choose a fighting death.

This time, it was a woman who decided.

Iris rose to her feet. She brushed back the strands of damp hair from
her face, and with deft hands made a rough-and-ready coil of her
abundant tresses.

"Are you planning to send me with two others adrift in a boat, while
seventeen men are left here?" she asked.

The Brazilian ceased speaking. There was another uneasy pause. Hozier
felt that the question was addressed to him, but he was tongue-tied,
almost shame-faced. Coke, however, did not shirk the task of