word "_Andromeda_," twice embossed on the sharp
cut-water, was hidden by the jutting rocks on both sides of the cleft.

But it was not the fear of instant death following on the discovery
that the Grand-pere islet was inhabited that kept tongues mute and ears
on the alert during a quarter of an hour that seemed to be protracted
to a quarter of a day. At present they were shut off from hostile
bullets by the walls of a fortress stronger than any that could be
built by men's hands. The greater danger was that the enemy's
suspicions might be aroused. Let those who held Fernando Noronha with
the armed forces of Brazil once come to regard the isolated rock in mid
channel as providing even a possible refuge for the ex-President and
his friends, and it would mean the complete overthrow of the slender
chance of saving their lives that still offered itself.

So they waited in silence, watching the rigid figure of the prostrate
Brazilian, just as those among them who were saved from the _Andromeda_
had watched the arch of spray and spindrift from the slowly sinking
forecastle.

At last Domingo turned his head slightly, and gave them a reassuring
little nod. He said something, which De Sylva translated.

"They have a photograph of the wreck," he said, "and are now steaming
through the northerly channel to the anchorage on the west side of the
island. Most fortunately, they do not seem to be aware of your
drifting boat."

Then he added, with a courtliness that was so incongruous with his
unkempt appearance and patched and tattered garments;--"If the Senhora
permits, the men may smoke now. In another hour the channel will not
be navigable. We have a hot and tiring day before us, and I advise
sleep for those to whom it is vouchsafed. If the weather continues to
improve, the next tide will bring us a smooth sea. Given that, and a
dark night--well--we may make history. Who knows?"

CHAPTER VII

CROSS PURPOSES

Though Iris gave such warlike counsel, it would be doing her a grave
injustice to assume that her gentle disposition was changed because of
the day's sufferings. The erstwhile light-hearted schoolgirl and
youthful mistress of her uncle's house had been subjected to dynamic
influences. The ordeal through which she had passed, unscathed bodily
but seared in spirit, had left her strung to a tense pitch. Relaxation
had not come--as yet. She only knew that she resented to the uttermost
the Brazilians' ma