tered
the roadstead, and her powerful lamp was now scouring sea and coast for
the missing launch. And in that moment of fresh peril it was forgotten
by all but one of the men who had survived so many dangers since the
sun last gilded the peak of Fernando Noronha, that were it not for Iris
having been left behind, and Philip's mad plunge overboard to go to
her, and the point-blank refusal of the _Andromeda's_ captain and crew
to put to sea without an effort to save the pair of them, the launch
would not now be hidden behind the black mass of the Grand-pere rock.

Nevertheless, the fact was patent. Had the little vessel sailed to the
west, in the assumption that her only feasible course lay in that
direction, she must have been discovered by the cruiser's far-seeing
eye. And what that meant needed no words. The bones of the
_Andromeda_ supplied testimony at once silent and all-sufficing.

[1] The Governor's residence.

[2] The Brazilian milrei is worth 55 cents, or 2s. 3 1/2d. The
Portuguese is worth only one-tenth of a cent.

CHAPTER X

ON THE HIGH SEAS

Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the
sky. But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base.
The warship was in motion. She was about to steam around the group of
islands.

Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange
oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's
hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech. Under pressure of this new
peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline.
The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the
_Andromeda's_ crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when
they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial. It may
be urged that they had suffered much. Out of a ship's company of
twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors. Domingo was
lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he
lived or died. With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from
the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every
Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he
was best able. Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that
Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed. He landed at the same
moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except
their own dangerous plight.

Small wond