"
"I'm not finding fault, Simms," returned another voice
which the girl recognized immediately as Divine's; "although I
do think that it was a mistake to so totally disable the Lotus
as you did. Why, how on earth are we ever to return to
civilization if that boat is lost? Had she been simply damaged
a little, in a way that they could themselves have fixed up, the
delay would have been sufficient to permit us to escape, and
then, when Miss Harding was returned in safety to her father,
after our marriage, they would have been so glad to be
reunited that he easily could have been persuaded to drop the
matter. Then another thing; you intended to demand a ransom
for both Miss Harding and myself, to carry out the
fiction of my having been stolen also--how can you do that if
Mr. Harding be dead? And do you suppose for a moment
that Miss Harding will leave a single stone unturned to bring
the guilty to justice if any harm has befallen her father or his
guests? If so you do not know her as well as I."
The girl turned away from the partition, her face white and
drawn, her eyes inexpressibly sad. She rose to her feet, facing
Theriere.
"I have heard quite enough, thank you, Mr. Theriere," she
said.
"You are convinced then that I am your friend?" he asked.
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