we could beat up to our
destination. The boat was of about ten tons burden, with a full deck,
broken only by a well leading to the cabin; a low rail ran round the
bulwarks, for the yacht was intended for pleasure excursions and the
accommodation of ladies. The members of the party sat in a group on the
edge of the well, and I took the helm. Chrysophrasia was in a
particularly Oriental frame of mind. The deep blue sky, the emerald
green of the hills, and the cool clear water rippling under the breeze,
no doubt acted soothingly upon her nerves.

"I feel quite like Sindbad the Sailor," she said. "Mr. Griggs, you ought
really to tell us a tale from the Arabian Nights. I am sure it would
seem so very real, you know."

"If I were to spin yarns while steering, Miss Dabstreak," I said, "your
fate would probably resemble Sindbad's. You would be wrecked six or
seven times between here and Kavak."

"So delightfully exciting," murmured Chrysophrasia. "Annie," she
continued, addressing her sister, "shall we not ask Mr. Griggs to wreck
us? I have always longed to be on a wreck."

"No," said Madame Patoff, glancing at her foolish sister with her great
dark eyes. "I should not like to be drowned."

"Of course not; how very dreadful!" exclaimed Miss Dabstreak. "But
Sindbad was never drowned, you remember. It was always somebody else."

"Oh--somebody else," repeated Madame Patoff, looking down at the deep
water. "Yes, to drown somebody else,--that would be very different."

I think we were all a little startled, and Hermione looked at Paul and
turned pale. As for Cutter, he very slowly and solemnly drew a cigar
from his case, lit it carefully, crossed one knee over the other, and
gazed fixedly at Madame Patoff during several minutes, before he spoke.

"Would you really like to see anybody drowned?" he asked at last.

"Why do you ask?" inquired Madame Patoff, rather sharply.

"Because I thought you said so, and I wanted to know if you were in
earnest."

"I suppose we should all like to see our enemies die," said the old
lady. "Not painfully, of course, but so that we should be quite sure of
it." She laid a strong emphasis on the last words, and as she looked up
I thought she glanced at Paul.

"If you had seen many people die, you would not care for the sight,"
said the professor quietly. "Besides, you have no enemies."

"What is death?" asked Madame Patoff, looking at him with a curiously
calm smile as she asked the questio