yes, that is true," agreed von Schalckenberg. "We might discuss
the matter with Sziszkinski at the breakfast-table--the mention of which
reminds me that I am hungry, while my watch,"--withdrawing the article
mentioned from his pocket and glancing at it--"tells me that breakfast
ought now to be ready."

He glanced round the horizon, which was bare save for the rapidly
receding shape of the convict-ship, and continued--

"I see no reason why, with the approval of Captain Mildmay as our
navigator, we should not remain where we are until after breakfast, by
which time yonder ship will be out of sight, and there will be no one to
note our next movement. There is no particular object in moving from
here, I think, until our point of immediate destination is fixed. What
say you, Mildmay?"

"We can remain here perfectly well," agreed Mildmay. "As you say, there
is no object in moving until we shall have decided in what direction the
movement is to be made, unless, indeed, Sir Reginald has an amendment to
make to your proposition."

"Not I," asserted the baronet. "I quite agree with the professor. Ah,
thank goodness, there is the breakfast bell! This early morning air is
a most wonderful sharpener of the appetite. Come, gentlemen, let us go
below; _the Flying Fish_ is quite capable of taking care of herself for
the next hour or so."

As the four men filed into the dining-saloon from the vestibule, they
were confronted by Lady Elphinstone and her little daughter, Ida, who
were entering the apartment at its other end, from the music-saloon,
where they had already made the acquaintance of Colonel Sziszkinski,
who, with his daughter, followed them a moment later.

The colonel--who since we saw him last, on the deck of the _Flying
Fish_, had exchanged his exceedingly ugly convict garb for a suit of
clothes sent to his cabin by Colonel Lethbridge, who was about the same
height and build as the Russian--was a decidedly good-looking man, still
in the very prime of life, tall and well set up, as a soldier should be,
with ruddy-flaxen hair, moustache, and beard, and a pair of deep blue
eyes that looked one straight and honestly in the face, and could, upon
occasion, flash very lightnings of righteous indignation. The professor
could remember the time when it had been an easy matter to bring a
twinkle of rich humour into those same eyes; but, for the present, at
all events, all sense of humour had disappeared in face of the