y to release
Feodorovna from confinement in her cabin--nurse and I have been busy
ever since, chafing her poor limbs and soothing her as well as we could.
She suffered agonies at first, but is better now, and has gone to
sleep."

"Good!" responded Sir Reginald. "I am now going to consult with the
rest as to what is best to be done. But do not yet put your telephone
away; I may wish to speak with you again."

Then Sir Reginald, in as few words as possible, repeated Lady Olivia's
story to the others, ending by asking Mildmay, as an experienced seaman,
what he would advise.

"The first thing to be done is to heave these oysters overboard as
quickly as we can get rid of them. The next, of course, is to go full
speed ahead in chase of the ship. It will be a desperately long chase,
however, for these boats can only run twelve knots, while the ship, even
at her slowest, will be going quite ten."

"Precisely," assented the baronet. "Then, there is the question of how
we are going to find the ship. For of course she is far out of sight of
the atoll by this time."

"True," assented Mildmay; "I am thinking about that, too. Ask Lady
Olivia what she can tell us about the course, or courses, that the
fellow has been steering."

"Better take the telephone yourself, old chap, and ask your questions
first-hand," said Sir Reginald, handing over the instrument to the
skipper.

Mildmay took it, and, inserting the small tube in his ear, spoke into
the mouthpiece.

"Are you still there, Lady Olivia?"

"Yes," came the instant reply. "What now, Captain?"

"I want you to tell me what you can about the course that this fellow
Barker is steering. Did you notice it?"

"Yes," answered Lady Olivia; "fortunately I thought of that. He was
steering due east when he released me; and so soon as I got down into
Ida's cabin I took the little aneroid with the compass at its back that
hangs there and set it on the table, so that I could watch it. It was
just eleven o'clock, by the clock in the pilot-house, when we passed out
through the reef; and at twelve o'clock he altered his course to
north-east-by-east, which is the course that he is steering at present."

"Thanks, very much. That will do excellently. Please keep an eye on
that compass, and let us know if he makes any further alterations," said
Mildmay; and when he had received Lady Olivia's answer, he handed back
the telephone to Sir Reginald and, drawing a pencil from one