ot touch at Greece, but went straight on to
Alexandria, the sea being so calmly unruffled that even Kate had no
excuse for illness. She might have been very happy in these long, lazy,
blue-and-gold days, if George Trent had been his old self. But the frost
which had withered the flower of his fancy for her that day in the Valley
of the Shadow, had never thawed. He read and smoked a great deal, leaving
Roger Broom to amuse Virginia and Lady Gardiner.

Something went wrong with the engine the morning when they expected to
reach Alexandria and Kate heard talk of a "heated bearing on the
crankshaft," which might have to be taken off, thus delaying them a
couple of days. "But a couple of days!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Surely you mean to stop longer than that!"

"We hadn't thought of it," answered Roger drily.

"Are you going up the Nile then?"

"No; the _Bella Cuba_ is rather big, you know."

"Not so big as the excursion boats that go, is she?"

"Virginia doesn't care about it, anyhow; she loves the sea for its own
sake, and hasn't come as much for sight-seeing as for a complete rest.
While the repairs are being done we shall run up to Cairo by rail, stop a
night at the Ghezireh Palace, and drive out for a look at the Sphinx and
the Pyramids."

"You really are the most extraordinary people!" ejaculated Kate. "I don't
know what to make of you."

Roger smiled, and was silent. He had the air of thinking it of small
importance whether or not Lady Gardiner, who had insisted upon coming on
this trip, knew what to make of her hosts and hostess. But, then, Sir
Roger Broom had never more than tolerated this most charming of
companions.

Kate had kept the master-key which Loria had given her, and had never
ceased to hope for another chance to investigate the locked stateroom,
which might, she told herself sometimes, have a hidden occupant. To be
sure, so far as she knew, no other passengers had come on board at
Naples; but, then, they had all been away from the yacht for several
hours, and some one might have been smuggled into the cabin. With this
fancy lurking in her mind, she would have given much for a second peep;
but she had never found a moment when it seemed safe to run the risk.

She could imagine no reason, if Madeleine Dalahaide had come on board at
Naples, beyond spying-distance of old acquaintances, why she should
remain hidden in the stateroom, unless, indeed, there were some truth in
Loria's suggestion t