ould be made to
save Maxime Dalahaide. She had been anxious to earn the other half of the
Marchese Loria's money, and at the same time to pay Virginia and George
Trent for their secretiveness, by letting Loria hear of their arrival, at
least, even if she could tell him no more. That desire had been thwarted
by Dr. Grayle, but Kate considered the act merely postponed. Next time
they coaled--since they must coal somewhere before long--she would
certainly find a way of wiring to Loria, and probably she would have
something much more definite to tell him, that was all. Exactly what that
"something" might be, had been rather vague in her mind; but she had
thought that Virginia, George, and Roger would most likely have found
means to communicate with Dalahaide and give him hope for the future;
perhaps they might even try to put in his hands some means of escape,
after which the _Bella Cuba_ would linger about in these waters, out of
sight of New Caledonia, until he either succeeded in getting away or
failed signally to do so. This plan Kate had considered not beyond the
bounds of possibility; or (she had told herself) Virginia, who was so
enormously, absurdly rich, might be counting upon bribing some lesser
prison authority to help the convict to escape. So daring a girl, sure of
the power of beauty and wealth, and with millions of pounds to play with,
might have conceived such a scheme and have the boldness to carry it out.
She could offer any bribe she liked, and--every man was said to have his
price. It was conceivable now to Kate that Virginia and Madeleine
Dalahaide had had confidences together, and that the mysterious locked
stateroom had been specially fitted up for the benefit of the prodigal.
It would be like Virginia to have made such a wild plan, and to persuade
Roger Broom and George Trent to aid her in carrying it out; yet Kate had
not guessed to what desperate lengths they would be ready to go. She had
forgotten about the yacht's cannon; but when she heard the shot from the
French boat she suddenly remembered them, and wondered, in great terror,
whether they would be put to use. She realized that the trio meant to
stop at nothing to gain their end and that this end was to have Maxime
Dalahaide out of prison at any cost to themselves and others.

Into the midst of her confused deductions broke the yell of a shot from
one of the yacht's guns. It was as if the _Bella Cuba_ were alive and had
given a tiger-spring out