the pirate
submarine, with comments on the probable future of the souls to which
Merton had alluded.

On his desk the masked captain stood silent. 'We have women on board!'
he answered Merton at last.

'You may lower them in a collapsible boat, if you have one,' answered
Merton. 'But, on the faintest suspicion of treachery--the faintest
surmise, mark you, I switch on my torpedo.'

'What are your terms?' asked the pirate captain.

'The return of the bullion, that is all,' replied the voice of Merton. 'I
give you two minutes to decide.'

Before a minute and a half had passed the masked captain had capitulated.
'I climb down,' he said.

'The boats of the _Flora_ will come for it,' said Merton; 'your men will
help load it in the boats. Look sharp, and be civil, or I blow you out
of the water!'

The pirates had no choice; rapidly, if sullenly, they effected the
transfer.

When all was done, when the coffers had been hoisted aboard the _Flora
Macdonald_, Merton, for the first time, hailed the yacht.

'Will you kindly send a boat round here for me, Mr. Macrae, if you do not
object to my joining you on the return voyage?'

Mr. Macrae shouted a welcome, the yacht's crew cheered as only Britons
can. Mr. Macrae's piper struck up the march of the clan, '_A' the wild
McCraws are coming_!'

'If any of you scoundrels shoot,' cried Merton to his enemies, 'up you
will all go. You shall stay here, after we depart, in front of that
torpedo, just as long as the skipper of my vessel pleases.'

Meanwhile the boat of the _Flora_ approached the friendly submarine;
Merton stepped aboard, and soon was on the deck of the _Flora Macdonald_.

Mr. Macrae welcomed him with all the joy of a father re-united to his
daughter, of a capitalist restored to his millions.

Bude shook Merton's hand warmly, exclaiming, 'Well played, old boy!'

Merton's eyes eagerly searched the deck for one beloved form. Mr. Macrae
drew him aside. 'Emmeline is below,' he whispered; 'you will find her in
the saloon.' Merton looked steadfastly at the millionaire, who smiled
with unmistakable meaning. The lover hurried down the companion, while
the _Flora_, which had rapidly got up steam, sped eastward.

Merton entered the saloon, his heart beating as hard as when he had
sought his beloved among the bracken beneath the cliffs at Castle Skrae.
She rose at his entrance; their eyes met, Merton's dim with a supreme
doubt, Emmeline's frank and clear. A b