matters which did not concern her. So he said, speaking to
the silent young men a few steps away:

"He was mistaken, gentlemen. John Graham should not be hung. That would
be too merciful."

He resumed his way then, nodding at them as he passed. But he had
scarcely gone out of their vision when quick footsteps pattered behind
him, and the girl's hand touched his arm lightly.

"Mr. Holt, please--"

He stopped, sensing the fact that the soft pressure of her fingers was
not altogether unpleasant. She hesitated, and when she spoke again, only
her finger-tips touched his arm. She was looking shoreward, so that for
a moment he could see only the lustrous richness of her smooth hair.
Then she was meeting his eyes squarely, a flash of challenge in the gray
depths of her own.

"I am alone on the ship," she said. "I have no friends here. I want to
see things and ask questions. Will you ... help me a little?"

"You mean ... escort you?"

"Yes, if you will. I should feel more comfortable."

Nettled at first, the humor of the situation began to appeal to him, and
he wondered at the intense seriousness of the girl. She did not smile.
Her eyes were very steady and very businesslike, and at the same time
very lovely.

"The way you put it, I don't see how I can refuse," he said. "As for the
questions--probably Captain Rifle can answer them better than I."

"I don't like to trouble him," she replied. "He has much to think about.
And you are alone."

"Yes, quite alone. And with very little to think about."

"You know what I mean, Mr. Holt. Possibly you can not understand me, or
won't try. But I'm going into a new country, and I have a passionate
desire to learn as much about that country as I can before I get there.
I want to know about many things. For instance--"

"Yes."

"Why did you say what you did about John Graham? What did the other man
mean when he said he should be hung?"

There was an intense directness in her question which for a moment
astonished him. She had withdrawn her fingers from his arm, and her slim
figure seemed possessed of a sudden throbbing suspense as she waited for
an answer. They had turned a little, so that in the light of the moon
the almost flowerlike whiteness of her face was clear to him. With her
smooth, shining hair, the pallor of her face under its lustrous
darkness, and the clearness of her eyes she held Alan speechless for a
moment, while his brain struggled to seize upon and unders