d her foundations and then built cunningly
and securely with the most substantial material that came to hand from
day to day. Her subjects were taking themselves too deeply to heart to
appreciate interference on the part of an outsider, and Mrs. Dan was
wise in the whims of love.

Peggy was not herself for several days after her experience, and the
whole party felt a distinct relief when the yacht finally left the
harbor and steamed off to the west. A cablegram that came the day
before may have had something to do with Brewster's depression, but he
was not the sort to confess it. It was from Swearengen Jones, of Butte,
Montana, and there was something sinister in the laconic admonition. It
read:

"BREWSTER, U.S. CONSULATE, ALEXANDRIA.

"Have a good time while good times last.

"JONES."

His brain was almost bursting with the hopes and fears and
uncertainties that crowded it far beyond its ordinary capacity. It had
come to the point, it seemed to him, when the brains of a dozen men at
least were required to operate the affairs that were surging into his
alone. The mere fact that the end of his year was less than two months
off, and that there was more or less uncertainty as to the character of
the end, was sufficient cause for worry, but the new trouble was
infinitely harder to endure. When he sat down to think over his
financial enterprises his mind treacherously wandered off to Peggy
Gray, and then everything was hopeless. He recalled the courage and
confidence that had carried him to Barbara Drew with a declaration of
love--to the stunning, worldly Barbara--and smiled bitterly when he saw
how basely the two allies were deserting him in this hour of love for
Peggy Gray. For some reason he had felt sure of Barbara; for another
reason he saw no chance with Peggy. She was not the same sort--she was
different. She was--well, she was Peggy.

Occasionally his reflections assumed the importance of calculations.
His cruise was sure to cost $200,000, a princely sum, but not enough.
Swearengen Jones and his cablegram did not awe him to a great extent.
The spending of the million had become a mania with him now and he had
no regard for consequences. His one desire, aside from Peggy, was to
increase the cost of the cruise. They were leaving Gibraltar when a new
idea came into his troubled head.

He decided to change his plans and sail for the North Cape, thereby
adding more than $30,000 to his credit.

CHAPTER