dn't _fall_ overboard."

"You didn't?" cried Alice, not noticing the accent Jepson put on one
word.

"No, Miss. Not exactly."

He looked around as though to make sure no one was listening, and then,
in a hoarse whisper, he said:

"I didn't _fall_ overboard. I was _tossed_!"

Then, before she could ask him what he meant, he gave her a warning
glance, and passed on. Just as he did so, Captain Brisco came along the
passage way.

"I was just coming down to see how you were," he said, with a quick look
at Alice. "I didn't know you were here, Miss DeVere," he continued,
rather awkwardly. "Hope the accident didn't upset you."

"Oh no," she said, glad that it was rather dark, and that the commander
could not notice how pale she had become at hearing the ominous words of
the old sailor.

"Accidents will happen, but they don't always end so luckily," the
captain went on. Jack Jepson had passed up on deck, and Alice, not
feeling in the mood for talking, passed to her cabin. Captain Brisco,
after a moment of hesitation, went up on deck again, and, had anyone
observed him, they would have seen him in close conversation with Hen
Lacomb. The two men spoke in low tones.

Jack Jepson was soon himself again, and on duty as though nothing had
happened. But he had created a very queer state of mind in Alice DeVere.
Her suspicious were increased, and she asked herself a multitude of
questions she could not answer. Nor dared she repeat them, even to her
sister.

"If he were tossed overboard, who did it?" she asked herself. "And why?
The only one near him was Lacomb, and what object could he have in
wanting to drown Jack? Oh, I can't understand it! I _must_ ask Jack what
he meant."

This was not so easy to do as Alice had expected. She wanted to speak to
the old sailor privately, but there was no chance.

That afternoon there began the taking of some of the more important
scenes of the marine drama. These scenes were those that had to be
filmed on the ship itself, and they kept everyone busy. Besides, Alice
did not want to make too obvious an effort to talk to the old salt, as
she feared Captain Brisco would become suspicious. There was a nameless
mystery in the air that had its effect on Alice. Ruth noticed a
difference in her sister, and questioned her about it, but Alice was
able to say it was due to the difficult and exacting work of the new
drama, and, in part, it was.

Several days passed, and she had had no chance to