ning? That depends," growled Jim. He was being soothed in spite
of himself, and in spite of the direfulness of their situation. But
bad as the situation was, and would be in any case, he could not deny
the proposition that morning and daylight would make it better.

"But aren't you tired already? You must be." James turned closer to
her, trying to read her face. "It was a long night of anxiety, even
before we left the boat. Weren't you frightened?"

"Yes, of course; but I've been getting used to frights of late, if one
_can_ get used to them." Again there was the laugh in her voice, under
all its seriousness, even when she added: "I'm not sure that this isn't
safer than being on board the _Jeanne D'Arc_, after all!"

It was characteristic of James that he forebore to take advantage of
the opening this speech offered. The possible reason of her abduction,
her treatment on board the yacht, her relation to Monsieur
Chatelard--it was all a mystery, but he could not, at that moment, seek
to solve it. Her remark remained unanswered for a little time; at last
he said: "Then the _Jeanne D'Arc_ must have been pretty bad."

"It was," she said simply.

Jim wondered whether she knew more about the crime of which she was the
victim than he knew, or if she had discovered aught concerning it while
she was a prisoner on the yacht. Granting that her person was so
valuable that a man of Monsieur Chatelard's caliber would commit a
crime to get possession of it, why should he have abandoned her when
there was plainly some chance of safety in the boats? He could not
conceive of Monsieur Chatelard's risking his neck in an affair of
gallantry; cupidity alone would account for his part in the drama.
James went over and over the situation, as far as he understood it, but
he did none of his thinking aloud. It flashed on his mind that Miss
Redmond must already have separated him, in her thoughts, from the
other people on the yacht; though perhaps her trust was instinctive,
arising from her own need of help. How could she know that he had
risked his neck twice, now, to follow the Vision?

Swimming slowly, with Agatha's hand at times on his shoulder, James
turned his mind sharply to a consideration of their present position.
They had been alternately swimming and floating, hoping to come upon
the yacht. The darkness of the night was penetrable, so that they
could see a fairly large circle of water about them, but there was no
s