ent out to me. I know him, too. I
faced his eyes when I came aboard. I staggered with fright and caught
at the ropes, but he did not suspect--I saw in his face that he did
not. He may still trace me and arrest me when I land. If anybody comes
for me, say you met me in the hospital where you work."

Nurse Jennings stood staring into the woman's eyes. Her first impulse
was to ring the bell for the Steward and send for the ship's doctor.
Sudden insanity, the result of acute hysteria, was not uncommon in
women leading sedentary lives who had gone through a heavy strain, and
the troubles of this poor Sister had, she saw, unseated her reason.

"Don't talk so--calm yourself. No one is seeking you. You ought to lie
down. Come--"

"Yes, I know you think I am crazy--I am crazy--crazy from a horrible
fear that stares me in the face--from a spectre that--"

"Sister, you MUST lie down! I'll ring for the Doctor and he--"

Sister Teresa sprang forward and caught the hand of the Nurse before it
touched the bell.

"Stop! STOP!--or all will be lost! I am not a Sister--I am the
scene-painter--the father of that girl! See!" He threw back his hood,
uncovering his head and exposed his short-cropped hair.

Nurse Jennings turned quickly and looked her companion searchingly in
the face. The surprise had been so great that for an instant her breath
left her. Then slowly the whole situation rushed over and upon her.
This man had made use of her privacy--had imposed upon her--tricked her.

"And you--you have dared to come into this room, making me believe you
were a woman--and lied to me about your Hour of Silence and all the--"

"It was the only way I could be safe. You and everybody else would
detect me if I did not shave and fix up my face. You said a minute ago
the dark rings had gone from my eyes--it is this paint-box that did it.
Think of what it would mean to me to be taken--and my little girl!
Don't--don't judge me wrongly. When I get to New York I promise never
to see you again--no one will ever know. If you had been my own sister
I could not have treated you with more respect since I have been in the
room. I will do anything you wish--to-night I will sleep on the
floor--anything, if--"

"To-night! Not another hour will you stay here. I will go to the Purser
at once and--"

"You mean to turn me out?"

"Yes."

"Oh, merciful God! Don't! Listen--you MUST listen. Let me stay! What
difference should it make to you. You have nur