--"

"Let me be the man on horseback; and you might be--"

"Yes--the suspense is terrible!--what might I be, your Majesty?"

"Well, we should call you--"

He hesitated, and she wondered whether he would be bold enough to meet
the issue offered by this turn of their nonsense.

"I seem to give your Majesty difficulty; the silence isn't flattering,"
she said mockingly; but she was conscious of a certain excitement as she
walked the deck beside him.

"Oh, pardon me! The difficulty is only as to title--you would, of course,
occupy the dais; but whether you should be queen or empress--that's the
rub! If America is to be an empire, then of course you would be an
empress. So there you are answered."

They passed laughingly on to the other phases of the matter in the
whimsical vein that was natural in her, and to which he responded. They
watched the lights of an east-bound steamer that was passing near. The
exchange of rocket signals--that pretty and graceful parley between ships
that pass in the night--interested them for a moment. Then the deck
lights went out so suddenly it seemed that a dark curtain had descended
and shut them in with the sea.

"Accident to the dynamo--we shall have the lights on in a moment!"
shouted the deck officer, who stood near, talking to a passenger.

"Shall we go in?" asked Armitage.

"Yes, it is getting cold," replied Shirley.

For a moment they were quite alone on the dark deck, though they heard
voices near at hand.

They were groping their way toward the main saloon, where they had left
Mr. and Mrs. Claiborne, when Shirley was aware of some one lurking near.
A figure seemed to be crouching close by, and she felt its furtive
movements and knew that it had passed but remained a few feet away. Her
hand on Armitage's arm tightened.

"What is that?--there is some one following us," she said.

At the same moment Armitage, too, became aware of the presence of a
stooping figure behind him. He stopped abruptly and faced about.

"Stand quite still, Miss Claiborne."

He peered about, and instantly, as though waiting for his voice, a tall
figure rose not a yard from him and a long arm shot high above his head
and descended swiftly. They were close to the rail, and a roll of the
ship sent Armitage off his feet and away from his assailant. Shirley
at the same moment threw out her hands, defensively or for support, and
clutched the arm and shoulder of the man who had assailed Armitage. He
h