y they were separated by
the widest gulf imaginable. Even with him to attend to her wants she
would be as much alone on this island as if he were not there. A common
stoker was hardly fit to breathe the same air as a girl who was heiress
to millions, accustomed to all the refinements of wealth.

He looked at her for a moment in silence. His face flushed and his lips
moved as if he were about to make some angry retort. With a visible
effort he mastered himself, and, turning on his heel, he walked slowly
away.

Grace's first impulse was to recall him. Only her pride prevented her
running after him. Already she regretted her hasty words. She would have
given almost anything to unsay them. She had not intended to be
discourteous to this man. Whatever his character might be, however low
he might be in the social scale, he had rendered her a service she could
never repay. He had saved her life. Yet, thoughtlessly, needlessly, she
had hurt his feelings. What utter folly it was to boast of her social
position in her present predicament. She thought with bitterness how
little her culture and education could help her now. Their situation was
precarious enough without making matters worse by senseless bickerings.

Wearily she sank down on a rock, angry with herself, apprehensive of the
consequences of her speech. She had had reason to fear him before; by
her own foolishness the rupture was now definite. This new
misunderstanding would certainly add to her discomfort and perhaps
lessen her chances of escaping from this worst of horrors--a living
death!

Looking out to sea, she strained her eyes in every direction in the hope
of catching a glimpse of some vessel which to her would mean safety and
home. The thick black smoke from the fire Armitage had started was
still rising in a straight column to the sky. If there happened along a
craft of any description their signal could not fail to be seen. But her
tired eyes swept the horizon in vain. There was not a speck on the vast
expanse of shimmering blue to give her the slightest encouragement. Her
heart sank within her. All signs of the recent hurricane had
disappeared. Once more Nature was in holiday garb. The ocean reflected
the turquoise-blue of the cloudless heavens; the air, gently stirred by
a balmy breeze, was fragrant with the odor of spices. There was no trace
of the wreck or of the missing life-boats. The ocean had completely
engulfed the steamship. What the fate of the