bars. We can't get away."

"But we'll get away some time, won't we?" she gasped.

He shook his head.

"The chances are slim," he replied grimly.

"Then what good is our signal-fire?" she persisted.

"Not much good," he admitted frankly.

Her heart sank. Her face paled, and her lips trembled as she asked:

"Don't you think it'll be seen sooner or later? Ships must pass by here
some time."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Even if they do, they may not see the fire. If a ship passes near this
island it would be a great distance away. It would never occur to them
to look here for signals. Besides, very few vessels do pass. A ship may
not sight our signal for a year, maybe five years, perhaps never. You
remember Alexander Selkirk--Robinson Crusoe. He was twenty-eight years
on Tobago island--in complete solitude."

Grace gave a low moan of distress.

"At least," he went on, after some hesitation, "we have each other."

This remark angered her. She thought it impertinent. The boldness of his
veiled insinuation was more than she could bear. He actually
contemplated the possibility of a permanent stay.

"I couldn't stand it," she cried hoarsely, her eyes filled with scalding
tears. "I would rather kill my self."

He shrugged his shoulders, and that made her all the more angry.

"You don't care," she went on. "You're willing to sacrifice me because
you prefer this kind of existence to the wretched life you've had."

This speech aroused him to action. All his life he had suffered from
injustice. This girl, he thought, was like all the others. For a moment,
he lost his sang-froid.

"You're unjust!" he replied hotly. "I'm doing all I can. Who built the
signal-fire on Mount Hope? I did. Who keeps it going night and day? I
do. It's no fun climbing up that steep hill collecting fresh fuel, but I
do it. Even in my sleep sometimes I wake up in fright, thinking I may
have neglected to throw on enough fuel, fearful that the fire will go
out--my last match gone. I work myself into a cold sweat thinking of it.
I can't sleep. At last I am unable to stand it any longer. I get up and
rush to the hill-top, all for nothing. The signal-fire is still burning
brightly. All that time you are sleeping peacefully. Does that look as
if I didn't care?"

"Forgive me," she murmured between her tears. "I'm peevish and
unreasonable. Forgive me. I'm so unhappy!"

He smiled sympathetically.

"Don't get discouraged," he said kindly. "As lo