'll launch her if your honour bids me," said Peter Walsh. "But what
use will she be to you when she's in the water? She'll not work to
windward for you under the little lug that's in her, and it's from the
west the wind's coming now."

He looked round the sky as he spoke.

"Glory be to God!" he said. "Will you look at what's coming. There's
thunder in it and maybe worse."

Sir Lucius took Lord Torrington by the arm and led him out of earshot of
the police sergeant and Peter Walsh.

"We'd better not go today, Torrington. There's a thunder storm coming.
We'd simply get drenched."

"I don't care if I am drenched."

"And besides we can't go. There isn't a boat. We couldn't get anywhere
in that little thing of Priscilla's. After all if she's on an island
today she'll be there tomorrow."

"If that fool of a sergeant told us the truth this morning," said Lord
Torrington, "and there's some man with her I want to break every bone in
his body as soon as I can."

"He'll be there tomorrow," said Sir Lucius, "and I'll see that there's a
boat here to take us out."

CHAPTER XVIII

Priscilla and Frank left the quay at half past seven against a tide
which was still rising, but with a pleasant easterly breeze behind
them. Once past the stone perch Priscilla set the boat on her course for
Craggeen and gave the tiller to Frank. She herself pulled a spinnaker
from beneath the stern sheets and explained to Frank that when she had
hoisted it the boat's speed would be considerably increased. Then she
made him uncomfortable by hitting him several times in different parts
of the body with a long spar which she called the spinnaker boom.

The setting of this sail struck Frank as an immensely complicated
business. He watched Priscilla working with a whole series of ropes and
admired her skill greatly, until it occurred to him that she was not
very sure of what she was doing. A rope, which she had made fast with
some care close beside him, had to be cast loose, carried forward,
passed outside a stay, and then made fast again. There appeared to be
three corners to the spinnaker, and all three were hooked turn about on
the end of the boom. Even when the third was unhooked again and the
one which had been tried first restored to its place Priscilla seemed
a little dissatisfied with the result. Another of the three corners was
caught and held by the clip-hooks on the end of the halliard. Priscilla
moused these carefully, explainin