d brave!" she said simply. "He is so noble! He has
always thought of others."

That the Prince was fond of his sister was manifest, and it was patent,
too, that he was attached to the woman for whom he had thrown all away
and was thus imperilled. Yet I should not have attributed to him
inordinate unselfishness. I made no reply, however, beyond urging her
to follow her brother's example and fortify herself with food. She
waved it aside.

"No, no, I am not hungry! I am only anxious," she said. "Tell me, are
we safe?"

"For the present," I said. "I gather that most of the mutineers are at
the pumps."

"Then we are sinking?" she cried.

"It does not follow," I answered. "Holgate has his own hand to play,
and he will play it. We are safe just now. God answered your prayers,
Princess."

She looked me earnestly in the face and sighed.

"Yes," she said softly.

Meanwhile I discovered that Mademoiselle had picked up her spirits. She
complained of the noise, of the darkness, and of the lack of sleep, but
she found some compensations, now that it was clear that we were not
going to the bottom.

"It was magnificent, Monsieur, that storm!" she exclaimed. "I could see
the demons raging in it. Oh, _ciel_! It was like the terrors of the Erl
Koenig, yes. But what have you there, doctor? Oh, it is beer, English
beer. I am tired of champagne. Give me some beer. I love the bocks. It
calls to mind the boulevards. Oh, the boulevards, that I shall not see,
never, never in my life!"

I consoled her, comforting her with the assurance that we were nearer
the boulevards now than we had been a few hours ago, which in a way was
true enough. She inquired after the Prince pleasantly, also after
Barraclough, and asked with cheerful curiosity when we were going to
land.

I said I hoped it would be soon, but she was content with her new toy,
which was English bottled ale, and I left her eating daintily and
sipping the foam from her toilette glass with satisfaction. I returned
to the music-room and joined the company; and, after a little, silence
fell upon us, and I found myself drift into the slumber of the weary.

I awoke with the grey dawn streaming in by the shattered skylights,
and, sitting up, looked about me. My companions were all wrapped in
slumber, Lane tossing restlessly with the pain of his wound. I walked
to the door and looked out. The sea had gone down, and now lapped and
washed along the sides of the _Sea Queen_. The sky