--to open the door they had to
obtain the key from Voles's pocket--the girl was sobbing pitifully. She
heard the revolver shots, and knew not what they betokened. She was so
utterly shaken by these last dreadful hours that she could only cling to
her lover and cry in a frightened way that went to his heart:

"Oh, take me away, Rex! It was all my fault. Why did I not trust you?
Please, take me away!"

He fondled her hair and endeavored to kiss the tears from her eyes.

"Don't cry, little one!" he whispered. "All your troubles have ended
now."

It was a simple formula, but effective. When repeated often enough,
with sufficiently convincing caresses, she became calmer. When he
brought her on deck all signs of the terrible scene enacted there had
been removed. She asked what had caused the firing, and he told her that
Voles was arrested. It was sufficient. So sensitive was she that the
mere sound of the dead bully's name made her tremble.

"I remember now," she whispered. "I was sure he had killed you. I knew
you would follow me, Rex. When I saw you I forgot all else in the joy of
it. Are you sure you are not injured?"

At another time he would have laughed, but her worn condition demanded
the utmost forbearance.

"No, dearest," he assured her. "He did not even try to hurt me. Now let
me take you to my mother."

The captain, thoroughly scared by the events he had witnessed, came
forward with profuse apologies and offers of the ship's hospitality.
Carshaw felt that the man was not to blame, but the _Wild Duck_ held no
attractions for him. He hurried Winifred ashore.

Steingall came with them. The district police would make the official
inquiries as a preliminary to the inquest which would be held next day.
Carshaw must attend, but Winifred would probably be excused by the
authorities. He conveyed this information in scraps of innuendo.
Winifred did not know of Voles's death or the shooting of Fowle till
many days had passed.

Fowle did not die. He recovered, after an operation and some months in a
hospital. Then Carshaw befriended him, obtained a situation for him, and
gave him money to start life in an honest way once more.

There was another scene when Mrs. Carshaw brought Meiklejohn to her
apartment and found Rex and Winifred awaiting them. Winifred, of course,
had never seen the Senator, and there was nothing terrifying to her in
the sight of a haggard, weary-looking, elderly gentleman. She was far
more flu