hadow
that present harsh treatment would be added to the terrors of the
future. Violet knew enough of human nature to be aware that the same
attitude which would quell the loose tongue of a man like Brant would
only goad a bully of her own sex to grosser indignities.

The reply which she received came, therefore, as a welcome surprise.

"No, madam, I am not your gaoler, but I will be your friend if you will
let me be," said Miss Jimpson, her clenched lips relaxing into a
reassuring smile that changed her into a kindly woman with all the magic
of a transformation scene. "I was trapped on to this villainous ship
only this morning--same as you were to-night. I'm just as keen to get
off it as you can be."

CHAPTER XXV

THE LAST CHANCE FAILS

The daughter of the millionaire and the draper's assistant stood eyeing
each other for twenty seconds in growing mutual approval, and then the
hearty ring of Miss Nettle Jimpson's rather powerful voice prevailed.
Their hands met in a grasp that at once testified to true comradeship
and to sympathy for the other's plight. Violet would have drawn the
other down on to the couch beside her, but Miss Jimpson, with a glance
at the door, resisted the friendly invitation.

"Better not," she said in her matter-of-fact way. "One of those beasts
might take it into his head to come in at any minute, and it won't do
for them to think that we're going to be thick together. I've just given
one of them a smack in the face that will last him quite a while, but it
wasn't exactly judicious. They know I'm not fond of them, but my cue
isn't open rebellion till I'm driven to it."

So Miss Jimpson remained standing while at Violet's request she
recounted the story of her enforced enlistment, and of all that had
happened on the _Cobra_ since. She waxed humorous at her own expense
over the inducement held out by Brant to pacify her--that she was to act
as companion to a lady passenger; and she described her subsequent
surmise that she was to assist at an elopement. Again she went on to
relate how Leslie Chermside had shattered that latest theory, first in
words and secondly by wild dismay on hearing Violet's voice in the
launch alongside.

"I knew then that he might be your sweetheart, but that he certainly
wasn't on board the _Cobra_ to run away with you," said Nettle simply.
"He was like a crazy creature in his wish to stop you from coming
aboard. He expected to be killed in the attempt, and