_ lay at anchor in the harbor of Algiers.
But only the captain and some of the crew were on board. Mrs. Shiffney,
Max Elliot, and Paul Lane had gone off in a motor to Bou-Saada. Alfred
Waring, the extra man who had come instead of Claude Heath, had run over
to Biskra to see some old friends, and Charmian and Susan Fleet were at
the Hotel St. George at Mustapha Superieur.

Charmian was not very well. The passage from Marseilles had been rough,
and she had suffered. As she had never before seen Algiers she had got
out of the expedition to Bou-Saada. And Susan Fleet had, apparently,
volunteered to stay with her, but had really stayed, as she did a great
many things when she was with Mrs. Shiffney, because there was no one
else to do it and Mrs. Shiffney had told her so.

Nevertheless, though she wanted to see Bou-Saada, she was reconciled to
her lot. She liked Charmian very well, though she knew her very little.
And she had the great advantage in life--so, at least, she considered
it--of being a theosophist.

Mrs. Shiffney had not known how to put Charmian off. After hearing again
_Petite Fille de Tombouctou_ she had felt she must get out of Europe, if
only for five minutes. So she had made the best of things. And Charmian
would rather have died than have given up going after Claude Heath's
refusal to go. A run over to Algiers was nothing. They could be back in
England in two or three weeks. So _The Wanderer_ had gone round to
Marseilles, and the party of six had come out by train to meet her
there.

Susan Fleet was one of those capable and intelligent women who are apt
to develop sturdiness if they do not marry and have children. Susan had
not married, and at the age of forty-nine and nine months she was
sturdy. She wore coats and skirts whenever they could be worn, and some
people professed to believe that she slept in them. Her one extravagance
was the wearing of white gloves which fitted her hands perfectly. Her
collars were immaculate, and she always looked almost startlingly neat.
All her dresses were "off the ground." In appearance she was plain, but
she was not ugly. She had a fairly good nose and mouth, but they were
never admired, thick brown hair which no one ever noticed, and a
passable complexion. Her eyes were her worst feature. They looked as if
they were loose in her head and might easily drop out, and they were
rather glazed than luminous, and were indefinite in color. But they were
eyes which reassure