to be less
painful than I had anticipated. For Mrs Vansittart was far too
experienced in nautical matters to be easily deceived. Moreover, during
my absence there had been time for her to think, and to draw her own
conclusions, not only from what she saw and heard, but also from what
she failed to see and hear--particularly the sound of men's voices and
footsteps. So that, as the meal progressed, I began to understand that
it would require very little effort on my part to bring complete
realisation home to her.

Poor lady! I felt very sorry for her--not so much on account of the
possible hardships, privations, and dangers that only too probably
awaited her, for she was "grit" all through, and I knew that she would
face them all without a murmur; but it was easy to see that she was
grieving over the terrible loss of life that had attended the disaster.
Also, I rather imagined she blamed herself for it. For when I ventured
to beg her not to take the matter too much to heart, she looked at me
through her tears and retorted:

"How can I help taking it to heart, Walter? If I had been content to
enjoy life in the same way that other women of my class do, this would
never have happened. But I must needs go gadding about the world in a
yacht; and this is what has come of it!"

I replied that yachting was not in itself more dangerous than many other
forms of amusement which could easily be named; that thousands indulged
in it year after year with impunity; and that what had befallen us was
neither more nor less than a pure accident, for which she certainly
could in nowise hold herself responsible, since she had navigated the
ship with skill and the observance of every necessary precaution. I
went on to say that the accident had arisen simply from the existence of
a coral reef which nobody had thus far suspected. But my arguments,
sound as I felt them to be, seemed to influence the lady very little, if
at all. I could only hope that time, reflection, and the difficulties
that lay before us would gradually divert her thoughts from the sorrow
that just then seemed to possess her.

At the conclusion of the meal I took her up on the poop and allowed her
to view our surroundings, expounded my theory of the various happenings
that had brought us to our present pass, and explained the steps which I
suggested should be immediately taken. To which she responded by
saying:

"Very well, Walter. Whatever you think necessary