they were due.

But I was determined not to meet them now. There was still time for Miss
Van Buren to find some excuse and wreck the tour, if she were annoyed by
my obstinate determination to know her. To-morrow there will not be
time, unless she cares to make a scene; and I don't think she is a girl
to make scenes.

"No. I'll leave your friends to you, for the present," said I. "We ought
to start by ten to-morrow, and I'll be on hand at nine."

"I know not whether to curse or bless you," said the Mariner. But I gave
him no time to do either. I was off, and out of the way before I could
be noticed and recognized by the occupants of the cab. Then, back to the
Club I came to write a short letter to Robert, and to jot down a few
happenings for my own benefit later.

X

It was nine in the morning--a clean-washed morning of blue and
gold--when I arrived on board "Lorelei," with a small box which my man
brought me from Liliendaal, according to telegraphed orders.

No one was there but the chauffeur, though on board the barge
"Waterspin" the "handy man" had arrived, and was settling into his new
quarters. Toon de Jongh is his name, and I conceived a liking for his
grave brown face, at sight. I know his type well, a type which excels in
deeds, not words, and was bred in the Low Countries by certain policies
of Philip Second of Spain. He liked me too, for some reason or other, I
saw by his eyes, in a way one never mistakes but can never explain.

I had to find my quarters on the barge, and going below, on the first
door I saw a visiting card of Mr. Ronald L. Starr's conspicuously
pinned, with the one word "Alb" printed large upon it, in red ink.
Chuckling, I took possession of the cabin, hauled my things out from my
box, and had got them mostly packed in lockers and drawers, when I heard
the sound of voices on "Lorelei."

She was there. What would she say when she discovered that the man she
had "thanked enough and didn't want to see again" had foisted himself
upon her party?

The evil moment couldn't be postponed for long. I might give them time
to go below, and add the contents of their dressing-bags to the
belongings they had bestowed in the cabins yesterday afternoon, but that
would take fifteen minutes at most, and then they would be wanting to
start. I should have to get on board "Lorelei," be introduced, and face
the music, whether it played the "Rogue's March," or "Hail, the
Conquering Hero!"

The so