Brett discovers those
diamonds within the next few hours or days?"

He bent closer towards her and his hand passed from her shoulder round
her neck. "When we return to England, if you are willing, we can be
married within a week."

A bright flush suffused her beautiful face. She bent her head and was
silent. It is quite certain that Fairholme would have kissed her had not
Daubeney shouted--

"Look here, you two, flirting on the bridge is strictly forbidden. You
will demoralize the whole crew. Even the pilot cannot keep his eyes off
you."

They laughed and giggled like a couple of children caught stealing
gooseberries. Yet the incident and the words were fraught with a solemn
significance which often came back to their minds in other days.

The party breakfasted on board and then set out to survey the hotels.
Brett's first care was to ascertain the scheduled hours of the train
service between Messina and Palermo. To his joy he discovered that
neither Winter nor the gang he was shadowing could possibly reach the
city until a quarter to four in the afternoon. They decided in favour of
the Hotel de France as being most modern in its appearance and centrally
situated.

The next thing to do was to provide an efficient watch on all sailing
vessels entering the harbour, and here the pilot proved to be a valuable
ally. Brett explained to him that he was most anxious to meet some
people who were coming from Marseilles on a fishing smack named the
_Belles Soeurs_, No. 107. It was possible, he explained, that both the
number and the name might be obliterated, so he wished the pilot, or any
helpers he might employ for the duty, to take particular note of all
strange boats answering to this description, and at once report their
appearance. This the man guaranteed to do. He said that it was quite
impossible for a French-rigged smack to enter Palermo without attracting
his notice.

As the daily remuneration fixed for his services was far beyond any sum
he could earn as a pilot, he set about his task with enthusiasm. He
engaged two assistants to take turns in watching the harbour, and gave
the barrister such assurances of devotion to duty that Brett felt quite
satisfied that Dubois could not arrive in Palermo without his
knowledge. Of course it was quite on the cards that some secluded creek
along the coast might be preferred by the astute schemer as a point of
debarkation, but this was a risk which must be taken.

By approac