ight be kings
and nobles in the land. How the wind was dead fair, and they had but to
stretch forth their hands to help themselves."

"Not while I live--not while I live, the mutinous scoundrel," growled
the seaman.

"You are not intended to live," replied the soldier. "We were all to
die, unprepared, and therefore incapable of resistance. Adams and
Simmonds were to share our fate, the raft to be seized, and the loss of
the brig to cover that of the crew and passengers."

"And Dona Isabel?" inquired the captain.

"Was to die to secure her silence," replied Hughes, shuddering.

"A pleasant lot of fellows; and when is this infernal plot to be carried
out?"

"Last night was fixed for its execution, but a fear for the return of
the ship we saw yesterday prevented it, and now it is determined that it
be carried out to-night."

"We may see a sail again to-day, and if we do, we are saved; but again,
we may not," muttered the captain, "and we must be prepared for the
worst."

"We had better, at all events, show no suspicion, but go to our
breakfast as usual."

"I will consult with Lowe; do you tell your old comrade," said the
captain, moodily, as the two moved away.

The simple breakfast was laid out before the cabin-door just as usual.
The steward acted as cook, and Isabel superintended her breakfast table
on the raft, with all the natural grace she would have shown, had she
been in her father's house in sunny Portugal.

Her face was sorrowful, as she advanced to meet Hughes, for yesterday
had indeed brought her a cruel disappointment. So sure had she felt of
rescue, that the blow had been very severe.

"Did I not tell you, Enrico, all is against us? Oh, I dreamed that the
ship we saw yesterday had come back, and so vivid was the dream, that I
lifted the sail expecting to see it," she remarked.

The breakfast finished, Captain Weber and his mate rose to consult the
chart.

"Wyzinski, help us to clear away, and we will get out the chess-board.
I want to speak to you. You can lean over us as we play."

"What on earth is wrong now?" exclaimed Isabel, fixing her large black
eyes on her husband's face.

"Hush, Isabel!" returned Hughes, throwing himself down on the planks, "a
great peril hangs over us. If there was a chance of rescue, I would
have said nothing about it, but the day wears on, and the horizon is
clear."

Isabel looked up. "All seems calm, there is no sign of storm about,"
she remarked.