sly at the little Chinese maiden,
who was sewing away industriously as she rocked to and fro on the
hatch. Immersed in her own thoughts the girl, removing her quick eyes
from the flying needle, glanced up at the deep-blue sky, and, smiling,
shivered in a sort of ecstasy.

CHAPTER III

At dinner Peter met the notables. It seemed the fat and handsome
captain had taken a fancy to him. And it was as Peter had deduced
earlier. These passengers were stodgy Dutchmen, each with a little
world of his own, and forming the sole orbit of that little world. For
the most part they were plantation owners escaping the seasonal heat
for the cool breezes of a vacation in Japan, boastful of their
possessions, smug in their Dutch self-complacency, and somewhat
gluttonous in their manner of eating.

The fat captain beamed. The fat plantation owners gorged themselves
and jabbered. The three-piece orchestra played light opera that the
world had forgotten. The company became light-hearted as more frosty
bottles of that exotic drink, _arracka_, were disgorged by the _Persian
Gulf's_ excellent ice-box. And all the while, speaking in light,
soothing tones, Romola Borria gazed alluringly into the watchful eyes
of Peter Moore.

At length the chairs were pushed back, and Peter, with this fairy-like
creature in a dinner-gown of most fetching pink gossamer clinging to
his arm, took to the deck for an after-dinner Abdullah.

They chatted in low, confiding tones of the people in the dining-room.
They whispered in awe of the Southern Cross, which sparkled like frost
on the low horizon. She confessed that at night the moon was her god,
and Peter, feeling exalted under the influence of her exquisite charm,
the touch of the light fingers upon his arm which tingled and burned
under the subtle pressure, became bold and recited that verse of
"Mandalay" wherein "I kissed her where she stood."

It was quite thrilling, quite delicious, and altogether quite too fine
to last.

After a while, when they were passing the door of the wireless cabin,
Romola squeezed his arm lightly and expressed a desire to have him send
a message, a message she had quite forgotten. When Peter replied that
such a message would be costly, involving an expensive retransmission
by cable from Manila to Hong Kong, she only laughed.

Peter snapped on the green-shaded light and handed her pad and pencil.
Dropping lightly to the couch which ran the length of the oppos