Part 12 (1/2)
At another tihed at the prevalent delusion that she enjoyed Courtenay's confidence so thoroughly But she felt that her co had occurred which he was keeping froone to the saloon to procure the wine so that she e when bad news caed a dozen words with the captain since you refused my help in the fore cabin,” she said ”He had other ress of events to me Why cannot you trust me? I shall not screaain-- Where are the others?”
”Youand Mrs So, they are far enough away by this time When their boat was lowered it was cast off prematurely--”
”Purposely?”
”Well--yes Courtenay had just placed Miss Baring's o the ropes What could we do? We were forced to depend on them”
”Is there no other boat?”
Christobal threw out his hands in his characteristic gesture He was so emphatic that he spilled some of the wine
”You take it bravely,” he said ”I ive you the whole story The first boat lowered was lost, through the , the captain says Then there was a desperate fight for the three reot a few of us together when Isobel and Mrs Somerville joined you here, and we held off such of the ed to loo life-boats, but, between murder and panic, not half of the crew escaped in that way Four men, ere left behind, proe, with Mr Gray as second in co on the captain's orders, brought a can of oil froine-rooical We lowered the boat easily, placed Monsieur de Poincilit on board, because he orse than the woht Isobel, the o without her husband--and the maid There was room for you and another, so, at the captain's request, Tollemache and I tossed for the vacancy
Meanwhile, Courtenay had turned to go for you, e heard a shout from Gray; two of the Chileans had cast off the ropes which kept the boat alongside Gray, as fending her from the shi+p with the boat-hook, jabbed one fellow in the face with it; but he was too late
The boat raced off into the darkness And here we are!”
That Christobal left several things unsaid Elsie knew quite well He plulishto nationality he was a true hidalgo
Indeed, there was a touch of vanity in the way he exane he now poured into Elsie's elass He scrutinized the ith the air of a connoisseur He was looking for the gas to rise in three or four well-defined spirals And he nodded doubtfully, before drinking it, as one ht brand, but of what year?”
Then it dawned on the girl that both her elderly friend and she herself were accepting an extraordinary situation with remarkable nonchalance
”How many of us remain on the shi+p?” she asked
”Very few--on the effective list The captain, an engineer whose name I do not know, Mr Tollemache, and ourselves make up the total”
”Where is Mr Boyle?”
”Ah, poor Boyle! I fear he is done for He is very badly wounded I bandaged him as well as I could, but the call on deck was io to hie has stopped, and I gave hi more for him I told Courtenay it was quite useless to place hiotten”
”I did not iotten,” said Elsie, and, for soo on rapidly:
”We have a whole crowd of injured men on board, Miss Maxwell At present we can render theht it wisest to obey orders
The captain toldyou some wine and re”
”Why do you say that?”
”The shi+p appears to be lodged hard and fast on a reef or sandspit I a If that is so, our only hope is in the raft which our three allies are now constructing With a falling tide we -space at loater As it is, well--”
Christobal, with a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other, nevertheless waved theainst any but the last pang of iure he cut, brandishi+ng his ar aardly on the inclined deck She bent her head to hide the s, the use of his teeth on various wet legs during the tussle for the jolly-boat having caused him to s more salt-water than he cared for Elsie's sy her own thirst she had neglected the dog She took a carafe of water from its wooden stand near the table, and poured some of the contents into a tuht at thea second supply, the _Kansas_ shi+fted again with a disconcerting suddenness The water in the cabin swirled across the floor as the shi+p was restored to an even keel The ed the packet of letters It fell, and Elsie rescued it a second tiuised admiration
”Really,” he said, ”I find you wonderful”