Part 56 (1/2)

”Most decidedly I could tell you things--” The purser stopped, for experience had taught hied with them at least ten tilish law on an English shi+p”

And then, in the silence created by the resting orchestra, all in the saloon could hear a clear, piercing wo:

”Ladies and gentleht on the subject of the injustice ofover the gallery rail As she proceeded a startled hush changed to uproar And in the uproar could be caught now and then a detached phrase, such as ”For exaoverned shi+p”

Possibly it was just this phrase that roused the northerner in the purser He rose and looked towards the captain's table But the captain was not dining in the saloon that evening Then he strode to the centre of the saloon, beneath the renowned doraphed for the illustrated papers, and sought to destroy Isabel Joy with a singlefailed, he called out loudly:

”Be quiet, madaave hilance far more homicidal than his own, and resumed her discourse

”Steward,” cried the purser, ”take that woman out of the saloon”

The whole co up, and raze the purser's shoulder With the celebrity of a sprinter the round-floor and was iallery Accounts differed, afterwards, as to the exact order of events; but it is certain that the leader of the band lost his fiddle, which was broken by the lusty Isabel on the purser's head It was known later that Isabel, though not exactly in irons, was under arrest in her state-rooht of that for herself, if she's as smart as she thinks she is,” said Edward Henry, privately

VI

Though he was on the way to high success his anxieties and solicitudes seemed to increase every hour Immediately after Isabel Joy's arrest he becaan to dispatch vivid and urgent telegra the cost On the next day he began to receive replies (It was the e that the Marconi operator had had since the sinking of the _Catherine of Siena_, in which episode his proh the air had certainly saved two hundred lives) Edward Henry could scarcely sleep, so intense was his longing for Sunday night--his desire to be safe in London with Isabel Joy! Nay, he could not properly eat! And then the doubt entered his ht For the _Lithuania_ was lagging

Sheit on purpose to ruin him Every day, in the auction-pool on the shi+p's run, it was the holder of the lower field that pocketed the money of his fellow-men The _Lithuania_ actually descended below five hundred and forty knots in the twenty-four hours

And no authoritative explanation of this behaviour was ever given

Upon leaving New York there had been talk of reaching Fishguard on Saturday evening But now the prophesied moment of arrival had been put forward to noon on Sunday Edward Henry's sole consolation was that each day on the eastward trip consisted of only twenty-three hours

Further, he was by no means free from apprehension about the personal liberty of Isabel Joy Isabel had exceeded the prograed between them It had been no part of his scheme that she should cast plates, nor even break violins on the shi+ning crown of an august purser The purser was angry, and he had the captain, a er-strike if she was not iht proceed with her hunger-strike; he well knew that it would be impossible for her to expire of inanition before the arrival at Fishguard

The case was serious, because Isabel Joy had created a precedent

Policearded as the lawful prey of militants, but Isabel Joy was the first of the ed to persons of neither of those classes And the authorities of the shi+p were assuredly inclined to hand Isabel Joy over to the police at Fishguard

What saved the situation for Edward Henry was the factor which saves most situations--namely, public opinion When the saloon clearly realized that Isabel Joy had done what she had done with the pure and innocent ailo-Saxon in the saloon ranged itself on the side of true sport, and the matter was lifted above urated to buy a new fiddle, and to pay for shattered crockery And the a for the crockery, a couple of dozen new fiddles The unneeded balance was given to Seaes The purser was approached The captain was iht to bear In short, the wheels that are within wheels went duly round And Miss Isabel Joy, after apologies and promises, was unconditionally released

But she had been arrested

And then early on Sundaythe shi+p met a storm that had a sad influence on divine service; a storm of the eminence that scares even the brass-buttoned occupants of liners' bridges The rumour went round the shi+p that the captain would not call at Fishguard in such weather

Edward Henry was ready to yield up his spirit in this fearful crisis, which endured two hours The captain did call at Fishguard, in pouring rain, andSunday newspapers that were full of Isabel's arrest on the stea triuht And newspaper correspondents also came aboard, and all the way on the tender, and in the sheds, and in the train, Edward Henry and Isabel Joy were subjected to the journalistic experiton at 9 PM Isabel had won by three hours The station was a surging throng of open-ht of his priceless charge, but he sent Harrier to despatch a telegram to Nellie, whose wifely interest in his nored

And even now his mind was not free He saw in front of hiuish

VII