"I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said. "It is a beautiful night. You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, no matter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you will never have a better chance of star-gazing. Look at Sirius up there, brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than any star in southern lat.i.tudes. Our dear old Bear of the north ranks far beyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dust contrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds such l.u.s.ter to the firmament nearer the equator."
Under other circ.u.mstances, Iris would have reveled in just such an opportunity of acquiring knowledge easily. Astronomy, despite its limitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm of wonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal of the infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soul pined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference the instant extinction of the Milky Way.
"I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlier than was necessary," she said. "You and I have not said much to each other since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier."
"Our friends at table are somewhat--difficult. If only you knew how I regretted----"
"Oh, what of that? When I became a stowaway I fully expected to be treated as one. I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourself why I was guilty of such a mad trick?"
"Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain c.o.ke partly expected to have your company."
"That is absurd. He had not the remotest notion----"
"Forgive me, but there you are wrong. He says that your uncle and he discussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool. His theory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship"s larder.
I a.s.sure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the _Andromeda"s_ mess during this voyage."
Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishing in her own ears.
"Being the owner"s niece, I am well catered for?" she cried.
"Something of the sort. It is only natural."
"But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappy creature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuries that would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?"
"Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke."
"It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks, and remembers, and is capable of--of giving evidence."
She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly.
c.o.ke"s counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriage was hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothing else. For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes.
"Things are not so bad as that," he said gently. "I hope I am not trespa.s.sing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you that the skipper was quite explicit, up to a point. He said you were being forced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful----"
"And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?"
"Well, the story sounded all right."
"Hid myself on my uncle"s ship when I wished to avoid marrying the man of his choice?"
Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes off the starlit sea for a few amazed seconds. There was no mistaking the scornful ring in the girl"s words. He could see the deep color that flooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensity of feeling that thrilled while it perplexed.
"Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not your motive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us on the this trip, why are you here?" he said.
"Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that my presence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and the crime he had planned to commit. If one wants to avoid hateful people a change of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the money for ordinary travel. Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board the Andromeda without good reason. I have often wished to have a talk with you. I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence. If you agree to help me, something may yet be done. At first, I was sure that Captain c.o.ke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discovered that I knew what was in his mind. But now, I am beginning to doubt.
Each day brings us nearer South America, and--and----"
She was breathless with excitement. She drew nearer to the silent, and impa.s.sive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, she caught his arm with an appealing hand.
"I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme,"
she murmured. "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain, quite _certain_, that the ship will be lost within the next few days."
Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl was saying that which she honestly thought to be true.
"Lost! Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked, and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on to repress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened in her brown eyes.
"Yes, that is what he said--on the rocks, this side of Monte Video."
"He said--who?"
"The--the captain."
"To whom did he say it?"
"Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me."
"How?"
"I do not know. I am half distracted with thinking. What can we do?
Captain c.o.ke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly to him. But, make no mistake--he knows that I heard his very words, and there is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence, that frightens me."
After that, neither spoke during many minutes. The _Andromeda_ jogged along steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beat time to the placid hum of her engines. The st.u.r.dy old ship could seemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through the living waters, marking her track with a golden furrow.
"That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," muttered Hozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in the wheel-house to a.s.sure himself that the man could not, by any chance, overhear their conversation.
"But it is true--dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her hands together and resting them on the high railing of the bridge.
"It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on.
"Don"t you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in any discussion with the man princ.i.p.ally concerned? I want to say this, though--you are in no danger. There is no ship so safe as one that is picked out for wilful destruction. Men will not sacrifice their own lives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is what is intended. So you can sleep sound o" nights--at any rate until we near the coast of Brazil. I can only promise you if any watchfulness on my part can stop this piece of villainy---- h.e.l.lo, there! What"s up? Why is the ship falling away from her course?"
The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that she uttered a slight shriek. It took her an appreciable time to understand that he was speaking to the man at the wheel. But the sailor knew what he meant.
"Something"s gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled. "I wasn"t certain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s"uth"ard. Then she jammed for sure."
Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room.
Already the golden pathway behind the _Andromeda_ had changed from a wavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve. There was a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside the chart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action.
"Steady there!" bellowed Hozier. "Wait until we have examined the gear-boxes. There may be a kink in a chain."
A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck. Some of the men ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting that governed the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap the wooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains. In the midst of the hammering and excitement, Captain c.o.ke swung himself up to the bridge.
"Well, I"m blowed! _You_ here?" he said, looking at Iris. "Wot is it now?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier. "Wheel stuck again?"
"Yes, sir. Has it happened before?"
"Well--er--not this trip. But it "as "appened. Just for a minnit I was mixin" it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin"
hooker off the Irish coast. Ah, there she goes! Everything O.K. now.
W"en daylight comes we"ll overhaul the fixin"s. Nice thing if the wheel jammed just as we was crossin" the Recife!"