CHAPTER PAGE I. MY COUSIN 1 II. THE ‘BRIDE’ 10 III. LAURA JENNINGS 17 IV. IN THE SOLENT 27 V. LONG TOM 39 VI. FINN TESTS THE CREW’S SIGHT 50 VII. SAIL HO! 58 VIII. WE SPEAK THE ‘WANDERER’ 67 IX. A SQUALL 76 X. I GO ALOFT 84 XI. THE PORTUGUESE BRIG 92 XII. A SECOND WARNING 105 XIII. I INTERPRET THE WARNING 116 XIV. MUFFIN GOES FORWARD 126 XV. I BOARD A WRECK 136 XVI. WE SIGHT A SCHOONER-YACHT 147 XVII. WE RAISE THE SCHOONER 156 XVIII. IS SHE THE ‘SHARK?’ 166 XIX. A MYSTERIOUS VOICE 178 XX. MUFFIN IS PUNISHED 188 XXI. HEAVY WEATHER 198 XXII. THE ‘LIZA ROBBINS’ 206 XXIII. THE COLONEL AND HER LADYSHIP 215 XXIV. THE DUEL 224 XXV. THE COLONEL’S FUNERAL 235 XXVI. WILFRID’S DELUSION 247 XXVII. A DEAD CALM 263 XXVIII. A TERRIBLE NIGHT 274 XXIX. A VOLCANIC ISLAND 286 XXX. WE BOARD THE GALLEON 297 XXXI. THE FIRST NIGHT 308 XXXII. THE GALLEON’S HOLD 321 XXXIII. THE SECOND NIGHT 334 XXXIV. CONCLUSION 348 AN OCEAN TRAGEDY. CHAPTER I. MY COUSIN. ‘Sir Wilfrid Monson, sir,’ exclaimed my man. It was half-past ten o’clock at night, and I was in my lodgings in Bury Street, St. James, slippers on feet, a pipe of tobacco in my hand, seltzer and brandy at my elbow, and on my knees the ‘Sun’ newspaper, the chief evening sheet of the times. ‘Sir Wilfrid Monson, sir.’ My cousin! thought I, starting, and looking round at my man with a fancy in me for a moment that he had got the wrong name. ‘Show him in.’ Sir Wilfrid entered in a sort of swift headlong way, full of nervousness and passion, as was to be seen easily enough; and then he came to a dead stop with a wild look round the room, as if to make sure that I was alone, and a frowning stare at my servant, who was lingering a moment on the threshold as though suddenly surprised out of his habits of prompt sleek attendance by a fit of astonishment.