“I shall be awfully disappointed not to see the play--that is, the third act,” protested Mrs. Harrod. “Well, go ahead,” said Clifton. But he looked decidedly shamefaced. Bonnie May took her position in the middle of the room. She meant to explain what it was they were about to do. She did not know that Flora had come in and was standing just inside the door; nor did she know that Victor and Mr. Addis also arrived a moment later. “This is the situation,” she began. “I am the daughter of the captain of a sailing vessel. Two of the sailors love me, but they have to keep still about it, because I am so far above them. We’re all on the ship, on a voyage, you understand. I love _one_ of the sailors, but I’m afraid to admit it for fear my father will be angry. Then one of the sailors speaks to my father--about his love for me, you know. But my father tells him he must never be guilty of such boldness again. Then the two sailors lead a mutiny, in the hope of getting control of the ship. But the mutiny fails, and the two leaders are put in irons. “I feel so sorry for them that I plan their escape. I know I cannot marry either of them, but I pity them just the same. So I take some of the rest of the crew into my confidence, and they make a raft in secret. Then one night when we are within sight of land I get the other sailors to let them go--the two men who are in irons--and throw them overboard, together with the raft. I mean it all for their own good, though they make the mistake of thinking I wish to have them murdered. Of course, my father isn’t allowed to know anything about all this. It’s done while he is asleep.” “A likely story!” interpolated Clifton. “A very fine situation,” amended Bonnie May. “It is arranged that the sailors who have helped me are to tell my father, when he wakes up, that the two prisoners made their escape and were trying to murder him, when they, the other sailors, threw them overboard in a desperate fight. “Then comes the third act, which we are about to present. A storm comes up and the ship strikes a rock. We are about to sink when the raft drifts into sight. The two sailors who were prisoners are on it. My father urges me to join the sailors on the raft, so that I may be saved. But I know they believe I plotted their murder, and I am as much afraid of them as I am of the sinking ship. The climax comes when the ship sinks and I am thrown into the sea. Of course the two sailors rescue me. Now we will imagine that the curtain has just gone up on the third act.” She turned for an inspection of the “company,” and caught sight of Flora, Victor, and Mr. Addis just inside the doorway. “Don’t mind us,” said Flora. “We hope we’re not interrupting.” But Bonnie May was not to be embarrassed now. She scarcely took pains to answer beyond a swift--“Not at all!” She was earnestly shaping her mood for the work ahead of her.