I had my arms around her now, and for a moment she lay unresisting, her face close to mine; but the next moment she struggled free. "The girl that you loved," she said softly, accenting the last word. "And love now," I rejoined, seizing her again. Then I flung her from me and bolted into my room, on the port side of the passage. The captain had appeared in the dining-room, and seven bells--breakfast time--rang on deck. When she reached the deck I went in to my breakfast. That evening, in the last dog-watch, Grace came to me at the weather-mizzen rigging. "I have questioned him, Jack, and at last he admitted it," she said. "He is a nervous wreck, has been so for a year, and now I know why. Your term was coming to an end and for fear of you he has dragged me all over Europe and the Orient. He had you watched and knew by cable that you had shipped for Hongkong, but did not imagine that you would join this ship, which he found here on our arrival. He did not expect you here for a month." "We made a fast passage out," I answered. "But what about him? What is to be done with him? Is he still a pyromaniac?" "I do not know. It is congenital, and may break out at any time. But at any rate, I am through with him. He has forfeited all my regard. When we get home I shall remain there." "And I suppose you do not want the captain informed of his weakness for fire?" "Not unless you think it necessary, Jack." "I think not," I said. "He is very properly scared and subdued, and knows that I will be watching him." There was little further intercourse between George Morton and myself. He appeared on deck occasionally, but usually in my watch below, and when we met he would turn his head away, much to the chagrin of the captain, who had no knowledge of conditions. He was pale, emaciated, and fidgety in his manner, evidently a very sick man, and beyond all thought of punishment; but I felt no regret at the loss of my vengeance--I had won something better, and was content. His attitude toward his sister, however, was one of doglike devotion and apology, while hers was one of toleration and contempt. He would hasten to meet her at the companion, to help her to a seat, to bring rugs or books, satisfied if she murmured a mere word of thanks. Then he would banish himself and look at her hungrily, waiting to be called. There is no doubt that, up to the limits of his narrow soul, he loved his sister; but it was a love based upon possession--the property instinct, the love of a dog for a cached bone, a bird for its perch, a cat for those who have housed and fed her. He had lost something, and wanted it back; and as it was lost forever I feared for that other love that was part of his being--his love of fire.