"Like a woman!" said the friendly voice even more crisply. "Do you think women are fools?" she was beginning, when she caught his eye and broke off. For she had met Sir Roland’s mother and she knew his young wife quite well, and her Aunt Lynette, the one living being whom she worshipped, was one of his closest friends. No! To this man women were sacred. Why had she uttered such a banality? For the life of her she did not know. She drew a sobbing breath, and looked about her vaguely, and suddenly a mist rolled away from her brain. The net of Tragedy whirled high and fell upon her, and the steel trident was driven deep between her ribs again: "I—had forgotten!" She stared upon them. "What must you all think of me?" Saxham’s arm came round her, and Saxham’s voice answered: "Nothing, my dear, but that you are human, and have had a tremendous shock!" She leaned against the Doctor’s great shoulder, sighing: "Thank you! ... I’m all right now! Not going to cry any more.... But Bawne! If we wait long enough there will be news of him? We—shall get him back?" She felt Saxham’s iron muscles jerk, and his ribs heave as though the trident had found a home between them. Perhaps he could not find his voice, for it was the Chief who said: "We are doing everything possible. Mr. Sherbrand is helping. He has been good enough to place the telegraph installation at our disposal and the Wireless also. A call, Burgin?" The undersized clerk had waved a hand from the threshold of the cabin. The Chief vanished. Patrine sighed: "Oh, if there should be news!" "You are too sensible to be bowled over if there happens to be no news," said the Doctor’s voice. But his arm was tense about her waist and she felt the beating of his heart. "Uncle Owen!" Sherbrand had withdrawn out of earshot. She squeezed the kind responsive hand, turned her mouth towards the Doctor’s ear, and whispered tremulously: "Uncle Owen! You don’t know _him_ as I do. That’s why I am so—horribly afraid for Bawne! He would be cruel to anyone you liked, if he hated you. And he is furious with me! I have thwarted him in—something he wishes! He is bad!—dangerous!—do you understand?" "He cannot be a bad pilot with such a record. And in such calm weather there is little danger of an accident. We must be patient; there is nothing else to do at the moment, but wait!" Saxham had feigned to misunderstand her, for very pity, you can conceive. Blurting out her miserable secret in this moment of unselfish sorrow, his heart was wrung in him to an anguish of compassion for Patrine. But no less was he wrung by the truth her words conveyed. His son and Lynette’s was in the power of an evil man! What was David’s daughter saying?