"I don't forget. By accident I put morphia in the tonic he takes, and he is now past telepathy for some hours at least. He's sound asleep. I suppose if I had not done it by accident he would have known what I was doing, and so have refused the medicine. Anyhow, accident or no accident, I have done it." "Thank God!" I cried. "And this precious disintegrating agent! They haven't it with them, it seems. To manufacture it in sufficient quantity would be impossible in any civilised country without fear of detection or interruption. Brande has the prescription, formula--what do you call it?--and if you could get the paper and--" "Throw it overboard!" "Rubbish! They would work it all out again." "What then?" I whispered. "Steal the paper and--wouldn't it do to put in an extra _x_ or _y_, or stick a couple of additional figures into any suitable vacancy? Don't you think they'd go on with the scheme and--" "And?" "And make a mess of it!" "Miss Metford," I said, rising from my chair, "I mean Metford, I know you like to be addressed as a man--or used to like it." "Yes, I used to," she assented coldly. "I am going to take you in my arms and kiss you." "I'm hanged if you are!" she exclaimed, so sharply that I was suddenly abashed. My intended familiarity and its expression appeared grotesque, although a few minutes before she was so friendly. But I could not waste precious time in studying a girl's caprices, so I asked at once: "How can I get this paper?" "I said _steal_ it, if you recollect." Her voice was now hard, almost harsh. "You can get it in Brande's cabin, if you are neither afraid nor jealous." "I am not much afraid, and I will try it. What do you mean by jealous?" "I mean, would you, to save Natalie Brande--for they will certainly succeed in blowing themselves up, if nobody else--consent to her marrying another man, say that young lunatic Halley, who is always dangling after her when you are not?" "Yes," I answered, after some thought. For Halley's attentions to Natalie had been so marked, the plainly inconsequent mention of him in this matter did not strike me. "If that is necessary to save her, of course I would consent to it. Why do you ask? In my place you would do the same." "No. I'd see the ship and all its precious passengers at the bottom of the sea first." "Ah! but you are not a man." "Right! and what's more, I'm glad of it." Then looking down at the rational part of her costume, she added sharply, "I sha'n't wear these things again." CHAPTER XIV. ROCKINGHAM TO THE SHARKS.