"I know well the character of the crew of the 'Nancy.'" "So do I." A deeper pallor overspread the girl's face, as in a low, husky voice she whispered: "I believe they are leading you on." "Leading me on?" "Yes." "I do not understand." "You say you are going off with them?" "Yes." "They would not take a stranger off with them unless they had a purpose." The girl had offered a most startling suggestion. "The circumstances are peculiar, Renie, and I am a good seaman. I have already proved myself of service to them." "That does not alter my idea." "What's your idea?" "I have a suspicion." A moment's silence followed, when the detective asked: "What do you suspect!" "They have recognized you!" CHAPTER XVII. The few sharp quick words of the girl betrayed volumes. Her suggestion was indeed startling; and, what was more; there was not only a possibility, but a probability that her suspicion was correct. A silence followed her words, but at length the detective said: "I shall go off on the yacht, Renie." "And you will never return!" "Yes, I shall return." "Suppose my suspicion is correct, and those men are leading you on?" "It matters not, Renie, I shall go!" "Are you madly seeking death?" "No." "If those men have recognized you, and are playing a part, there will be no chance for you the moment that yacht crosses the bar on her way out to sea." The detective on the impulse of the moment, was prompted to ask: "Suppose they kill me, what will you do, Renie?" The girl was silent until the detective repeated his question. "I know what I shall do!" "What will you do?" "Roam the beach until all hope of the recovery of your body is passed and then I shall lie down and die." She spoke in a weird, despairing tone. "And you have known me but a few hours." "Yes, I have known you to speak to you but a few hours, and yet I have come to believe that all the dreams of my life center in you." The young man advanced and seized the girl's hand; the latter made no effort to withdraw it from his firm grasp. "Renie," he said, "you need have no fear, I am not destined to die at the hands of the smugglers. I am assigned to a certain duty, the opportunity to fulfill my mission is now presented. I shall go on the yacht to-night, but when she returns I will return with her!" "You are determined to go?" "I am." "I shall say no more, but I shall watch." "Yes, Renie, do so; and when the yacht comes sailing up the bay, you may know that I come on her." "I shall not watch for the return of the yacht," said the girl in a sad, despairing tone. "What will you do?" "Wait on the beach to see what the waves will bring me. If, when the deed is done, the tide be flowing in, I may gain something from the waves; but if the tide is on the ebb, I shall never gaze on your face again."