“There’s money,” Nichols declared solemnly, “some money, that is, that does no one any good.” CHAPTER XXXIII There was a shrill whistle from the captain’s bridge, and the steamer, which had scarcely yet gathered way, swung slowly around. Rushing up towards it through the mists came a little naval launch, in the stern of which a single man was seated. In an incredibly short space of time it was alongside, the passenger had climbed up the rope ladder, the pinnace had sheered off and the steamer was once more heading towards the Channel. The newly-arrived passenger was making his way towards the saloon when a voice which seemed to come from behind a pile of rugs heaped around a steamer-chair, arrested his progress. “Hugh! Major Thomson!” He stopped short. Geraldine shook herself free from her rugs and sat up. They looked at one another in astonishment. “Why, Geraldine,” he exclaimed, “where are you off to?” “To Boulogne, of course,” she answered. “Don’t pretend that you are surprised. Why, you got me the appointment yourself.” “Of course,” he agreed, “only I had no idea that you were going just yet, or that you were on this boat.” “They told me to come out this week,” she said, as he drew a chair to her side, “and so many of the nurses and doctors were going by this boat that I thought I would come, too. I feel quite a professional already. Nearly all the women here are in nurse’s uniform and three-quarters of the men on board are doctors. Where are you going, Hugh?” “Just to the Base and back again to-morrow,” he told here. “There’s a court martial I want to attend.” “Still mysterious,” she laughed. “What have you to do with courts martial, Hugh?” “Too much, just for the moment,” he answered lightly. “Would you like some coffee or anything?” She shook her head. “No, thank you. I had an excellent supper before we started. I looked at some of the cabins but I decided to spend the night on deck. What about you? You seem to have arrived in a hurry.” “I missed the train in London,” he explained. “They kept me at the War Office. Then I had to come down in a Government car and we couldn’t quite catch up. Any news from Ralph?” “I had a letter days ago,” she told him. “It was posted at Harwich but he couldn’t say where he was, and of course he couldn’t give me any news. Father came back from the Admiralty very excited yesterday, though. He says that we have sunk four or five more submarines, and that Ralph’s new equipment is an immense success. By-the-bye, is there any danger of submarines here?” “I shouldn’t think so,” Thomson answered. “They are very busy round the Scilly Islands but we seem to have been able to keep them out of the Channel. I thought we should have been convoyed, though.”