He worked his turn at the pump, then made up his mind to risk no
further delay, but to search the ship's cabins. She was in one of
them, he believed; frightened she must be, possibly ill. He had done
all that the furthest stretch of duty could demand in assistance to the
ship. He would find Agatha Redmond at any cost, if she were aboard the
_Jeanne D'Arc_. Again he thought to himself that he was glad he was
there. Whatever purpose her enemies had, he alone was on her side, he
alone could do something to save her.
It was now long past midnight, but not pitch dark either on deck or on
the sea. The electric lights had gone out long before, but lanterns
had been swung here and there from the deck fixtures. As Jimmy came
up, he thought the men were preparing to lower the boats, but when he
asked about it in his difficult French, the sailor shook his head.
There were more people about than he supposed the yacht carried:
several seamen, three or four other men, and a fat woman sitting
apathetically on a pile of rope. He went from group to group, and from
end to end of the yacht, looking for one woman's face and figure. He
saw Monsieur Chatelard, examining one of the boats. He ran down the
saloon stairway, determined to search the cabins before he gave up his
quest. One moment he prayed that the words of Chatelard might be true,
and that she had never been aboard the yacht; the next moment he prayed
he might find her behind the next closed door.
As James searched below deck, a house palatial disclosed itself, even
in the dim light of the little lanterns. Cabins roomy and comfortable,
furnishings of exquisite taste, all the paraphernalia of the cultured
and the rich were there. Some of the cabin doors were standing open,
and none was locked. Jimmy beat on them, called from room to room,
finding nothing. Every human occupant was gone. Sick at heart, he
again rushed on deck. Was he mistaken, after all? Or had they hidden
her in some secret part of the ship where he could not find her?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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