The Portuguese nodded as though he understood. Iris looked up when Hozier brought her the cup. The mere suggestion of something to drink made active the parched agony of mouth and throat, but her wry face when she found that the liquid was wine might have been amusing if the conditions of life were less desperate. "Is there no water?" she asked plaintively. The officer, who was following the little by-play with his eyes, realized the meaning of her words. "We have no water, mademoiselle," he said. Then he glanced at the group of bedraggled sailors. "And very little wine," he added. "Please drink it," urged Hozier. "You are greatly run down, you know, though you really ought to feel cheerful, since you have escaped with your life." "I feel quite brave," said Iris simply. "I would never have believed that I could go through--all that," and her childish trick of listening to the booming of the distant breakers told him how vivid was her recollection of the horrors crowded into those few brief minutes. "Be quick, please," put in the elderly Portuguese with a tinge of impatience. "We have no second cup, and there are wounded men----" "Give it to them," said Iris, lifting her face again for an instant. "I do not need it. I have told you that once already. I suppose you think I should not be here." "I am sure our friend did not mean that," said Hozier, looking squarely into those singularly bright eyes. He caught and held them. "I did not mean that the lady should be left to die if that is the interpretation put on my remark," came the quiet answer. "But it was an act of the utmost folly to bring a delicate girl on such an errand. I cannot imagine what your captain was thinking of when he agreed to it." "Wot's that, mister?" demanded Coke. Now that his fit of rage had passed, the bulky skipper of the _Andromeda_ was red-faced and imperturbable as usual. The manifold perils he had passed through showed no more lasting effect on him than a shower of sleet on the thick hide of the animal he so closely resembled. "Are _you_ the captain?" said the other. "Yes, sir. An' I'd like to 'ear w'y my ship or 'er present trip wasn't fit for enny young leddy, let alone----" "That is a matter for you to determine. I suppose you know best how to conduct your own business. My only concern is with the outcome of your rashness. Why did you deliberately sacrifice your ship in that manner?"