Simon laid hold of the door to prevent his closing it and saw Isabel, at the back of the cabin, alive. "Who are you?" asked the villain, uneasily. "Simon Dubosc." There was a pause, a respite before the struggle which Simon believed inevitable. But Rolleston fell back, with haggard eyes: "M. Dubosc? . . . M. Dubosc? . . . The one who was killed just now?" "The same," said a voice in the gangway. "And it was I who killed him, I, Antonio, the friend of Badiarinos whom you murdered." "Ah!" groaned Rolleston, collapsing. "I'm done for!" He was paralysed by his drunkenness, by his state of stupor and even more obviously by his natural cowardice. Without offering the least resistance, he allowed himself to be knocked down and disarmed by Antonio, while Simon and Isabel rushed into each other's arms. "My father?" murmured the girl. "He's alive. Don't be afraid." Together they went to release him. The old lord was at the end of his forces. It was all that he could do to kiss his daughter and press Simon's hand. Isabel too was on the verge of swooning; shaken with a nervous tremor, she fell into Simon's arms, faltering: "Oh, Simon, you were just in time. I should have killed myself! . . . Oh, what degradation! . . . How shall I ever forget?" Great as was her distress, she had nevertheless the strength to check Antonio's hand when he raised it to stab Rolleston: "No, please don't. . . . Simon, you agree, don't you. We haven't the right. . . ." Antonio protested: "You're wrong, Miss. A monster like that has to be got rid of." "Please! . . ." "As you will. But I shall get him again. We have an account to settle, he and I. M. Dubosc, lend me a hand to tie him up!" The Indian lost no time. Knowing the ruse which Simon had employed to remove the guards, he expected them to return at any moment, no doubt escorted by their comrades. He therefore shoved Rolleston to the other end of the corridor and bundled him into a dark cupboard. "Like that," he said, "his accomplices won't find their chief and will look for him outside." He also bound and locked up the big woman, who was beginning to recover from her torpor. Then, despite the exhausted condition of Lord Bakefield and his daughter, he led them to the companion. Simon had to carry Isabel. When he reached the deck of the _Ville de Dunkerque_, he was astounded to hear the rattling sounds and to see the great sheaf of pebbles and water spurting towards the sky. By a lucky coincidence, the phenomenon had occurred just as he announced it and caused an excitement by which he had time to profit. Isabel and Lord Bakefield were laid under the tarpaulin, that part of the wreck being deserted. Then Antonio and Simon went to the companion in quest of news. A band of ruffians came pouring down it, shouting: "The chief! Where's Rolleston?" Several of them questioned Antonio, who pretended to be equally at a loss: "Rolleston? I've been hunting for him everywhere. I expect he's at the barricades."