"There!" said Peter, as he scrawled off the cheque. "Are you satisfied _now_, Sophia?" "I shall be when I see you present it." "Er--yes," he said; "oh! I mean to present it--presently. I--I think I'll take a small glass of brandy before I go, my dear, to keep the cold out." "As you will certainly be in a summer, if not tropical, temperature the next moment," she said, "I should advise you to take nothing of the kind." "I say," he suggested, "suppose I find she has just jumped overboard--what shall I do then?" "Do! Can you possibly ask? You will jump after her, of course!" "It's easy to say 'of course,'" he said; "but I never _could_ swim more than twenty strokes!" "Swim those twenty then, and let come what will; you will be back all the sooner. But don't stand there talking about it, Peter--go!" "I'm going," he said, meekly. "You'll sit up for me, Sophia, if--if I'm late, won't you?" "Don't be absurd!" she said. "You know perfectly well that, as I said before, you won't be away a second." "It won't be a second for you," he said, "but it will be several hours for _me_; and goodness only knows what I may have to go through in the time! However," he added, with an attempt to be cheerful, "it may all pass off quite pleasantly--don't you think it may, Sophia?" "How _can_ I tell? You will only find out by going." "I'm going, my dear--I'm going at once!... You'll give me just one kiss before I start, won't you?" "I will give you no kiss till you come back and I hear what you have done," said Sophia. "Very well," he retorted; "you may be sorry you refused, when it's too late! I may never come back at all, for anything I can tell!" * * * * * And, little as he knew it, he spoke with an almost prophetic anticipation of what was to come. Never again was he destined to stand on that heart-hrug! But he dared not linger longer, as he could see from her expression that she would suffer no further trifling; and he slipped his last cheque under the clock,--with consequences that must be reserved for the next chapter. CHAPTER VIII. Paid in His Own Coin. _In Suspense: a Gleam of Comfort.--Darkness Returns.--The Rock Ahead.--Sir William Lends His Binocular.--Reappearance of an Old Enemy.--A New Danger.--Out of the Frying-pan._ Peter found himself below this time, in the broad passage, furnished with seats and tables for writing, which divided the passengers' cabins. Above, he heard a confused stir and bustle of excitement, the trampling of feet, the creaking and rattle of chains, orders shouted in English and Hindustani. From the absence of all vibration, in the vessel, it was evident that she had been brought to. _Why?_