“He told me that he had a brother in the Bermudas who was very rich, but who had recently been in ill health,” said Mrs. Belgrave. “Now you have told him that the missing million has been recovered, he will no longer have any reason for pursuing me.” “I am not so sure of that, guardian-mother. The money has come into my possession in accordance with my father’s will; but suppose I should have the measles, be swallowed by a big shark, or be accidentally drowned by falling overboard, to whom would my fortune, including the Guardian-Mother, fall to, as provided by the will?” “You suggest something horrible, Louis,” said his mother with a shudder. “Scoble has two men in his employ at this moment, Brinks and Kimpton, who would not scruple to commit any crime; and for three years I have believed that Scoble was about as bad as a man could be. Frinks is a rascal, and Kimpton burned the Phantom to enable the Maud to get out of that inlet.” “You frighten me, Louis.” “But we must look these things square in the face.” “Where are these men now, my son?” “Scoble and Frinks are in the after cabin under guard, and the other men went forward. I suppose Kimpton is one of them, though I have not looked them over.” At Louis’s request Mrs. Belgrave and Felix McGavonty related the incidents of the voyage of the Maud, till the time she was wrecked. As she had stated before, Scoble had treated her with great kindness and consideration as a rule, for his object was to win her back to him. In the morning she had permitted him to take the money from her room to pay Frinks. The “fiddles” had to be put on the tables for lunch, and when it was ready the captain was called. It was hard work for the party to keep in their seats, and harder still to prevent the dishes from dancing hornpipes. The captain predicted a change of wind before night which would bring better weather. But the sea was rough all the rest of the day, and everybody retired early. The next morning, as the commander had predicted, the wind came from the west, and it had knocked down the sea. When Louis went on deck he found the Guardian-Mother approaching the cluster of islands that form the Bermudas. A pilot was coming off, and he was soon in charge of the steamer. When breakfast was ready the vessel was at anchor off St. George, as Captain Ringgold had decided not to go to the anchorage at Hamilton, for it was necessary to consider the situation very carefully before a decision in regard to the future could be reached. Louis had recovered his mother. The battle had been fought and won for her. “You are safe, Mrs. Belgrave; but the chess-board, with all the men on it, is still spread out before us; and in advance of making any move, it is necessary to ascertain what complications beset us,” said the commander as he rose from the table. “What possible trouble can we have now?” asked Louis, more from curiosity than from fear.