“Yes; I will fix it immediately. When do you occupy the center of the stage?”
“To-morrow. I will let you know in due season.”
“All right, old chap. I will be glad when it is all over. So long.”
There are many happy hearts on the America this night. The meeting between the sisters, Helen and Louise, was a dramatic one, and after affectionate confidences had been exchanged each sought the man she loved best.
But a shadow of sadness hovers about the four as they sit on the quarter-deck and watch the big white moon rise out of the sea. Now that all the excitement is over Van Zandt has dropped back into his old reserve, and the consciousness of his odd relations to Louise Hathaway reverts to him with unpleasant keenness. Ames is moody and abstracted and only the incessant flow of spirits of Jack Ashley, who joins the group with Juanita, keeps the little party alive.
But bedtime comes early, for everyone is thoroughly tired, and the party disperses with many a fervent “Good-night, and pleasant dreams.”
And as Van Zandt prepares to go below he feels a touch on his arm and turns to see John Barker. “Mr. Van Zandt, will you grant me a few minutes before you retire?” requests the detective.
“Certainly,” is the reply. “Come to my stateroom.”
Ashley rises early the next morning and as he smokes his after-breakfast cigar Barker joins him.
“I shall want you at ten o’clock, promptly,” says the detective. “Meet me in the private cabin, or whatever it is called on shipboard. I have secured exclusive use of it for an hour.”