“It didn’t make you feel as good as it did me, captain,” returned Dick significantly.
“Well, perhaps not under the circumstances,” laughed the captain. “The only one of our passengers who will not complete the trip is Mrs. Sebastian.”
“And a good thing for all concerned,” declared Colonel Ashton. “I don’t see how she fooled us so completely, Willing.”
“She did though,” returned Mr. Willing. “I would never have suspected her of having any ulterior motives.”
“You wouldn’t listen to me,” said Dick. “I suspected her from the first. Now I can say ‘I told you so.’”
“We’ll place more confidence in your foresight in the future,” declared the colonel.
“I don’t want to run you away,” said Captain Anderson, “but it’s my belief you had all better turn in. You look fagged out, the whole bunch of you. Sleep is the best remedy.”
“You are right, captain,” declared Shirley. “I feel as though I could go to sleep standing on my feet.”
They bade the captain good-night, thanked him again for his assistance, and made their way to their cabin, where, after some further talk, all turned in.
So completely were they exhausted that it was after eight o’clock the following morning when Shirley, the first to awake, sprang up. She glanced out the window of her stateroom. The sun shone brightly, and from the barely perceptible motion of the steamer she knew they were moving.