“Lock the door when I go out and on no account open to any voice but mine.�
“I shall remember.�
“And keep up the acting,� I said, “whimper and cower away whenever we are seen together.�
“I shall not forget,� she said, standing very straight, looking at me bravely, her eyes shining.
“And now, good-by.�
I turned away but she caught me by the shoulder. She extended her hand rather high. I was not so dumb as not to understand what she wanted and so I bent and kissed it, and it was no light kiss of gallantry, but I pressed my lips passionately against the little hand.
“May God keep you,� she said, as I turned away, breathing the “Amen� I dared not speak.
I heard the key turn in the lock behind me and with a heart full of misgivings in spite of my stern and resolute purpose, I came out on deck again.
CHAPTER IX
IN WHICH WE ESCAPE TOGETHER FROM THE SHIP
I HAD no idea that it was morning already, the night had passed so quickly. The eastern sky was already gray, and although the day bade fair to be an unpleasant one there was already light enough to distinguish land off to starboard; that side of the ship on the tack on which we were then standing, was to leeward. We had run quite near it in the night. It was still too gray to make out much more than the existence of the land itself, but I thought I saw beyond the nearest island others rising.