“Bedad ye nadent be thrying to come yer comether over the likes if me, so ye nadent! Mesself don’t like the looks iv ye.”

Captain Spear turned with a smile to Miss Conyers, saying:

“I hope you do not share your companion’s antipathy?”

“If I did,” said Miss Conyers, “I should not show it to a stranger who comes among us, perhaps seeking relief for his own necessities; perhaps to rescue us from our exile.”

The captain bowed, and then said:

“Mr.—Rosenfeldt—is not that the name?”

“Rosenthal,” corrected Britomarte.

“Mr. Rosenthal tells me that you have been on this lone island nearly two years; and in all this time have had no news of your native land.”

“It is quite true.”

“You must have suffered intense anxiety.”