The girl showed no surprise, only relief. She drew a deep breath, then murmured: “Thank God for that!”
From the motionless figure facing away from her came a question: “You knew?”
“I was certain.”
“How?”
“Both my father and I have seen her.”
“Since—since——?”
“Since her death.”
The standing bulk of Captain Vanton quivered. He reached for the arm of a chair and collapsed in it. He kept his back to his visitor.
“She was drowned at sea?” Mermaid put the question in a shaky voice.
“Aye,” he answered, and the unexpected word had in it a ring of terror.