Jack Jepson was soon himself again, and on duty as though nothing had happened. But he had created a very queer state of mind in Alice DeVere. Her suspicious were increased, and she asked herself a multitude of questions she could not answer. Nor dared she repeat them, even to her sister.
"If he were tossed overboard, who did it?" she asked herself. "And why? The only one near him was Lacomb, and what object could he have in wanting to drown Jack? Oh, I can't understand it! I must ask Jack what he meant."
This was not so easy to do as Alice had expected. She wanted to speak to the old sailor privately, but there was no chance.
That afternoon there began the taking of some of the more important scenes of the marine drama. These scenes were those that had to be filmed on the ship itself, and they kept everyone busy. Besides, Alice did not want to make too obvious an effort to talk to the old salt, as she feared Captain Brisco would become suspicious. There was a nameless mystery in the air that had its effect on Alice. Ruth noticed a difference in her sister, and questioned her about it, but Alice was able to say it was due to the difficult and exacting work of the new drama, and, in part, it was.
Several days passed, and she had had no chance to speak to Jack. Each day was filled with work, or rehearsals, and some of the films had to be taken several times, due to the uncertain footing on the deck of the ship, which produced awkward motions on the part of the actors.
It was on a warm afternoon, with a hint of a storm in the atmosphere, when Mr. Pertell said:
"Well, I guess that will do for a while. This will pretty nearly bring us up to the shipwreck scene. We shall have to make a landing on one of the islands here, to get the proper background."
They were then well down among the West Indies.
"Where do we land?" asked Alice, who was on deck with her sister, standing near Jack Jepson, who was acting as lookout, with a telescope in his hand.
"Well, I'm not particular," Mr. Pertell said. "Perhaps Jack can suggest a good place."