“Oh, I see. She stipulated, then, for one who knew Corean?”
“Quite so; she told me before we left Chemulpo that she intended to learn the language.”
“Well, Mr. Hemster, what you say relieves my mind a good deal. If she got the woman on the recommendation of the American Consul, everything is all right. The coming of the Prime Minister, and the fact that this Countess understands Corean, made me fear that there might be some collusion between the two.”
“That is impossible,” said Mr. Hemster calmly. “If the Corean Minister had come a day or two before the Countess was engaged, there might have been a possibility of a conspiracy between them; but convincing proof that such is not the case lies in the fact that the Prime Minister would not then have needed to run us down, which he certainly tried to do.”
I had not thought of this, and it was quite convincing, taken in the light of the fact that Miss Hemster had frequently acted in this impulsive way before.
We resolved not to leave the yacht that night, even if we left it at all, now that Miss Hemster had taken herself into the interior. Whatever she thought, or whatever her preferences were, I imagine her father liked the yacht better than a hotel.
Hilda and I went on deck after dinner and remained there while the lights came out all over Nagasaki, forming a picture like fairyland or the superb setting of a gigantic opera. We were aroused by a cry from one of the sailors, and then a shout from the bridge.
“That Chinese beast is coming at us again!”
Sure enough the steamer had left her moorings, rounded inside toward the city, and now was making directly toward us without a light showing.
“Get into the boats at once,” roared the captain.