Some one has opened it. A face is exposed close to his own, a face that, although not terror-stricken, bears the evidence of sudden alarm, as though the new pitch of the vessel and renewed shrieks from within have aroused fear—a face that John Craig recognizes with amazement.
"Tell me, are we sinking?" she exclaims.
Then she looks again.
"Ah! Doctor Chicago!"
"You here, Pauline Potter?"
The presence of the actress on board the steamer gives him a sudden thrill.
It is no mere accident that brings her, but a part of a deep-laid plan, which perhaps not only concerns him, but one in whom he has taken the deepest interest—Lady Ruth.
That is why he cries out, and his words have more than an ordinary amount of astonishment in them.
"Yes, I am leaving Malta. I have no reason to remain there longer. But tell me the worst, John Craig; are we doomed to go down?"
The vessel does not toss so wildly now, and the wails of the alarmed passengers grow less in volume.