"Are you feeling better?" she inquired, pointedly.
"A little," was the cautious reply. His face took on an expression of anxiety and he spoke of a twinge, lightly tapping his left lung by way of emphasis.
"I hope that I shall not be taken ill here," he said, gravely.
Miss Drewitt sat up with a start. "I should hope not," she said, sharply.
"So inconvenient," he murmured.
"Quite impossible," said Miss Drewitt, whose experience led her to believe him capable of anything.
"I should never forgive myself," he said, gently.
Miss Drewitt regarded him in alarm, and of her own accord gave him a third cup of tea and told him that he might smoke. She felt safer when she saw him light a cigarette, and, for fear that a worse thing might befall her, entered amiably into conversation. She even found herself, somewhat to her surprise, discussing the voyage and sympathising with Mr. Tredgold in his anxiety concerning his father's safety.
"Mrs. Chalk and Mrs. Stobell are very anxious, too," he said. "It is a long way for a small craft like that."
"And then to find no treasure at the end of it," said Miss Drewitt, with feminine sweetness.