Страница 278 из 416

For a moment he stared without seeing anything, and then a slight

rustling in a far corner diverted his attention. He looked

sharply and saw a woman rise from a lounge and come toward him

with outstretched hands.

She was Elsa Mallaby!

CHAPTER XXIV

THE SIREN

He saw the glad smile on her lips, the light in her great,

lustrous, dark eyes, and the beauty of her faultless body, and

yet they all faded to nothing beside the astounding and

inexplicable fact that she was in the mystery schooner.

"You here!" he gasped, taking her hands in his big rough ones and

gripping them tight. The impulse to draw her to him in an embrace

was almost irresistible, for not only was she lovely in the

extreme, but she was from Freekirk Head and home, and his soul

had been starved with loneliness and the ceaseless repetition of

his own thoughts.

"Yes," she replied in her gentle voice, "I am here. You are

surprised?"