Miss Edith Herndon and her sister came up on deck at that moment, and if
I was impressed by the calm sweetness of the elder girl's face on the
previous afternoon, the strength and beauty of it as I saw it in the
fresh morning sunlight made my heart pound violently against my ribs.
The prettiness of Miss Barbara made the quiet dignity of the elder
sister more noticeable, and that apparent strength of character made me
doubt Holman's contention that she would be unable to help the scientist
if Leith's motives were discovered to be criminal.

It was Barbara's keen eyes that detected my plaster, and I squirmed as I
saw the light of curiosity in her eyes.

"Oh, tell us how it happened!" she cried. "Please make it a night attack
upon the yacht, Mr. Verslun! I heard a wild cry just after I retired and
I felt sure that war canoes had surrounded us. They always surround the
ill-fated ship, don't they?" she continued merrily. "And the ship is
always ill-fated in all the really thrilling sea stories I have read!"

Leith came sauntering aft as she fired her questions at me, and he
stood near Miss Edith with his dull eyes fixed upon me as I answered.

"I'm afraid I cannot feed your imagination to-day," I replied. "I
tripped over a coil of rope, and the deck sprang up and bumped me."

I glanced at Leith as I spoke, and I fancied I detected a glint of
amusement in the lustreless eyes that were turned in my direction.
Whether it was caused by my hastily constructed lie or by the girl's
inquiries I could not tell, but my dislike for the clumsy giant made me
suspicious about his knowledge of the incident of the preceding evening,