"I can!" I cried. "I will go with the party if you say so."

"But if Captain Newmarch orders you to stay with the yacht?"

"He can order away," I spluttered. "I am going where Leith is going,
that is as long as Leith accompanies you and your father."

Something moved on the top of the galley as I put my resolution into
words, and I sprang up quickly. The moon made every inch of the yacht as
bright as day, yet I was not quick enough in my rush. A tin pan, knocked
down by the eavesdropper, rolled across the deck, but the spy had fled.

"Some one was listening to us," I explained as I returned to the girl's
side.

"I am sorry then that I asked you to accompany us," she murmured. "I am
dragging you into our troubles, Mr. Verslun, and it is not right."

"Hush!" I cried. "Your troubles are mine just because you are a woman
out on the very fringe of the earth where you can get no one else to
help you bear them. You see I can claim a right in this spot. This is
the jumping off place of the world down here, and an offer of assistance
must not be refused."

She stood in front of me, a tall, splendid figure, the moonlight
silvering the piled masses of hair and giving one the impression that
her head was surrounded by a shining halo. Suddenly she put out her hand
and took mine.