``Thank God,'' King exclaimed, breathlessly. ``Then we will
start at once, Madame. Where is she? She must come with us!''

``Of course,'' Clay-assented, eagerly, ``she will be much safer
on the yacht.''

But Hope protested. ``I must get back to father,'' she said.
``The yacht will not arrive until late to-morrow, and the
carriage can take me to him five hours earlier. The family have
worried too long about me as it is, and, besides, I will not
leave Ted. I am going back as I came.''

``It is most unsafe,'' King urged.

``On the contrary, it is perfectly safe now,'' Hope answered.
``It was not one of us they wanted.''

``You may be right,'' King said. ``They don't know what has
happened to you, and perhaps after all it would be better if you
went back the quicker way.'' He gave his arm to Madame Alvarez
and walked with her toward the shore. As the men surrounded her
on every side and moved away, Clay glanced back at Hope and saw
her standing upright in the carriage looking after them.

``We will be with you in a minute,'' he called, as though in
apology for leaving her for even that brief space. And then the
shadow of the trees shut her and the carriage from his sight.
His footsteps made no sound in the soft sand, and except for the
whispering of the palms and the sleepy wash of the waves as they
ran up the pebbly beach and sank again, the place was as peaceful