brought this condition upon himself, so why then should I
risk subjecting my wife to unthinkable horrors in a probably
futile attempt to save him from his own brutal folly? You
have no conception, dear, of what would follow were this
pack of cutthroats to gain control of the Fuwalda."

"Duty is duty, John, and no amount of sophistries may
change it. I would be a poor wife for an English lord were I
to be responsible for his shirking a plain duty. I realize the
danger which must follow, but I can face it with you."

"Have it as you will then, Alice," he answered, smiling.
"Maybe we are borrowing trouble. While I do not like the
looks of things on board this ship, they may not be so bad
after all, for it is possible that the `Ancient Mariner' was but
voicing the desires of his wicked old heart rather than speaking
of real facts.

"Mutiny on the high sea may have been common a hundred
years ago, but in this good year 1888 it is the least likely
of happenings.

"But there goes the captain to his cabin now. If I am going
to warn him I might as well get the beastly job over for I
have little stomach to talk with the brute at all."

So saying he strolled carelessly in the direction of the
companionway through which the captain had passed, and a
moment later was knocking at his door.