What's ther matter with yer engine ?" "It's all right now--keep your eyes peeled ahead." The steam began to sizz, settling swiftly into a rhythmatic chugging, as the revolving wheel began to churn up the water astern.

Confident of being safely hidden by the darkness, I permitted the current to bear me downward, my muscles aching painfully from the struggle, and with no other thought in my mind except to keep well out of sight of the occupants of the boat.

To be perceived by them, and overtaken in the water, meant certain death, while, if they continued to believe that I had actually sunk beneath the surface, some future carelessness on their part might yield me an unexpected opportunity to serve Rene.

The few words overheard had made sufficiently plain the situation.

Poor Sam had already found freedom in death, crushed between the two colliding boats, but the girl had been grasped in time, and hauled uninjured aboard the heavier craft.