sleepy, and sank down in the first chair to think, my eyes on the Captain’s door.  But I was not disturbed.  If this was my case exclusively I doubt if it would have greatly worried me.  Indeed, I might have rejoiced over the outlook, welcoming the excitement, and rough experience promised in a new land.  I possessed the adventurous spirit, and the position offered had its appeal.  But the girl stood directly in the way.  What Henley meant to do with her was problematical—­I had not thought to ask—­but he either intended putting her ashore in Honduras, or else holding her prisoner on board until the Sea Gull returned North.  Either contingency was bad enough, and the suspicion flashed suddenly across me that the final decision would depend on how kindly she might receive the attentions of the Captain.  Nor did I question the result.  I had not known the lady long, but, in that brief time, our relations had been sufficiently intimate to yield me a good insight into her womanly character.  There would be no yielding, no compromise.  Neither threats nor promises would change her attitude in the least.  Not only did she know the fellow to be a lying knave, but he was not of the sort to ever influence her in the slightest degree.  I could imagine how she would look at him, with those searching eyes burning in indignation, and her instant squelching of his first protestations.  There would be no need of my help to repel the insults of such a beast.  But afterwards there would, for I realized also what he would become after such a repulse—­a cold, sneering Nemesis, revengeful, ready to crush even a woman remorselessly.  And he possessed the power, the means to make that revenge complete.  I felt my teeth lock, my hands clinch in sudden anger.  Perhaps I could accomplish little in her defense, but I intended to be free to do that little.  Whatever fate might be in store for us, that sneering, olive-hued devil should receive his deserts if ever he attempted wrong to her.  That had become the one purpose of my heart, for I realized here skulked the real danger, the deeper peril of our situation.

I may have remained there for a quarter of an hour, motionless, thinking over every incident, and reviewing carefully, and in detail, the various happenings which had led to our present condition.  The only result was to enlist me yet more strongly to her service.  Believing her statement I could see nothing in her conduct to criticize, and she appealed to me in all womanhood.  I would be a dastard to doubt, or desert, her cause now, and the warm blood throbbed in my veins responsive to the memory of what had already been between us.  No one disturbed me, the Captain was still in his stateroom, where, once or twice, I imagined I heard him pacing the floor.  The steward had apparently retired for the night, although it was not late, as a glance at my watch proved.  My eyes traced the doors on either side, ten altogether, each plainly numbered, and I opened the one assigned to me, and glanced within.  Except that it was more commodious, and contained a washstand at one corner, it did not differ greatly from the other forward where I had been held prisoner.