I shall go mad."
"Calm yourself, dear. There must be an end of our sufferings soon.
Perhaps we may escape even yet."
"Yes, I know. If any one is saved it will be you. You left me down
there to take my chance among those fiends. You have been here hours,
with your precious captain, no doubt. Were he looking after his ship
this might not have happened. . . . Why did I ever come on this
wretched vessel? And with you, who ran away from Ventana! I should
have been warned by it. When he could work me no other evil he sent
you. . . . Oh, you have taken a fine vengeance, Pedro Ventana! May
you be denied mercy as I am denied it now! . . . Go away! If you
touch me I shall strike you. I hate you! I tell you I am losing my
senses. Do you wish me to tear your face with my nails?"
Elsie, who would have soothed her distraught friend with a loving hand,
drew back in real fear that she was confronted by a maniac. The utter
outrageousness of this new infliction brought tears to her eyes. Yet
she choked back her grief for the sake of the others.
"Isobel, darling, please try to control yourself," she pleaded.
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