She stole a glance at Courtenay. He was so keenly engaged on the
business in hand, so bent on achieving accuracy in his figures, that
she chided herself for her morbid reverie. Then she wondered if he
ever gave a thought to that promised wife of his, who must soon suffer
the agony of knowing that the _Kansas_ was overdue.
Elsie was sufficiently well acquainted with shipping to realize the
sensation that would be created by the first cablegram from Coronel
anouncing the non-appearance of the steamer in the Straits. The
Valparaiso newspapers would be full of surmises as to the vessel's
fate. They would publish full details of the valuable cargo--and give
a list of the passengers and officers. Ah! Ventana would learn then,
if he had not heard of it earlier, that she was on board. And he alone
would understand the true reason of her flight from Chile. Her cheeks
flushed, and she applied herself more closely to the chart she was
copying. She had left a good deal unsaid in her brief statement that
morning. How strange, how utterly unexpected it was, that Ventana's
name should fall from Courtenay's lips--Courtenay, of all men living!
And what did Isobel mean, during that last dreadful scene ere she was
carried away to the boat, by screaming in her frenzy that Ventana had
taken "an ample vengeance.
Pages:
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235