"You will not be alone, dear--never, never again."
A voice from above recalled me. "Guy! O Guy! If you can make shift to
come on deck, you would do well. We are in close quarters and like to
be yet closer."
I looked up, not in full time, but in time to catch a glint of his eyes.
Pain in his voice, suffering in his eyes--never till that moment did it
come to me that this whole cruise had been but a wooing of Shiela
Cunningham. And I, who owed him everything in life, I had stood in his
way. And even with Shiela there my heart ached for him.
VI
When I made the deck I saw that off each beam was an American frigate,
and ahead was the land--the coast of Georgia.
No doubt of what they were after. The _Bess_ was a much-desired prize,
and known as far as a long glass could shape her lines or pick her rig.
"But there is yet time, sir," I suggested, "to put about, run between
them, and escape to the open sea."
"There _is_ time," he answered curtly. He had not looked fairly at me
since I came on deck. "But I am going to land our passengers, and
without risk of their capture."
I thought that he had in mind to hold up for the mouth of the Savannah
River, and run on up the river to the city. He could do that, though it
would mean the final abandonment of the brigantine and, most likely, the
identification of Captain Blaise with Mr. Villard of Villard Manor.
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