"Yes," she said, as though speaking to herself, "I think I know." Then
she started with an involuntary gesture.
"Haven't I seen you somewhere before, Captain Merrithew? Yes, yes, I
have. Where could it have been? Do you recall?"
"Yes," was the simple reply. "I recall. It was about two years ago,
at Norfolk, when you were at the coal docks on this yacht."
Virginia flushed eagerly and was about to say something, when some
flashing thought, perhaps a realizing sense of their relative
positions, closed her lips. "I remember very clearly now." She spoke
quietly, then she closed her eyes for a second; when she opened them
they were stern and hard.
"Captain Merrithew," she said, as though to hasten from the subject, "I
know we are in danger. Your silence has said as much. Yet the yacht
seems to be going finely--"
Dan made no reply.
"Do you think I am a coward? Is that the reason you are silent?"
Dan made no attempt to conceal his annoyance.
"Well, Miss Howland, if you are not a coward, if you can keep what you
know to yourself, listen: We're taking in a little water. It's a race
between the yacht and the leak; the yacht ought to win out. Now you
know as much as I do."
"I am not frightened; my curiosity is natural. Is there a chance that
the yacht may not get where you are taking her?"
"To the Assateague beach--no, I don't think there is--if all goes well.
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