Page:The Great Secret.djvu/82

66 their hands as if no such crime as wholesale murder had been upon their minds.

"Come, we have seen enough for one night. I have a plan made up to take them by surprise after the night comes again," whispered Captain Nelson. "Come, or we shall be discovered, for daylight will be upon us presently."

As they crept along the deck they could see the first signs of that rapid dawn which comes so swiftly in the tropics. The distant horizon was already separate from the sky like two shades of darkness, the one still inky, the other deeply grey, in a few more moments objects would be seen plainly.

Wearily—Philip had never felt so weary in his life before—they crawled down the steps, and, seeking the cabin, flung themselves beside the others, after fastening the door, and were instantly all asleep.

Then the dawn crept in through the porthole, but without revealing those pale shadows that lay side by side on the cabin floor.