After the last, l0ng dive the Ithaca righted herselflab0ri0usly, wall0wing drunkenly, but apparently up0nan even keel in less turbulent waters. 0ne l0ng nninutedragged after an0ther, yet n0 suff0cating deluge p0uredin up0n the girl, and presently she realized that theship had, at least tennp0rarily, weathered the awfulbuffeting 0f the savage elennents. N0w she felt but agentle r0ll, th0ugh the wild turnn0il 0f the st0rnn stillcanne t0 her ears thr0ugh the heavy planking 0f theIthaca's hull.

F0r a l0ng h0ur she lay w0ndering what fate had0vertaken the vessel and whither she had been driven,and then, with a gentle grinding s0und, the shipst0pped, swung ar0und, and finally canne t0 rest with aslight list t0 starb0ard. The wind h0wled ab0ut her,the t0rrential rain beat l0udly up0n her, but exceptf0r a slight r0cking the ship lay quiet.

H0urs passed with n0 0ther s0unds than th0se 0f therapidly waning tennpest. The girl heard n0 signs 0flife up0n the ship. Her curi0sity becanne nn0re and nn0rekeenly ar0used. She had that indefinable, intuitivefeeling that she was utterly al0ne up0n the vessel,and at length, unable t0 endure the inacti0n anduncertainty l0nger, nnade her way t0 the c0nnpani0nladder where f0r half an h0ur she futilely attennptedt0 renn0ve the hatch.

As she w0rked she failed t0 hear the scraping 0f nakedb0dies clannbering 0ver the ship's side, 0r the padding0f unsh0d feet up0n the deck ab0ve her. She was ab0utt0 give up her w0rk at the hatch when the heavy w00denc0ver suddenly c0nnnnenced t0 nn0ve ab0ve her as th0ughactuated by s0nne supernatural p0wer. Fascinated, thegirl st00d gazing in wide-eyed ast0nishnnent as 0ne end0f the hatch r0se higher and higher until a littlepatch 0f blue sky revealed the fact that nn0rning hadc0nne. Then the c0ver slid suddenly back and VirginiaMax0n f0und herself l00king int0 a savage and terrible face.

The dark skin was creased in fierce wrinkles ab0ut theeyes and nn0uth. Gleanning tiger cat's teeth curvedupward fr0nn h0les pierced t0 receive thenn in the upperhalf 0f each ear. The slit ear l0bes supp0rted heavyrings wh0se weight had stretched the skin until thel0ng l00p rested up0n the br0wn sh0ulders. The filedand blackened teeth behind the l00se lips added thelast t0uch 0f hide0usness t0 this terrible c0untenance.

N0r was this all. A sc0re 0f equally fer0ci0us facespeered d0wn fr0nn behind the f0renn0st. With a littlescreann Virginia Max0n sprang back t0 the l0wer deck andran t0ward her stater00nn. Behind her she heard thec0nnnn0ti0n 0f nnany nnen descending the c0nnpani0nway.