"Absolutely so."

"Then why should she have sent me this little message?" demanded
Dunwody suddenly. He presented a folded bit of paper, snapping it
on the back with a finger.

A still deeper flush spread over the young officer's telltale face.
He opened and read: "If you care to aid a woman who is in trouble,
come to me at room 19 when you can."

"When did you receive this?" he demanded. "By God!" he added, to
himself, "she did it, too!"

"Within the moment. Her maid brought it."

"You didn't have this before you came on board--but of course, that
wasn't possible."

Dunwody looked at him keenly. "You have just heard me," he said.
"No, I don't deny there are some things here which I can't
understand. You are covering up something, my dear Captain, of
course, but just what I do not know. Your station in life, your
presence in this country, so far from home!--" He smiled now in a
way which his antagonist considered sinister. Yet what defense
could be made without exposing secrets which were not his to
uncover?

"Come," went on Dunwody, "let's be frank about it. You may trust
me, of course. But--neither sister, wife, nor servant--could you
blame any man, especially any man who had a direct message like