Sam.  But there's lots o' women in the world, and I
daresay he'll find another just as good before a month o' Sundays.
Come, buck up, old man; what'll you have?  Same again?"

"No more for me, Tom; I'm off aboard to see him.  And I feel as if I
was a blarsted sheriff telling a man that he was to be hung."

Craig slapped his friend on the back as they rose from their seats.
"He'll get over it, Sam, never fear.  When the heart is young, as the
Bible says, it doesn't care a damn for anybody.  And if he's getting
good money he'll soon forget all about the girl; for he'll see plenty
more just as good as her.  Anyway that's my experience, Sam."

Bidding his friend good-bye, Watson, with a gloomy brow, walked to the
Circular Quay and hired a water-man to take him down the harbour to the
_Mahina_.

"There she is, sir, over there in Neutral Bay," said the boatman as he
rounded Fort Macquarie.

Half an hour's pull brought them alongside, and the old man jumping on
deck at once made his way into the cabin.  Barry was seated at the
table, getting his papers ready and waiting for Mrs. Tracey.

Springing to his feet he grasped Watson's hand and shook it warmly, but
at once discerned from the expression on the old man's kindly face that
there was something wrong.  Before he could frame a question, however,
Watson blurted out that he had bad news.

"Anything the matter with Miss Maynard or her father," he asked quietly.

"The old gentleman has had a paralytic seizure; but it's not him I had
in my mind."  Then he hesitated.

"Go on, man, what is it?"

"The girl is married--married Colonel Maclean about two months ago."

Barry's face paled under its bronze, but he said nothing for a few
moments.  Then he motioned his friend to a seat.

"Sit down, Watson," he said quietly; "it is bad news for me, and news I
never dreamt of hearing.  Tell me all about it.  Steward, bring us
something to drink."

The red-faced old mate looked at him with a certain admiring sympathy,
then he laid his hand on his shoulder.

"You're one of the right sort.  Now I'll tell you the yarn, but first
of all she gave me a letter for you.  Here it is."

The captain of the _Mahina_ took it from him, opened it, and read it
with an unmoved countenance.  Then without a word of comment he passed
it over to Watson; it contained but a few lines:--


"DEAR TED,--Try to forgive me.  Perhaps in after years I will try to
forgive myself.  I could not bear to see my father suffer.  Weak and
unstable as water as I am in some things, my duty and affection for him
conquered my love for you.--ROSE."


Lighting a cigar, he leant back in his chair and listened to Watson's
story.  When it was finished he got up and held out his hand.

"Thank you, Watson, for all you tried to do for me.  It's a bitter pill
to swallow, but I'll get over it in time, like everything else."

Watson could not refrain from a sigh of relief.  He had feared that
Barry would cut up roughly.

"That is so," he said, "but it's a hard knock for you.  Now I've lots
of other news for you.  First of all I got your letters from Arrecifos
safely.  The _John and Pauline_ whaler put them ashore at Levuka, and I
can tell you I went to bed with a bad head that night."

"What did you do with Miss Maynard's--I beg her pardon--Mrs. Colonel
Maclean's letter?"

"Posted it to her, and this is what I got in reply," and he showed him
the note he had exhibited to his friend Tom Craig.

Barry read it with a smile of contempt.  "What's the other news,
Watson?"

"Ah, now I have something that will astonish you.  Rawlings and the
other chap are dead."

"Dead!"

"Aye, both of 'em."

"How do you know?" said Barry quickly.

"The _Eclipse_, man-of-war, brought the news from Noumea last week.
Here's the account of it," and he spread a newspaper out on the table,
and pointed to an article headed--"Tragedy in the South Seas."

"Wait a moment," cried Barry excitedly, as springing from his seat he
tapped at the door of Mrs. Tracey's cabin.  "Come out quickly, please."

The door opened and Mrs. Tracey, without waiting for an introduction,
first shook hands with the old mate.  "You are Mr. Watson!  I guessed
who you were the moment you came on board, and I heard your voice.  Now
what is the matter, Captain Barry?"

"Read this, Mrs. Tracey," he replied, spreading the paper out on the
cabin table.  Stooping beside him they read it together:---


"Just as the _Eclipse_ was leaving New Caledonia, the gunboat _Reynard_
arrived, and reported having spoken the Hawaiian brig _Mahina_ in the
vicinity of the Banks' Group.  The acting master informed the commander
of the gunboat that he had on board in confinement two men who, some
months previously, had murdered the captain of the brig, and seized the
vessel.  By the aid of some natives, the chief officer succeeded in
retaking her, and the two men were over-powered and placed in heavy
irons.  Commander Martyn, of the _Reynard_, consented to take charge of
them, as the brig was deeply laden, and likely to make a long passage
to Sydney.  They were at once transferred to the gunboat, which then
proceeded on her voyage to Noumea.

"About a week afterwards one of the two, a powerfully built Italian or
Greek, who was of a sullen and savage disposition, was relieved of his
irons for half an hour by the doctor's orders, and placed on deck with
his companion, as he complained of a severe pain in his chest.  This
was evidently a ruse, for while the sentry's back was turned for a
moment the Greek seized his fellow pirate (who was in irons) by the
waist, and leapt overboard with him.  They sank immediately, the Greek,
no doubt, having determined to drown with the other man.

"Fuller particulars of the seizure of the brig, and her recapture, will
be looked forward to with interest on her arrival here.  It is stated
that she has a cargo of 'golden-edge' pearl shell worth over 40,000
pounds."


Mrs. Tracey shuddered, and covered her face with her hands.  "Heaven
forgive them their crimes," she murmured.

Barry could not help a certain feeling of relief.  Both he and Mrs.
Tracey had looked forward to the trial of Rawlings and the Greek with
the utmost aversion; for heartless villains and murderers as they were,
their probable death at the hands of the law haunted Mrs. Tracey like a
nightmare, and Barradas himself had a growing horror of the coming
time, for on his evidence alone Rawlings would certainly be hanged.

"I must tell Barradas," said Barry; "steward, send the mate here."

The Spaniard came below, heard the news in silence, bent his head and
crossed himself, and quietly went on deck again.  He knew that in a few
hours, or a day or so at most, he would be arrested, but knew that his
conduct since the murder of Captain Tracey would go largely in his
favour, and that in both Barry and Mrs. Tracey he had friends.  As for
attempting to escape, he had put the thought away at once and for ever
the night he walked to the little island cemetery.

"Are you ready to come on shore, Mrs. Tracey?" inquired Barry as the
mate left the cabin.

"Quite ready, captain," she answered with a light smile, "and see here.
Look what I am taking with me," and stepping into her cabin she
returned with the white wooden box which contained "Rose Maynard's Dot."

Barry rose to the occasion, like the man he was.  "You must keep those
pearls, Mrs. Tracey.  The woman for whom you intended them is married.
I only heard of it just now."  He spoke very quietly, but Mrs. Tracey
could detect the shame that he felt in making the admission.

"I am so sorry----" she began, and then with sudden passion she flung
the box away.  "How could she?  I hate her!  I hate her!  She must be a
wicked, worthless----"

She gave him a glance which told Barry her secret, and then with an
hysterical sob passed him and entered her cabin, and as Toea shut the
door old Watson looked at Barry, and the faintest flicker of a smile
moved his lips.

Then stooping down he picked up the box of pearls and placed them in
Barry's hand.

"My boy, I think your happiness lies in there--in that cabin.  She
loves you."




CHAPTER XVIII.

ON BOARD THE NEW BARQUE.

Three months had come and gone, and one warm summer's evening as Barry
was dressing for the theatre one of the hotel waiters announced
"Captain Watson."

"Come in, old man," cried Barry cheerfully, and he opened the door to
his visitor.  "Sit down there and smoke while I put on my togs, then
we'll have a long cool drink.  Phew, it'll be a roaster this evening."

"Going out dining?" inquired the rumbling-voiced old man.

"No, to the theatre.  I'm taking Mrs. Tracey.  How is everything
getting on on board?"

"Right as can be.  Came in to see if you'd come down to-morrow and have
a look at her."

Barry nodded.  "Right you are, Watson: and I daresay that Mrs. Tracey
will come too.  She takes a lot of pride in the new ship I can tell
you."

"Just so.  And you'll find that the new ship will be even a better
sailer than the _Mahina_."

For the _Mahina_, had been sold a month or so before, and in her place
had been bought a smart little barque of double her tonnage.

She was to sail for Arrecifos in a few days, and old Watson had joined
her as chief mate, for poor Manuel Barradas was in prison, having
received a sentence of two years' imprisonment for his share in the
seizure of the brig.  And here, as this story draws near to an end, let
me tell what became of him.  After twelve months of his sentence had
expired he was, through the persistent efforts of Barry and his
friends, set at liberty, the judge who had tried him being one of some
hundreds of people who petitioned the Crown on his behalf.  Before
another year had passed he was back in Arrecifos Lagoon, in charge of
the station, which he took over from Velo at Barry's desire; the
faithful Samoan being tired of living on shore, and for long, long
years Barradas remained in Barry's employ on the island, happy and
contented and with his mind at rest.

      *      *      *      *      *      *

The hotel in which Barry was living was quite near the wharves of the
Circular Quay.  He had taken up his quarters there after the _Mahina_
had been sold, for as old Watson was an active and energetic chief
officer there was no need for him to live on board the new vessel.
During the time he had been living on shore he had met Mrs. Tracey
frequently; for he acted as her business agent, and she relied upon him
with the most implicit confidence.  When he suggested that the brig
should be sold and another vessel bought she eagerly acquiesced on the
one condition that he would take command.

"Of course I will," he said, "and very glad to do so, Mrs. Tracey.  She
is a beautiful little barque and not a bit too big.  You will see how
she can sail when you pay a visit to Arrecifos next year."

"I almost wish I were going this time, Captain Barry.  Till next year
seems a long, long time to wait, and what I should do without Toea to
talk to I can't imagine.  I suppose I shall grow more reconciled by and
by."

"You will make many friends, Mrs. Tracey."

Her cheeks reddened slightly.

"Friends!  No, not friends--merely people who want to know me because I
am rich.  And I don't want to make friends.  The other afternoon a Mrs.
Bell-Lovatt and her two daughters called to see me, and Mrs.
Bell-Lovatt simply gushed over me for half an hour and made me feel
quite sick with her odious flattery.  I knew the girls when I was at
school in Melbourne, but I've never seen them since and had no wish to
see them again."

Barry laughed.  "You'll have to put up with a good deal of that sort of
thing, I fear.  Even I, myself, have discovered that I unknowingly
possessed heaps of friends.  When I go into the Exchange now, a dozen
or more men--shipowners, brokers, and others--insist on shaking hands
with me and asking me to dinner.  When I was in Sydney last and was
badly in want of a berth no less than three of these very men
metaphorically kicked me out of their offices when I applied to them.
But now that I am agent and manager to 'the rich Mrs. Tracey' they
can't find words to express their admiration of my talents and
all-round virtues."

"Ah, well.  We must not mind these things, I suppose.  But I wish I
were a man--I should at least escape being called upon and kissed by
'catty' women like Mrs. Bell-Lovatt."

Not once since he returned had Barry caught sight of the woman he had
hoped to call his wife, and as the days went by he thought less and
less of her and more of Alice Tracey.  And his would indeed have been a
hard, unimpressionable nature not to have yielded the influence she was
surely, but slowly, exercising upon him.  She honestly tried to attract
him, and now that he was a free man she did not mean to let him go away
to sea again without trying to let him understand that she would feel
the loss of his society very much.

"If he cared for me ever so much he wouldn't tell me," she thought to
herself, "he is that sort of man, I'm sure.  If I had no money it would
be different.  Ah, well, I must wait."

Old Watson, in his own quiet way, was helping matters on; for he
conceived quite a sincere admiration for the young widow, and one day
he bluntly told Barry that she was "only waiting to be asked.  And
there'll be a hungry crowd hanging around her once you are away at sea,
my boy."

"She's too rich a woman for me to think of, Watson," he said, with a
laugh.

This was said on board the barque when they were at dinner, and Mosй,
the steward promptly imparted it to Toea when she one day came to look
at the new ship, and Toea of course repeated it to her mistress, who
said nothing but smiled wisely.

Leaving his hotel Barry drove to Mrs. Tracey's apartments in Macquarie
Street, where she soon joined him, looking very charming in a dainty
evening dress of yellow silk.

"How do I look, Captain Barry of the barque _Arrecifos_?" she inquired.

"As beautiful as the barque _Arrecifos_ herself," answered Barry
promptly, "and no more beautiful ship was ever launched."

"Oh, how nice of you to pay me such a compliment!" she laughed as a
vivid blush dyed her face.  "I really wish Mr. Watson were here to see
me too; for he, too, has been ministering to my woman's vanity.  He
says quite a lot of nice things to me, the dear old fellow."

"Yes, I know he admires you intensely," laughed Barry, "and he makes no
secret of it either.  He's as simple as a child in some things, but as
honest as the day."

In a few minutes they reached the theatre, just in time to see the
curtain rise on the first act of "King John."  The play was one which
interested them both, and until the end of the first act neither of
them troubled to look about them.  Then Barry, turning to speak to his
companion, pointed out to her on the opposite side of the house a
striking figure of an old man with white hair--the premier of the
colony.

"Yes, I see him; what a fine, powerful face!"

Barry for the moment made no answer, for suddenly he found himself
looking into the pale face of a tall, slenderly built woman seated
beside a man he knew--old, white-mustached and of a generally military
cut.  He dropped his eyes at once and turned his head quickly away, but
not so quickly that Mrs. Tracey saw his forehead mantle momentarily.

"Poor little Rose," he thought, "I'm glad she didn't see me."  Then he
saw that Mrs. Tracey, who was looking straight before her, seemed to
have suddenly become white.

"Are you not feeling well?" he asked; "the theatre is very hot."

She gave him a swift, penetrating glance.  "It is very hot," she said
in a low voice.  "Do you mind if we leave?"

"Frankly, no," and Barry stroked his beard, and something like a smile
came into his eyes; "I don't particularly care about staying."  Then he
bent his head closer.  "There are some people here----"

"I know," she interrupted softly, "and it hurts you to see her."

"Not a bit," he said earnestly; "but, you see, it might not be very
pleasant for her to see me--might spoil her enjoyment a little.  And as
I know the man too, I'll have to bow if we meet going out."

She placed her little gloved hand on his arm.

"Then let us go," she said softly.

When they reached the vestibule, Barry stopped.

"It is not quite nine o'clock.  Would you care to come to the Lyceum
and see Rignold in 'The Ironmaster'?  A cab will take us there in five
minutes."

"Do you really want me to go?"

"Very much indeed.  Come."

They descended the stairs together, and entering a cab drove off, Alice
Tracey's dark eyes sparkling like diamonds as she looked into Barry's
calm, collected face.

But not a seat could be obtained, much to Barry's annoyance; then he
laughed.  "There's nothing worth seeing at any of the other theatres.
What is to be done?  Would you care to come for a drive round to Lady
Marquarie's Chair?  The _Arrecifos_ is lying just near by in
Woolloomoolloo Bay.  It's a pretty drive."

"Oh yes.  It will be lovely to be out in the cool, fresh air."

The cabman took them to the Chair, from where they had a good view of
the stately little barque as she lay upon the silent waters in a flood
of moonlight.

"Let us walk down to the edge of the water and hail old Watson--just to
give him a surprise."

"Indeed I have a very great mind to go on board--may I?" she asked as
he helped her out of the cab.

"Why not?  He'll be off his head with delight.  And then I'll get big
Joe and some of the hands to pull us round in the boat to the Circular
Quay.  Here you are, cabby.  You need not wait."

Old Watson's astonishment when he heard the captain's hail and saw him
and Mrs. Tracey standing on the rocky shore just abreast of the ship
may be imagined.  In a few minutes he and two hands jumped into the
boat and pulled her ashore.

"Well, well, to be sure, this is a surprise, Mrs. Tracey! why----"

"Mr. Watson, don't talk now.  Wait till we are on board.  I've come to
show you my dress."

The old mate uttered his deep, rumbling laugh, as the boat pushed off
and quickly drew up alongside.  Then, after the steward had brought him
and the captain a brandy-and-soda each and a glass of wine for the fair
owner of the _Arrecifos_, he discreetly went below out of the way under
the excuse of writing a letter or two, and left her and Barry on deck
under the awning.

They sat talking together for some time--of the people in Arrecifos, of
Barradas, and of the days on the old _Mahina_.  Then when Barry spoke
of the barque's approaching departure she became silent.

"I shall miss you very much, Captain Barry----" she began and then she
stopped.  He looked at her and saw that her eyes were filled with tears.

"You do me a great honour to say so," he began, and then her eyes met
his again; in a moment he took her hand and bent down towards her.

"I don't want you to go," she whispered.

Barry's answer was to slip his arm round her waist and draw her head
upon his shoulder.

      *      *      *      *      *      *

An hour later old Watson, still pretending to write, heard them
descending the companion way.  He stood up, as Mrs. Tracey, her
beautiful face radiant with smiles, came in on Barry's arm.

"Mr. Watson," she said laughingly, "this ship is to proceed to
Arrecifos under the command of _Captain_ Watson; Captain Barry will
remain in Sydney."

"To marry the owner," added Barry, as he looked into her dark eyes, and
drew her slender figure towards him.