“C. Q.”; or, In the Wireless House
have to carry Ashurst in it along with me!"
There was the sound of a door closing quickly. The man did not stir. Then he hurriedly opened it again and whispered hoarsely after her: “Lily!—Lily!”
During this surprising interview Micky had held himself quite motionless, undecided, after the first shock of hearing his lady’s name and indeed he was still debating the matter in his mind when the conversation concluded as unexpectedly as it had begun. Then the man emerged from the shadow of the deck-house and began to pace nervously up and down the deck. His coat collar was still turned up and his felt hat pull down over his eyes, but his hands writhed and twisted in the moonlight like frightened snakes. It was clear that he was under the severest tension, and now and again some word muttered under his collar reached Micky as he sat, the mute, involuntary witness of a soul’s torture.
And then the man began to glance quickly around the deck, as if to make sure that nobody was there. He took off his hat and ran his hands through his curly hair, and the face73
