... Listen! What's that?"
There was a scream from the deck. They all recognised Laura's voice.
Harris was out of the stateroom first but they were all on deck within ten
seconds. Laura was standing with one hand clasping the rail, her hand
fiercely outstretched towards the lower part of the promenade deck.
Through the darkness they heard the sound of angry voices.
"What is it, Laura?" Lenora cried.
She swung round upon them.
"Craig!" she cried. "Craig! I saw his face as I sat in my chair there,
talking to the Captain. I saw a man's white face--nothing else. He must
have been leaning over the rail. He heard me call out and he disappeared."
The Captain came slowly out of the shadows, limping a little and followed
by his steward, who was murmuring profuse apologies.
"Did you find him?" Laura demanded eagerly.
"I did not," the Captain replied, a little tersely. "I ran into Brown here
and we both had a shake-up."
"But he was there--a second ago!" Laura cried out.
"I beg your pardon, miss," Brown ventured, "but the deck's closed at the
end, as you can see, with sail-cloth, and I was leaning over the rail
myself when you shrieked. There wasn't any one else near me, and no one
can possibly have passed round the deck, as you can see plainly for
yourself."
Laura stood quite still.
"What doors are there on the side?" she asked.
"The doors of my room only," the Captain replied, a little shortly. "It
was Brown you saw, of course. He was standing exactly where you thought
you saw Craig.
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