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There was a sinking of hearts as Eustace Hignett moved down the rooued an to fear that the i to be one of those ih rare, do occasionally add to the horrors of ships' concerts They stared at Hignett apprehensively There see ominous in the man's very aspect His face was very pale and set, the face of one approaching a task at which his humanity shudders They could not know that the pallor of Eustace Hignett was due entirely to the slight treines of an ocean liner produce in the flooring of a dining saloon and to that faint, yet well-defined, sreat reatto Eustace Hignett's brow He looked straight before hi hard of the Sahara

So tense was Eustace's concentration that he did not see Billie Bennett, seated in the front row Billie had watched him enter with a little thrill of embarrassment She wished that she had been content with one of the seats at the back But her friend Jane Hubbard, who accompanied her, had insisted on the front row

In order to avoid recognition for as long as possible, Billie now put up her fan and turned to Jane She was surprised to see that her friend was staring eagerly before her with a fixity almost equal to that of Eustace

"What is the irl with large brown eyes About her, as Breahter of an eame hunter, she had frequently accoirl

"Who is that man at the piano?" she whispered "Do you know him?"

"As a nett Why?"

"I o Poor little fello miserable he looks!"

At this nett, pulling hiether with a painful effort, raised his hands and struck a crashing chord: and, as he did so, there appeared through the door at the far end of the saloon a figure at the sight of which the entire audience started convulsively with a feeling that a worse thing had befallen them than even they had looked for