The next instant Beekman caught him by the hand.
"How did you come here, Gersey?" he cried, "and how are Templin and the rest of the men?"
"Templin an’ some others of us shipped aboard this yacht, Mr. Maynard makin’ the proposition an’ Captain Weatherby bein’ agreeable. We wanted to hunt you up, an’ bein’ as we’d seed the last of you when we set you adrift, ’twas thought we know’d more about you than anybody else an’ could be the best help."
"Wonder of wonders!" exclaimed Beekman. "I guess your story comes before mine, Mr. Maynard."
"Well, to make it short," said Harnash, after a glance from Maynard, "the _Susquehanna_ caught fire and was burned at sea. Captain Fish went down with her, refusing to leave the bridge. The mate’s boat was lost. Gersey’s boat was picked up and brought into Honolulu, and from him we learned the whole story of your adventures on the ship. As soon as we heard them we decided to search for you, in the hope that you might have landed on some of these islands, or have been cast away, which has proved to be the case, and here we are."
"You know the unfortunate cause of my leaving the ship?" asked Beekman, his brow darkening.
"Of course; we have the log book of the _Susquehanna_."
"And I must face a charge of murder when I get back?"
"You needn’t worry about that," said Maynard quickly. "Manuel made a deposition saying it was in self-defense. The testimony of the men was added. You’ll never hear from it again."
"Thank God for that!" said Beekman fervently.
Rapidly and graphically Beekman put them in possession of the wondrous romance of which he had been a part. Without reserve he told them everything that had happened, except one thing--his love for Truda. He suppressed that most carefully, and Truda, who sat silently listening, her wits sharpened by love and jealousy, understanding much more than he or anyone dreamed, noted that fact with a horrible sinking of the heart. In her simplicity she could not believe that anyone could love her after seeing Stephanie.
Now, Beekman purposely left out of the conversation that feature of his life. His relations with Stephanie were still, to all intents and purposes, what they had been. As he reflected upon it while dressing, it seemed to him that she had offered him the greatest evidence of devotion to him by coming on the cruise to search for him. That any other motive was back of her action naturally did not occur to him. He inferred that she was more in love with him than he had dreamed. He recognized that her presence added to her claim upon him. It was a situation fraught with difficulty.