midnight
Good-by now ; I can not keep you longer . '' Jack Barry stumbled away towards the stockade like a man in a trance . Here was mystery piled on mystery . Natalie Sheldon , at liberty on board Leyden 's schooner , happy and comfortable , yet being visited at midnight by Mrs. Goring , friend of Leyden 's fiercest foe , and wishing the _ Barang 's _ skipper success and happiness ! Barry plunged straight along for the stockade gate . Inside the main hut the skipper burst upon a little tableau that sent him hastily back with apologies in place of the hot inquiries he had prepared . Gordon and Mrs. Goring were standing in the middle of the hut , and the man 's arms were holding the woman closely , while her face , upturned to his , glowed with a love that irradiated the place .