The following morning Jeff was talking to Pietr Negulesco in the gymnasium, where the two men were working out.
"She's an American?" Pietr Negulesco said. "I should have known. All Americans are cuckoo."
"She's a great chess player.."
Pietr Negulesco made a gesture of contempt. "Great is not good enough. Best is what counts. And I am the best."
"That's why she's so eager to play against you. If you lose, you give her an autographed picture. If you win, you get ten thousand dollars in cash..."
"Negulesco does not play amateurs."
"...deposited in any country you like."
"Out of the question."
"Well, then, I guess she'll have to play only Boris Melnikov."
"What? Are you saying Melnikov has agreed to play against this woman?"
"Of course. But she was hoping to play you both at once."
"I've never heard of anything so - so - " Negutesco sputtered, at a loss for words. "The arrogance! Who is she that she thinks she can defeat the two top chess masters in the world? She must have escaped from some lunatic asylum."
"She's a little erratic," Jeff confessed, "but her money is good. All cash."
"You said ten thousand dollars for defeating her?"
"That's right."
"And Boris Meinikov gets the same amount?"
"If he defeats her."
Pietr Negulesco grinned. "Oh, he will defeat her. And so will I."
"Just between us, I wouldn't be a bit surprised."
"Who will hold the stakes?"
"The ship's purser."
Why should Melnikov be the only one to take money from this woman? thought Pietr Negutesco.
"My friend, you have a deal. Where and when?"
"Friday night. Ten o'clock. The Queen's Room."
Pietr Negulesco smiled wolfishly. "I will be there."
"You mean they agreed?" Tracy cried.
"That's right."
"I'm going to be sick."
"I'll get you a cold towel."
Jeff hurried into the bathroom of Tracy's suite, ran cold water on a towel, and brought it back to her. She was lying on the chaise longue. He placed the towel on her forehead. "How does that feel?"
"Terrible. I think I have a migraine."
"Have you ever had a migraine before?"
"No."
"Then you don't have one now. Listen to me, Tracy, it's perfectly natural to be nervous before something like this."
She leapt up and flung down the towel. "Something like this? There's never been anything like this! I'm playing two international master chess players with one chess lesson from you and - "
"Two," Jeff corrected her. "You have a natural talent for chess."
"My God, why did I ever let you talk me into this?"
"Because we're going to make a lot of money."
"I don't want to make a lot of money," Tracy wailed. "I want this boat to sink. Why couldn't this be the Titanic?"
"Now, just stay calm," Jeff said soothingly. "It's going to be - "
"It's going to be a disaster! Everyone on this ship is going to be watching."
"That's exactly the point, isn't it?" Jeff beamed.
Jeff had made all the arrangements with the ship's purser. He had given the purser the stakes to hold - $20,000 in traveler's checks - and asked him to set up two chess tables for Friday evening. The word spread rapidly throughout the ship, and passengers kept approaching Jeff to ask if the matches were actually going to take place.
"Absolutely," Jeff assured all who inquired. "It's incredible. Poor Miss Whitney believes she can win. In fact, she's betting on it."
"I wonder," a passenger asked, "If I might place a small bet?"
"Certainly. As much money as you like. Miss Whitney is asking only ten-to-one odds."
A million-to-one odds would have made more sense. From the moment the first bet was accepted, the floodgates opened. It seemed that everyone on board, including the engine-room crew and the ship's officers, wanted to place bets on the game. The amounts varied from five dollars to five thousand dollars and every single bet was on the Russian and the Romanian.
The suspicious purser reported to the captain. "I've never seen anything like it, sir. It's a stampede. Nearly all the passengers have placed wagers. I must be holding two hundred thousand dollars in bets."
The captain studied him thoughtfully. "You say Miss Whitney is going to play Melnikov and Negulesco at the same time?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Have you verified that the two men are really Pietr Negulesco and Boris Melnikov?"
"Oh, yes, of course, sir."
"There's no chance they would deliberately throw the chess game, is there?"
"Not with their egos. I think they'd rather die first. And if they lost to this woman, that's probably exactly what would happen to them when they got home."
The captain ran his fingers through his hair, a puzzled