returned to him. He wanted to hear more, and as Billy

was not handicapped by any overly refined notions of the

ethics which frown upon eavesdropping he lost no time in

transferring the scene of his labors to a point sufficiently close

to one of the cabin ports to permit him to note what took

place within.

What the mucker beard of that conversation made him

prick up his ears. He saw that something after his own heart

was doing--something crooked, and he wondered that so

pusillanimous a thing as Divine could have a hand in it. It

almost changed his estimate of the passenger of the Halfmoon.

The meeting broke up so suddenly that Billy had to drop

to his knees to escape the observation of those within the

cabin. As it was, Theriere, who had started to leave a second

before the others, caught a fleeting glimpse of a face that

quickly had been withdrawn from the cabin skylight as

though its owner were fearful of detection.

Without a word to his companions the Frenchman left the

cabin, but once outside he bounded up the companionway to

the deck with the speed of a squirrel. Nor was he an instant

too soon, for as he emerged from below he saw the figure of

a man disappearing forward.

"Hey there, you!" he cried. "Come back here."

The mucker turned, a sulky scowl upon his lowering countenance,

and the second officer saw that it was the fellow who

had given Ward such a trimming the first day out.

"Oh, it's you is it, Byrne?" he said in a not unpleasant

tone. "Come to my quarters a moment, I want to speak with

you," and so saying he wheeled about and retraced his way

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