with his captain.

"Yes," said that officer, "I noticed the smoke about the

same time you did--funny it wasn't apparent before. I've

already signaled full speed ahead, and I've instructed Mr.

Foster to have the boats in readiness to lower away if we find

that they're short of boats on the brigantine.

"What I can't understand," he added after a moment's

silence, "is why they didn't show any signs of excitement

about that fire until we came within easy sight of them--it

looks funny."

"Well, we'll know in a few minutes more," returned Mr.

Harding. "The chances are that the fire is just a recent

addition to their predicament, whatever it may be, and that

they have only just discovered it themselves."

"Then it can't have gained enough headway," insisted the

captain, "to cause them any such immediate terror as would

be indicated by the haste with which the whole ship's crew is

tumbling into those boats; but as you say, sir, we'll have their

story out of them in a few minutes now, so it's idle speculating

beforehand."

The officers and men of the Halfmoon, in so far as those

on board the Lotus could guess, had all entered the boats at

last, and were pulling frantically away from their own ship

toward the rapidly nearing yacht; but what they did not guess

and could not know was that Mr. Divine paced nervously to

and fro in his cabin, while Second Officer Theriere tended the

smoking rags that Ward and Blanco had resigned to him that

they might take their places in the boats.

Theriere had been greatly disgusted with the turn events

had taken for he had determined upon a line of action that he

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