against Simms and Ward; then they could throw the three

into irons and all would be lovely; but now that fool Ward

had upset the whole thing by hitting upon this asinine fire

hoax as an excuse for boarding the Lotus in force, and had

further dampened Theriere's pet scheme by suggesting to Skipper

Simms the danger of Theriere being recognized as they

were boarding the Lotus and bringing suspicion upon them all

immediately.

They all knew that a pleasure yacht like the Lotus was well

supplied with small arms, and that at the first intimation of

danger there would be plenty of men aboard to repel assault,

and, in all probability, with entire success.

That there were excellent grounds for Theriere's belief that

he could win Barbara Harding's hand with such a flying start

as his daring plan would have assured him may not be

questioned, for the man was cultivated, polished and, in a

sinister way, good-looking. The title that he had borne upon

the occasion of his visit to the yacht, was, all unknown to his

accomplices, his by right of birth, so that there was nothing

other than a long-dead scandal in the French Navy that might

have proved a bar to an affiance such as he dreamed of. And

now to be thwarted at the last moment! It was unendurable.

That pig of a Ward had sealed his own death warrant, of that

Theriere was convinced.

The boats were now quite close to the yacht, which had

slowed down almost to a dead stop. In answer to the query

of the Lotus' captain Skipper Simms was explaining their

trouble.

"I'm Captain Jones," he shouted, "of the brigantine

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