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"That'll be about all of that, Mr. Theriere," snapped the first officer, coldly. "I did

not embark upon this theatrical enterprise for amusement--I see nothing funny in

it, and I wish you to remember that I am still your superior officer."

Theriere shrugged. Ward did not chance to catch the ugly look in his companion's

eye. Together they gathered up their belongings, descended to the office, paid

their bill, and a few moments later were changing back to their sea clothes in the

little hotel where they first had engaged accommodations. Half an hour later they

stepped to the deck of the Halfmoon.

Billy Byrne saw them from where he worked in the vicinity of the cabin. When

they were not looking he scowled maliciously at them. They were the personal

representatives of authority, and Billy hated authority in whatever guise it might

be visited upon him. He hated law and order and discipline.

"I'd like to meet one of dem guys on Green Street some night," he thought.

He saw them enter the captain's cabin with the skipper, and then he saw Mr.

Divine join them. Billy noted the haste displayed by the four and it set him to

wondering. The scrap of conversation between Divine and Simms that he had

overheard 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had been withdrawn from the cabin skylight as though its owner were fearful of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