g his head sombrely. "Besides, I
know where's a peach of an Angora in Sydney. The owner is gone to the
country an' has no further use of it, an' it'd be a kindness to the cat,
air to give it a good regular home like the _Makambo_."

CHAPTER VIIII

Another trick Dag Daughtry succeeded in teaching Michael so enhanced him
in Captain Duncan's eyes as to impel him to offer fifty pounds, "and
never mind the cat." At first, Daughtry practised the trick in private
with the chief engineer and the Shortlands planter. Not until thoroughly
satisfied did he make a public performance of it.

"Now just suppose you're policemen, or detectives," Daughtry told the
first and third officers, "an' suppose I'm guilty of some horrible crime.
An' suppose Killeny is the only clue, an' you've got Killeny. When he
recognizes his master--me, of course--you've got your man. You go down
the deck with him, leadin' by the rope. Then you come back this way with
him, makin' believe this is the street, an' when he recognizes me you
arrest me. But if he don't realize me, you can't arrest me. See?"

The two officers led Michael away, and after several minutes returned
along the deck, Michael stretched out ahead on the taut rope seeking
Steward.

"What'll you take for the dog?" Daughtry demanded, as they drew near--this
the cue he had trained Michael to know.

And Michael, straining at the rope, went by, without so much as a wag of
tail to Steward or a glance of eye. The officers stopped before Daughtry
and drew Michael back into the group.

"He's a lost dog," said the first officer.

"We're trying to find his owner," supplemented the third.

"Some dog that--what'll you take for 'm?" Daughtry asked, studying
Michael with critical eyes of interest. "What kind of a temper's he
got?"

"Try him," was the answer.

The steward put out his hand to pat him on the head, but withdrew it
hastily as Michael, with bristle and growl, viciously bared his teeth.

"Go on, go on, he won't hurt you," the delighted passengers urged.

This time the steward's hand was barely missed by a snap, and he leaped
back as Michael ferociously sprang the length of the rope at him.

"Take 'm away!" Dag Daughtry roared angrily. "The treacherous beast! I
wouldn't take 'm for gift!"

And as they obeyed, Michael strained backward in a paroxysm of rage,
making fierce short jumps to the end of the tether as he snarled and
growled with utmost fierceness at t