never told you?"

"Never told me anything. I was introduced to him in a most casual way in
the bank, and was surprised to find him a passenger in the _Kut Sang_"

"He never told you about his cane? Most beautiful rapier you ever saw in
it. Always had it by him, but he overlooked it when he got up from the
table in the saloon last evening. Undoubtedly he was going for a pistol,
but we had to get him when the time offered; and, besides, he was getting
ready to tell Riggs all about me and my crew. There wasn't a second to
lose. I met him as he was coming back and held him for Petrak, and we did
the job quietly."

"It was something to be proud of," I remarked. "I never would have given
the Rev. Luther Meeker credit for it."

"That's what made the character so valuable," he grinned, feeling the
bandage about his head tenderly. I saw that he was weaker than he had
led us to believe, and that he was suffering from his wound.

"But you puzzled me when they found the body. I expected you to denounce
me; but you foolishly kept in front of me, and I was ready to blow your
back out if you said a word, and we were all ready for the finest kind of
a fight, although I did not want to precipitate matters so soon. Really,
you had me guessing for a time, and I couldn't understand your attitude,
knowing what you did about me and the gold. Then I saw that you had plans
of your own, and wanted it yourself."

"It is you who flatter me now," I told him, surprised at his revelations.

"But you did want it, although I couldn't see how you figured to take it
away from me, or why you didn't tell Captain Riggs what you knew."

"But I didn't know anything. I thought you were a spy, who mistook me for
one, and I was letting you have your little joke out."

"You didn't know about the gold, or Trego, or me?" he demanded.

"I regret exceedingly that I didn't. If I had I would have blocked your
game at the first opportunity. I suspected you were not a missionary,
but I had never even heard of the Devil's Admiral."

"Most extraordinary."

"I agree with you."

"I mean that you didn't know about the gold, when I thought you did. I
must confess that I made a tremendous mistake there. Really, it came
near being a failure--it would have been if Captain Riggs had not been
led to suspect you. I advised him to put you in irons after you were sent
to your room--it seemed to be the easiest way to get you out of the
fight. I was really afraid of you,