lm ees breeng a sailor, too?" demanded Trego, turning his
black eyes on me in a manner that I could not understand.

"He brought my baggage aboard," said I, somewhat annoyed. "He offered his
services to Captain Riggs, and was hired, and it is no affair of mine."

"The little man with hair of red?" persisted Trego.

"Decidedly red."

Knowing, as I did, that he had charge of the ship--a fact which he
evidently wished to keep from Meeker and me, judging from his signals to
the captain--I understood in a way his interest in the crew.

"Pardon, captain," said Trego abruptly. "I must go to my cabeen for some
cigarettes. Soon I will return. I hope you will be here."

It struck me that his suggestion that Captain Riggs wait for him was more
in the nature of a command than a request.

Rajah served coffee again, and the three of us fell silent. It was an
awkward situation, for we all felt embarrassed--at least I did, as a
result of Trego's displeasure over the method of recruiting the crew.
I wished that I had left Petrak on the dock.

Meeker took an old newspaper from his pocket and unfolded it on the table
carefully.

"I think I have something here which will interest you both," he began.
"It concerns--my glasses! Will you pardon me for a minute while I get my
glasses from my room? I'll be back presently," and he bowed himself out.

"The old shark is funny," said Riggs. "I hold to what I have said about
parsons--I don't like 'em aboard me."

I glanced at the passage and wondered if I would have time to whisper to
Riggs about Meeker before the latter returned.

"He wants to hold some sort of service for'ard this evening," continued
the captain. "I'm suited if the crew is. It's not that I'm against the
sailing directions in the Bible, mind, Mr. Trenholm, or an ungodly man,
for I was a deacon back home in Maine. I don't like this chap--he looks
too slippery to suit me."

Meeker came back and closed the bulkhead door behind him, adjusting his
glasses and picking up the newspaper as he took his seat.

"My dear sirs," he resumed, "I want to read this little article to you
and then I'll explain it more fully to you. I am sure that you will find
it of interest, Mr. Trenholm, as a literary man and a member of the
press, even if in no other way, and you, my dear Captain Riggs, will be
interested because it concerns the sea, and you may have some knowledge
of the facts. When I was in Aden four--no, five years ago it was--I