he Rest a While. There Captain Hogan stays whenever he
is in Avalon."

This ended the talk with Senor J. Lopez. Clancy took his friend by the
arm and walked with him to the restaurant where they had had their
dinner.

"Ain't this the limit?" queried Hill plaintively. "Nothin' goes right
for us, Clancy."

"Well don't fret about it," returned the motor wizard.

"Order up a good meal and try and be happy."

They sent in a generous order. Hill, however, could not get the hard
luck out of his mind. He continued to air the state of his feelings
while the order was being made ready.

"This Cap'n Hogan is a dead ringer for dad. Him and dad couldn't look
more alike if they had been twins. And then, Clancy, them initials in
his Stetson--'U. H.' I reckoned that made a cinch of this here trail I'm
follerin'. But, no. 'Stead o' standin' for 'Upton Hill,' them letters in
the Stetson meant 'Uriah Hogan.' Never before has fate played it so low
down on me as that."

"We have certainly blundered into some remarkable coincidences," agreed
Clancy.

A man with red hair, who sat, at their table, cocked up his ear as Hill
shook out his opinions.

"Hogan?" said he, leaning forward; "did I hear you mention Smuggler
Hogan, of the _Sylvia?_"

"I called him Uriah Hogan," said Hill.

"It's all one and the same. Hogan's bad medicine." The man surveyed
Clancy with an approving eye. "Maybe I shouldn't say anything about
this," he continued, "but your hair's the same color as mine, and I
always make it a point to pass valuable information along to a fellow
bricktop. Beware of Hogan! What's the fellow doing with that boat of
his? Some say he's smuggling arms into Lower California, for the use of
the revolutionists, and some say he's running chinks and opium--both
contraband goods--into the United States. Cap'n Hogan is not in these
waters for any good, take it from me."

The red-headed man finished with an ominous look, and then with great
politeness requested Hill to pass the salt.

"Hogan, I hear," the loquacious stranger continued presently, "charters
that boat of his to the unsuspecting. He does it for a blind--nothing
else. Now, if you gents want a trip up or down the coast, as far north
as San Fran, or as far down as the Horn. I've got just the
thing--slickest little schooner with steam auxiliary you ever put eyes
on."

A light broke over Clancy. Maybe Captain Hogan wasn't such bad medicine,
after all. This rival ship owner mig