turned his head and leaned against the poop. Lister saw he
trembled as if the reaction from the strain was keen. After a few
moments he braced himself.

"It's done with! I think all the boxes held gold, but they're gone."

Brown indicated the cloud of spray that tossed above the advancing lines
of foam. The long rollers had crashed on the bar from the beginning and
would never stop.

"All the surf gets it keeps," he said. "If there is a secret, I reckon
the secret's safe! However, we have to talk about something else. You
can get us some native boys?"

"I'll send you a fresh gang. If my new agent arrives soon, I'll go with
you as far as Sierra Leone. Since you're short-handed, I might perhaps
help, and I've had enough of the factory."

The others agreed and soon afterwards got to work. When the negroes
Montgomery sent arrived all the cargo worth salving was re-stowed, and
he bought the hulk for a floating store. Then, one night when the moon
and tide were full, _Terrier_ steamed slowly across the lagoon. Two
massive ropes trailed across her stern and _Arcturus'_ high dark bow
towered above her phosphorescent wake. The land breeze blew behind her
and the surf had not the fury the sea breeze gives by day, but when
_Terrier_ plunged into the turmoil Brown watched the tow ropes with
anxious eyes.

_Arcturus_ rolled and sheered about, putting a horrible strain on the
hawsers, and sometimes for a minute or two it looked as if she went
astern. Flame blew from the tug's funnel, lighting the black trail of
smoke; steam roared at her escape-pipe, and the engines throbbed hard.
The ebb tide, however, was beginning to run and helped her across the
shoals. The leadsman got deeper water, the rollers got smooth, and
presently the swell was long and regular and the spray cloud melted
astern. In the morning, a faint dark line to starboard was all that
indicated the African coast. Next day Brown steered for the land and
called Montgomery to the bridge.

"I reckon to make an anchorage before dark," he said. "We'll give the
boys the rest they need and send _Terrier_ to _Sar_ Leone for coal.
Learmont will land you."

"Then you're not going to take _Arcturus_ into port?" Montgomery
remarked with some surprise.

"I am not. Cartwright expects me to save him as much as possible and
there are British officers and Board of Trade rules at _Sar_ Leone. You
don't imagine they'd let me start for Las Palmas? Surveys, reports,
repairs and