, were
working restlessly at his sides. He glanced at my father's bandaged arm,
and his jaw thrust forward.

"I warned 'em, captain," he cried hoarsely. "By heaven, I warned 'em.
'Damn you,' I says, 'hell will break loose when the captain climbs
aboard,' and it did, so help me. There was fifteen of 'em and now there's
six, and the crew has 'em in the forecastle now, beating 'em, sir! And
now, by thunder, we'll sling 'em overboard!"

"That would be a pity," said my father. "Let them sail with us. I shall
make it more unpleasant than drowning. Which way are we heading, Ned?"

"Due east by south," said Mr. Aiken, "and we're ready to show heels to
anything. I can drop a reef off now if you want it."

"Good," said my father. "Put on all the sail she will carry."

Mr. Aiken grinned.

"I thought you'd want to be moving," he said.

"Quite right," said my father, "and put about at once and head back up
the river."

Mr. Aiken whistled softly.

"Well, I'll be damned!" he muttered.

"I shall want ten men with me when I land," my father continued. "I've
done my best to keep the crew out of my private affairs, but now it seems
impossible."

"They'd all like to go," said Mr. Aiken. "They've been hoping for
excitement all day, sir."

"Ten will be quite enough," said my father.

"What is it you are saying?" Mademoiselle asked sharply.

"Quite nothing," he replied, "except that we are going back."

His arm must have given him a twinge, for his face had grown very white.

"Surely you have done enough," she said, and her voice became a soft
entreaty. "Here we are on board your ship. If I told you I was not
entirely sorry, would you not go on? If I told you, captain, I did not
care about the paper--?"

My father waved his hand in graceful denial.

"Not go back? Ah, Mademoiselle," he added in grave rebuke, "can it be
possible after all, in spite of all this--let us say regrettable
melodrama--you are forgetting I am the villain of this piece, and not a
very pleasant one? Even if I wished, my lady, my sense of hospitality
would forbid it. My brother-in-law is waiting for me under my roof
tonight, and I could not leave him alone. He would be disappointed, I
feel sure, and so would I. I have had a strenuous evening. I need
recreation now. Load the pistols, Brutus."

And he fell silent again, his eyes on the blank wall before him, his
fingers playing with his glass.

The _Sea Tern_ had need to be a fast ship, and she liv