f the afternoon before we came to anchor in a
little harbor about five miles from where we landed the cargo. And we'd
hardly been there when an American gunboat comes to anchor just off our
hiding-place, and Archie and me we looks at each other, but don't say
anything.

"And Durks? He's terribly surprised at the sight of the
gunboat--terribly. By and by he stops walking the deck and says to me:
'I have a plan, captain. I will go aboard that gunboat and find out what
they want here. If they think there is anything wrong about us, I will
invite them to come aboard and look us over. What do you say to that?'

"I didn't say anything to it, but 'What will become of me and my wife--I
paid you five hundred dollars for us?' pipes up Johnnie Sing.

"'Why'--and Durks smiles--'that is easy. You can hide--oh, where now?
Why, of course, in the lazaretto. And your wife in a locker somewhere
that Captain Corning will pick out for her. They will not look far, even
if they shall suspect us--they will think we would have fifty or a
hundred aboard or none at all. So they will not look into every corner.
If you both hide away somewhere everything will be all right.'

"Johnnie is uneasy, but I nods my head to him on the sly, and he says
all right and goes below with his wife. And making sure they are below,
Durks turns to me and hands over five hundred to me, and to Archie two
hundred dollars. And he shows us another five hundred and says: 'And
this will be for you two to divide as you please when I get Johnnie Sing
away from the ship and the girl is left behind. What do you say?'

"And I looks over at the five hundred and says, 'It looks pretty good';
and Archie he looks at me and at the extra money and says, 'It looks
pretty good'; and Durks laughs and says, 'It will feel pretty good, too;
but better put that money out of sight, hadn't you, captain--and you
too, Mr. Gillis?' and goes off in the big quarter-boat--the only boat we
had aboard, by the way.

"No sooner was he gone than up pops Johnnie Sing out of the cabin
companionway. 'Captain,' he says, 'must I hide away?'

"Can you swim?'

"'A little bit.'

"'A little bit? Not enough. And your wife?'

"From over his shoulder she shook her head.

"'Then you can't swim ashore, can you? You got to stay aboard, that's
plain. Well, you and your wife go with Mr. Gillis, who'll stow you in a
place he knows under the forec's'le floor. Neither o' you bein' too tall
or too fat, you c'n