t, Ventana, and a
drunken coal-trimmer. An odd assortment to rub shoulders, don't you
think?"

Joey still reserved his opinion. When the girl went to the forecastle
by climbing down the sailors' ladder to the lower deck, he thought she
was making a mistake; but she held her arms for his spring, and all was
well. She had not previously visited the quarters set apart for the
crew. Puzzled by the large number of small cabins with names of
subordinate officers painted on them, she paused and cried loudly:

"Are you there, Frascuelo? May I speak to you?"

An exclamation of surprise, a somewhat forcible exclamation, too,
answered her from an inner berth. Frascuelo had heard from the Chilean
who brought his meals that there was an Englishwoman on board, but he
did not know that she spoke Spanish fluently. He answered her question
politely enough in the next breath, and the dog indicated the right
door by hopping inside.

Frascuelo was reclining on a lower bunk. His injured leg was well on
the way towards recovery, but the wound and its resultant confinement
had chastened him; he had lost the brigandish swagger which was his
most cherished asset.

After acknowledging inquiries as to his progress, he showed such
eagerness for news that Elsie told him briefly what had caused the
latest uproar. She cheered him, too, with the announcement made by the
engineer, and then led him to the topic on which she sought information.

"In some ways, I regard you as most unfortunate," she said. "I have
been told you are here by accident--that you never meant to take the
voyage at all. Is that true?"

Frascuelo, delighted to have secured a sympathetic listener, poured
forth his sorrows volubly. He bore no ill-will against the captain he
said. He knew it was wrong to draw a knife on the chief officer, as
his tale was an unlikely one, and he ought to have trusted to a more
orderly recital of the facts to obtain credence.

"But I was that mad, senorita, I just saw red, and the drink was yet
surging up in me. I felt I must fight somebody, whatever the
consequences."

"Can you tell me why any one had such a grievance against you that you
should be thrown into the hold and nearly killed? That was a strange
thing to do, especially as you came aboard too late for your work."

"Ah, that is the point, senorita. You see, we trimmers work in gangs,
and the man who flung me through the hatch was the man who had taken my
place. I