tent with this national action and the subsequent offer of a
reward of L50,000 for the capture of the nameless ship or of her crew,
for he put the best private detectives in the city at the work, sending
two to New York, and others to Paris and to Spezia. These fathomed
something of the earlier mystery of Captain Black's life, but the man's
after-deeds were hidden from them; and when the weeks passed and I did
not come, all thought that I had died in my self-appointed
mission--another of his many victims.

It was but a few days after this sorrowful conviction that Black and I
went to London, and were seen by Inspector King, who had watched night
and day for the man's coming. The detective had immediately telegraphed
to the Admiralty, and to Roderick, who had reached my hotel to find
that I had already left. Then he hurried back to Southampton, there to
hear of the going of the warships and to wait with Mary tidings of the
last great battle, which meant life or death to me.

Long we sat discussing these things, and very bright were a pair of
dark eyes that listened again to Roderick's story, and then to more of
mine. But Roderick himself had awoke from his lethargy, and his
enthusiasm broke through all his old restraint.

"To-morrow, why, to-morrow, by George, you'll astound London. My dear
fellow, we'll go to town together to claim the L50,000 which the
Admiralty offered, and the L20,000 from the Black Anchor Line, to say
nothing of American money galore. You're made for life, old man; and
we'll take the old yacht north to Greenland, and hunt up the place and
Black's tender, which seems to have escaped the ironclads, and it'll be
the finest trip we ever knew."

"What does Mary say?" I asked as she still held my hand.

"I don't mean to leave you again," she answered, and as she spoke there
was a great sound of cheering above, and a great tramp of feet upon the
deck; and as we hurried up, the hands I loved to see crowded about me,
and their shouting was carried far over the water, and was taken up on
other ships, which threw their search-lights upon us, so that the night
was as a new day to me, and the awakening from the weeks of dreaming as
the coming of spring after winter's dark. Yet, as the child-face was
all lighted with radiant smiles, and honest hands clasped mine, and the
waters echoed the triumphant greeting, I could not but think again of
Captain Black, or ask myself--Is the man really dead, or shall we yet