per George," he thought, taking counsel with himself, as he
poured another dram, "you got t' do better."

He mused a long time.

"I _will_ do better," he determined. "I'll show un that I can sail a
schooner."

Before he stowed away for the night, a little resentment crept into
his thoughts of Sir Archibald. He had never felt this way before.

"I got t' stop this," he thought.

Tom Tulk was then dreaming over a glass of rum; and his dreams were
pleasant dreams--concerning Skipper George of the _Black Eagle_.

CHAPTER XXVI

_In Which the Enterprise of Archie Armstrong Evolves Senor
Fakerino, the Greatest Magician In Captivity. In Which,
also, the Foolish are Importuned Not to be Fooled, Candy
is Promised to Kids, Bill o' Burnt Bay is Persuaded to
Tussle With "The Lost Pirate," and the "Spot Cash" Sets
Sail_

For three dismal, foggy days, Archie Armstrong was the busiest
business man in St. John's, Newfoundland. He was forever damp,
splashed with mud, grimy-faced, wilted as to clothes and haggard as to
manner. But make haste he must; there was not a day--not an hour--to
spare: for it was now appallingly near August; and the first of
September would delay for no man. When, with the advice of Sir
Archibald and the help of every man-jack in the warehouses (even of
the rat-eyed little Tommy Bull), the credit of Topsail, Armstrong,
Grimm & Company had been exhausted to the last penny, Archie sighed in
a thoroughly self-satisfied way, pulled out his new check-book and
plunged into work of another sort.

"How's that bank-account holding out?" Sir Archibald asked, that
evening.

"I'm a little bit bent, dad," Archie replied, "but not yet broke."

Sir Archibald looked concerned.

"Advertising," Archie briefly explained.

"But," said Sir Archibald, in protest, "nobody has ever advertised in
White Bay before."

"Somebody is just about to," Archie laughed.

Sir Archibald was puzzled. "Wh-wh-what _for_?" he inquired. "What kind
of advertising?"

"Handbills, dad, and concerts, and flags, and circus-lemonade."

"Nothing more, son?" Sir Archibald mocked.

"Senor Fakerino," Archie replied, with a smack of self-satisfaction,
"the World's Greatest Magician."

"The same being?"

"Yours respectfully, A. Armstrong."

Sir Archibald shrugged his shoulders. Then his eyes twinkled, his
sides began to shake, and he threw back his head and burst into a roar
of laughter, in which Archie and