to its place the light fell upon
his thin features; their pallor surprised me as much as his words.

"Too many wonderful things happen to you!" he stammered.

"Why--what do you mean?" I queried.

"Never mind!" he snapped. "If you start a rough house on board this boat
I'll stop you before you get well under way."

I was too astounded to reply. The blood upon my face and hands was plain
evidence of the wound I had received, and the captain's indifference
left me breathless. Without another word he turned and scrambled up on
deck, and I followed.

Once out of earshot of the listening crew I determined to make another
effort to show him that my conduct was justified.

"That devil was sneaking in the shadow of the galley all the evening," I
cried. "I attempted to stir him out and he jerked the knife at me."

He stopped in front of me, made one of his conversational feints by
opening his mouth and shutting it again, then dived hastily for the
companion, leaving me to search for sympathy in the moonlit night. I
remembered as I endeavoured to staunch the wound, the question which I
had put to Holman concerning the captain only an hour before, and I
smiled grimly as I bound my handkerchief about my forehead. Captain
Newmarch of _The Waif_ hadn't risen in my estimation since the moment I
made the inquiry.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER IV

THE STORM

Holman glanced inquiringly at the piece of sticking plaster above my
right eye when he met me on the deck the morning after the knife
incident, and I grinned sheepishly.

"You were right about that patch of shadow last night," I remarked.

"How?" he queried.

"This came from it," I replied, touching the plaster with my finger as I
spoke.

The boy whistled and looked around cautiously. "You'll be getting wise
in a day or two," he murmured. "She said you would when I told her this
morning about our conversation of last night."

I laughed, and he turned suddenly toward me. "Do you think we'll put in
anywhere in the Samoan Group?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "Why?"

Holman came closer. "If we do I'm going to get the girls ashore and keep
them there," he muttered. "I don't care what you think of the
proposition. This trip is going to be a tough one, and I'm certain there
is some deviltry afoot."

I tried to laugh at the serious face upon the youngster, but the
conviction which he threw into his words choked my mirth. Whether it was
the little brush with the