me in a
short while, I guess."

"They will, eh? Don't say so? Well, come in and make yourself to
home."

There was something so sinister in this invitation and in the leer
which accompanied it, that Hugh felt a qualm of misgiving. He hung
back, uncertain what to say next, until cross-eyed Harry gave him a
push that sent him staggering through the doorway. The four men
then entered the cabin after him, closing the door cautiously.

Inside the hut they were in comparative darkness, the only light
coming in between the chinks in the log walls. An opening which
had once served as a window was now boarded across, for some unknown
reason. The only furniture in the dwelling consisted of a fine
old mahogany table---sadly out of place---three cheap wooden chairs,
a cupboard against one wall, and a rude bunk beside it covered
with deer-skins. From the cupboard Durgan brought forth a tallow
candle set upright on a broken saucer. Lighting this, he placed
it on the table.

"Sit o'er thar," he said to Hugh, pointing to the bunk.

Hugh obeyed in silence; and the men then gathered around the table,
speaking in tones so low that he could scarcely distinguish the words.

"A strange scene!" he thought, surveying the dingy interior.
"Outside, broad daylight; in here, four scoundrels in candle-council,
planning deeds of darkness; and I, trussed up like a calf, watching
them because there doesn't seem to be anything else I can do. At
least, not just now."

He lay down on the bunk, heaving a sigh of weariness.

Hearing the sigh, Joe Durgan glanced up. "If you'll behave like
a good lad an' not try to run away," he said, grinning, "I'll
untie your hands, and you kin be more comf'table-like. What say?"

"Thanks!" said Hugh; and when Durgan, assuming the word to be a
promise of good behavior, unbound the prisoner, Hugh lay down again
and feigned sleep. In his heart he was grateful to Durgan for the
kindness, but he was no less resolved to take every opportunity for
escaping that might arise.

The men continued to speak in low voices, but he heard enough of
their discussion to convince him once more that they were arranging
to meet at a spot where some sort of a cargo was to be run, the first
night when there would be no moon and an off-shore wind. As far as
he could learn from the snatches of talk which reached his ears, the
spot was to be close to this deserted settlement; before them was a
little sandy bay where boats