? Do you notice it? Isn't she pretty?
Condy, tell me what kind of a boat is that?"

Condy turned about in his place with great deliberation, fixed the
picture with a judicial eye, and announced decisively:

"That?--why, that's a BARKENTINE."

Condy had no need to wait for Blix's report. The demonstration came
far too quickly for that. The red-headed man at his loud declaration
merely glanced in the direction of the chromo and returned to his
enchellados. But he of the black mustache followed Condy's glance,
noted the picture of which he spoke, and snorted contemptuously. They
even heard him mutter beneath his mustache:

"BARKENTINE your eye!"

"No doubt as to which is the captain now," whispered Condy so soon as
the other had removed from him a glance of withering scorn.

They could hardly restrain their gayety; but their gravity promptly
returned when Blix kicked Condy's foot under the table and murmured:
"He's looking at his watch, the captain is. K. D. B. isn't here yet,
and the red-headed man, the coincidence, is. We MUST get rid of him.
Condy, can't you think of something?"

"Well, he won't go till he's through his supper, you can depend upon
that. If he's here when K. D. B. arrives, it will spoil everything.
She wouldn't stay a moment. She wouldn't even come in."

"Isn't it disappointing? And I had so counted upon bringing these two
together! And Captain Jack is a nice man!"

"You can see that with one hand tied behind you," whispered Condy.
"The other chap's tough."

"Looks just like the kind of man to get into jail sooner or later."

"Maybe he's into some mischief now; you never can tell. And the
Mexican quarter of San Francisco is just the place for 'affairs.' I'll
warrant he's got PALS."

"Well, here he is--that's the main point--just keeping those people
apart, spoiling a whole romance. Maybe ruining their lives. It's
QUITE possible; really it is. Just stop and think. This is a positive
crisis we're looking at now."

"Can't we get rid of him SOMEHOW?"

"O-oh!" whispered Blix, all at once, in a quiver of excitement. "There
is a way, if we'd ever have the courage to do it. It might work; and
if it didn't, he'd never know the difference, never would suspect us.
Oh! but we wouldn't dare."

"What? what? In Heaven's name what is it, Blix?"

"We wouldn't dare--we couldn't. Oh! but it would be such--"

"K. D. B. may come in that door at any second."

"I'm half afraid, but all