ne away from her beach. No, Mr. White,
England's never done anything special for me that I could, so to speak,
put my finger on, but--ah would you!"

White, in desperation, had made a grab at the revolver lying on the
instrument table, but with a quick rush Kettle possessed himself of it,
and Mr. White found himself again looking down the muzzle of Captain
Kettle's weapon.

But a moment later the aim was changed. Sheriff, hearing the whispered
talk, had come in through the doorway to see what it was about, and
promptly found himself favored in his turn.

"Shift your pistol to muzzle end, and bring it here."

Sheriff obeyed the order promptly. He had seen enough of Captain
Kettle's usefulness as a marksman not to dispute his wishes.

"Did you know that we came here to stir up a war between our folks at
home and the Transvaal?"

"I suppose so."

"And smash up the telegraph instruments afterward, so that it could not
be contradicted till it was well under way?"

"That would have been necessary."

"And you remember what you told me on that steamboat? Oh! you liar!"
said Kettle, and Sheriff winced.

"I'm so beastly hard up," he said.

Captain Kettle might have commented on his own poverty, but he did not
do this. Instead, he said: "Now we'll go back to the ship, and of course
you'll have to scuttle her just as if you'd brought off your game here
successfully. Run England in for a bloody war, would you, just for some
filthy money? By James! no. Come, march. And you, Mr. Telegraph Clerk,
get under weigh with that deaf and dumb alphabet of yours, and ring up
the Cape, and tell them what's been sent is all a joke, and there's to
be no war at all."

"I'll do that, you may lay your heart on it," said the operator. "But
Mr. I-don't-know-what-your-name-is, look here. Hadn't you better stay?
I'll see things are put all right. But if you go off with those two
sharks, it might be dangerous."

"Thank you, kindly, sir," said Kettle; "but I'm a man that's been
accustomed to look after myself all the world over, and I'm not likely
to get hurt now. Those two may be sharks, as you say, but I'm not
altogether a simple little lamb myself."

"I shall be a bit uneasy for you. You're a good soul whoever you may be,
and I'd like to do something for you if I could."

"Then, sir," said Kettle, "just keep quiet, here, and get on with your
work contradicting that wire, and don't send for any of those little
Portuguese soldiers with