he nearby voices.

"And Keenan, you say, is in Genoa?" asked one of the Englishmen.

"If he's not there now he will be during the week," answered the
American.

"You're sure of that?"

"All I know is that our Milan man secured duplicates of his cables.
Three of them were in cipher, but he was able to make reasonably sure
of the Genoa trip!"

"It would be rather hard to get at him, _there_!"

"But if he strikes north, as you say, and goes first to Liverpool, and
gets home by the back door, as it were, by taking a steamer to Quebec
or Montreal----"

"That's a mere blind!"

"But why say that?"

"Because he's too wise to stride British territory, before he unloads.
It's not a mere matter of stopping the transfer of this stock, or
whether or not all of it is negotiable. What we want is tangible and
incriminating evidence. The signatures of those cheques are----"

That was the last word that came to Durkin's ears, for at that moment a
steward, with a tray of glasses, hurried into the pantry. His
suspicious eye saw nothing beyond a busy electrician replacing a
switchboard. But before the intruding steward had departed the second
officer was at Durkin's elbow, overlooking his labors, and no further
word or hint came to the ears of the listener.

But he had heard enough. The flame had been applied to the dry acreage
of his too arid and idle existence. He had remained passive too long.
It was change that brought chance. And even though that change meant
descent, it would, after all, be only the momentary dip that preceded
the upward flight again. And as he gazed thoughtfully landward, where
Monte Carlo lay vivid and glowing under the sheltering Alpes-Maritimes,
like a golden lizard sunning itself on a shelf of gray rock, he felt
within him a more kindly and comprehensive feeling for that
flower-strewn arena of vast hazards. It was, after all, the great
chances of life that made existence endurable. Its only anodyne lay in
effort and feverish struggle. And his chance for work had come!

Half an hour later he was rowed ashore, with a good Havana cigar
between his teeth and three good English sovereigns in his pocket. As
he made his way up to his hotel he could feel some inner part of him
still struggling and shrinking back from the enticing avenue of
activity which his new knowledge was opening up before him.

He smiled, now, a little grimly, as he sat under the rustling palms and
thought of those old,