vident from the way he set to work at once. He began with the parrot,
which he painted vermilion; then he passed the brush gaily along the
newly varnished wood-work--daubed the masts and shrouds all over,
obliterated the name on the life-buoys, and wound up a somewhat
successful performance by emptying the pot over the Captain's best coat,
which was laid in the sun to get the creases out.

I draw a veil over what happened on the _Vulcan_ during the next quarter
of an hour. There was never such a muster of the crew since they left
port: Everybody seemed to have business on deck. When the Captain came
up you could have heard a pin drop. I shall not repeat his language, nor
try to compare with anything earthly the voice with which he ordered
every man below. All I will record is--and it is to his everlasting
honour--that in that awful hour the Captain was true to his vow. 'Do you
see land?' he roared to the steersman. 'Aye, aye, sir,' said the man,
'land on the larboard bow.' 'Then,' said the Captain, 'put her head to
it.'

[Illustration: HE BEGAN WITH THE PARROT]

That night, late, the ship stood close in to a small island on the north
coast of Scotland, and a boat was solemnly sent ashore, and after that
Tricky was no more seen by any of the crew of the _Vulcan_.

CHAPTER III

The island on which the Captain of the _Vulcan_ exiled Tricky was marked
on the chart 'uninhabited.' But the chart was wrong. Ten years before, a
shepherd had come there, and now lived with his wife and family near the
top of the great sea-cliff. You may judge of the sensation when a real
live monkey appeared in the early morning in this remote and lonely
spot. The shepherd was watching his sheep when the apparition rose, as
it were, from the ground. He had never seen a monkey before, any more
than the sheep; and sheep and shepherd bolted like wildfire. Tricky, of
course, followed the biped, for he had always been accustomed to human
society; and, as the shepherd fled towards the hut, he saw the monkey
close at his heels. So he made a rush at the open door, and pulled it
after him with a bang which almost brought down the house.

[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD BOLTED LIKE WILDFIRE]

The fugitive had just got inside when, in a moment, he felt himself
seized from behind. It seemed as if a powerful hand was dragging him
backward, and he threw himself down on the ground, and roared with fear.
What had happened was that the flying end of his