this business yet."

"Not as much chance of our swingin' as there is of you gittin' what
Sanders got," retorted the other. "He's 'bout eat up by the sharks by
this time. An' when Ditty comes back with the loot; he ain't goin' to
let you live to peach on 'im. No, siree, he ain't. Dead men tell no
tales."

Drew waited no longer. He had no weapon with him, not even a knife.
But he counted on the advantage of surprise. He gathered himself
together, and, with the agility of a panther, leaped upon the shoulders
of the man seated beneath him. They went to the deck with a crash.
The fellow was stunned by the shock, and lay motionless; but Drew was
on his feet in a second.

The other mutineer leaped up, but when he saw the white and dripping
figure of the unexpected visitor he dropped the automatic and fell back
against the mess table, shaking and with his hands before his eyes.

"It's a ghost!" yelled Trent, no less frightened than the others, but
more voluble. "It's Sanders been an' boarded us!"

The prisoners, crowded together on the deck of the forecastle, glared
at the apparition of the naked man in horror. After all, the mutineer
had the most courage.

"Blast my eyes!" he suddenly shouted. "Sanders wasn't never so big as
him; 'nless he's growed since he was sent to the sharks."

He sprang forward to peer into Drew's face. The latter's fist shot out
and landed resoundingly on the fellow's jaw.

"Nor he don't hit like Sanders, by mighty!" yelled the fellow. "Nor
like no ghost. It's that blasted Drew--I knows 'im now."

"And you're going to know more about me directly," said Drew, between
his teeth, following the fellow up for a second blow.

But the mutineer had recovered himself, both in mind and body. He was
a big, beefy chap, weighing fifty pounds heavier than Drew, despite the
latter's bone and muscle. No man, no matter how well he can spar, can
afford to give away fifty pounds in a rough and tumble fight and expect
not to suffer for it.

The fellow put up a good defense, and Drew suddenly became aware that
he himself was at a terrible disadvantage. He was a naked man against
one clothed and booted. He could defend himself from the flail-like
blows of his antagonist and could get in some of his own swift hooks
and punches. But when he was at close quarters the fellow played a
deadly trick on him.

As Drew stepped in to deliver a short-armed jolt to the mutineer's
head, the latter took th