will be more murder! Oh, my God,
Leslie!"

"When you went back after the alarm, did you count the men?"

"No; Oleson said no one had come forward. They could not have passed
without his seeing them. He has the binnacle lantern and two other
lights."

"And no one came from the after house?"

"No one."

Eight bells rang out sharply. The watch changed. I took the revolver
and Burns's position at the companionway, while Burns went aft. He
lined up the men by the binnacle light, and went over them carefully.
The marlinespike was not found; but he took from the cook a long
meat-knife, and brought both negro and knife forward to me. The man
was almost collapsing with terror. He maintained that he had taken the
knife for self-protection, and we let him go with a warning.

Dawn brought me an hour's sleep, the first since my awakening in the
storeroom. When I roused, Jones at the wheel had thrown an extra
blanket over me, for the morning was cool and a fine rain was
falling.

The men were scattered around in attitudes of dejection, one or two of
them leaning over the rail, watching the jolly-boat, riding easily
behind us. Jones heard me moving, and turned.

"Your friend below must be pretty bad, sir," he said. "Your lady-love
has been asking for you. I wouldn't let them wake you."

"My--what?"

He waxed apologetic at once.

"That's just my foolishness, Leslie," he said. "No disrespect to the
lady, I'm sure. If it ain't so, it ain't, and no harm done. If it is
so, why, you needn't be ashamed, boy. 'The way of a man with a maid,'
says the Book."

"You should have called me, Jones," I said sharply. "And no nonsense
of that sort with the men."

He looked hurt, but made no reply beyond touching his cap. And, while
I am mentioning that, I may speak of the changed attitude of the men
toward me from the time they put me in charge. Whether the deference
was to the office rather than the man, or whether in placing me in
authority they had merely expressed a general feeling that I was with
them rather than of them, I do not know. I am inclined to think the
former. The result, in any case, was the same. They deferred to me
whenever possible, brought large and small issues alike to me, served
me my food alone, against my protestations, and, while navigating the
ship on their own responsibility, took care to come to me for authority
for everything.

Before I went below that morning, I suggested that some