in the movin' picture game."

Mr. Watkins, as he talked, had been regarding Cap'n Abernethy, who in
turn was looking at the mainmast. There seemed to be something in the
very way Cap'n Abernethy looked at the mainmast which jarred on Mr.
Watkins. Mr. Watkins dropped his voice, indicating the Cap'n with a
curved, disparaging thumb, as he asked Cleggett:

"Is HE going to sail her?"

"Why not?"

"Oh--nothing; nothing at all," said Mr. Watkins. "It's none o' MY
business."

Cleggett began to be a little annoyed. "Have you," he said with
dignity, and fixing a rather stern glance upon Mr. Watkins, "have you
any reason to doubt Cap'n Abernethy's ability as a sailing master?"

"No, indeed," said Mr. Watkins cheerfully, "not as a sailing master.
He may be the best in the world, for all I know. _I_ never seen him
sail anything. I never heard him play the violin, neither, for that
matter, and he may be a regular jim-dandy on the violin for all I know."

"You are facetious," said Cleggett stiffly.

"Meaning I ain't paid to be fresh, eh?" said Mr. Watkins. "And right
you are, too. And there's all that junk down in the hold to pass out
and cart away."

Cleggett personally supervised this removal, standing on the deck by
the hatchway and scanning everything that was handed up. The character
of this junk has already been described. Every barrel or cask that was
placed upon the deck was stove in with an ax before Cleggett's eyes; he
satisfied himself that every bottle was empty; he turned over the
broken boxes and beer cases with his foot to see that they contained
nothing.

But the work was three-quarters done before he found what he was
looking for. From under a heap of debris, which had completely hidden
it, towards the forward part of the vessel, the workmen unearthed an
unpainted oblong box, almost seven feet in length. It was of
substantial material and looked newer than any of the other stuff.
Cleggett had it placed on one side of the hatchway and sat down on it.
It was tightly nailed up; all of its surfaces were sound. Cleggett did
not doubt that he would find in it what he wanted, yet in order to be
on the safe side he continued to scrutinize everything else that came
out of the hold.

But finally the hold was as empty as a drum, and Watkins and his men
departed. The oblong box upon which Cleggett sat was the only possible
receptacle of any sort in an undamaged condition, which had been in the
hold.