He determined to have it opened in the cabin.

As he arose from it he was struck by its resemblance to the box in
Elmer's charge, the dank box of Reginald Maltravers, which stood on one
end near the cabin companionway, leaning against the port side of the
cabin so that it was not visible from the road, which ran to the
starboard of the Jasper B. But, since all oblong boxes are bound to
have a general resemblance, Cleggett, at the time, thought little
enough of this likeness.

He called to George and Mr. Calthrop, who, with Dr. Farnsworth, were
forward receiving their first lecture on seamanship from Cap'n
Abernethy and Kuroki, to carry the box into the cabin.

But as George and the Rev. Mr. Calthrop lifted the box to their
shoulders, Cleggett was startled by a loud and violent oath; a
veritable bellow of blasphemy that made him shudder. Turning, he saw
than an automobile had paused in the road. In the forward part of the
machine stood Loge, raving in an almost demoniac fury and pointing at
the box. He writhed in the grip of three men who endeavored to restrain
him. One of them was the sinister Pierre.

Hoisting himself, as it were, on a mounting billow of his own
profanity, Loge cast himself with a wide swimming motion of his arms
from the auto. But one of the men clung to him; they came to the
ground together like tackler and tackled in a football game. The
others cast themselves out of the machine and flung themselves upon
their leader; he fought like a lion, but he was finally overpowered and
thrown back into the auto, which was immediately started up and which
made off towards Fairport at a rattling speed. Three hundred yards
away, however, Loge rose again and shook a furious fist at the Jasper
B., and though Cleggett could not distinguish the words, the sense of
Loge's impotent rage rolled towards him on the wind in a roaring,
vibrant bass.

The sight of the box that he had not been able to buy, in Cleggett's
possession, had stirred him beyond all caution; he had actually
contemplated an attempt to rush the Jasper B. in broad daylight.

But while this queer tableau of baffled rage was enacting itself on the
starboard bow of the Jasper B., a no less strange and far less
explicable thing was occurring on the port side. The swish of oars and
the ripple of a moving boat drew Cleggett's attention in that direction
as Loge's booming threats grew fainter. He saw that two oarsmen, near
the eastern and fart