ed over and went back across the very spot," he concluded. "There
was not a sign of them. I called and called, but there was never an
answer. I tacked back and forth and wore for two solid hours, then hove
to till daybreak, and cruised back and forth all day, two men at the
mastheads. It is terrible. I am heartbroken. Mr. Duncan was a splendid
man, and I shall never..."

But he never completed the sentence, for at that moment his splendid
employer strode out upon him, leaving Minnie standing in the doorway.
Captain Dettmar's white face blanched even whiter.

"I did my best to pick you up, sir," he began.

Boyd Duncan's answer was couched in terms of bunched knuckles, two
bunches of them, that landed right and left on Captain Dettmar's face.

Captain Dettmar staggered backward, recovered, and rushed with swinging
arms at his employer, only to be met with a blow squarely between the
eyes. This time the Captain went down, bearing the typewriter under him
as he crashed to the floor.

"This is not permissible," Consul Lingford spluttered. "I beg of you, I
beg of you, to desist."

"I'll pay the damages to office furniture," Duncan answered, and at the
same time landing more bunched knuckles on the eyes and nose of Dettmar.

Consul Lingford bobbed around in the turmoil like a wet hen, while his
office furniture went to ruin. Once, he caught Duncan by the arm, but
was flung back, gasping, half-across the room. Another time he appealed
to Minnie.

"Mrs. Duncan, won't you, please, please, restrain your husband?"

But she, white-faced and trembling, resolutely shook her head and
watched the fray with all her eyes.

"It is outrageous," Consul Lingford cried, dodging the hurtling bodies
of the two men. "It is an affront to the Government, to the United
States Government. Nor will it be overlooked, I warn you. Oh, do pray
desist, Mr. Duncan. You will kill the man. I beg of you. I beg, I
beg..."

But the crash of a tall vase filled with crimson hibiscus blossoms left
him speechless.

The time came when Captain Dettmar could no longer get up. He got as far
as hands and knees, struggled vainly to rise further, then collapsed.
Duncan stirred the groaning wreck with his foot.

"He's all right," he announced. "I've only given him what he has given
many a sailor and worse."

"Great heavens, sir!" Consul Lingford exploded, staring horror-stricken
at the man whom he had invited to lunch.

Duncan giggled involuntarily, then