t up for me. Put out the light when you've done with it and
leave the companion unlatched so that I can follow you in."

Merriman grunted disapprovingly, but offered no further objection. He
clambered on board the launch and disappeared below, while Hilliard,
remaining in the collapsible boat, began to row silently up-stream
towards the wharf.

The night was dark and still, but warm. The moon had not risen, and the
sky was overcast, blotting out even the small light of the stars. There
was a faint whisper of air currents among the trees, and the subdued
murmur of the moving mass of water was punctuated by tiny splashes and
gurgles as little eddies formed round the stem of the boat or wavelets
broke against the banks. Hilliard's eyes had by this time become
accustomed to the gloom, and he could dimly distinguish the serrated
line of the trees against the sky on either side of him, and later, the
banks of the clearing, with the faint, ghostly radiance from the surface
of the water.

He pulled on with swift, silent strokes, and presently the dark mass of
the Girondin loomed in sight. The ship, longer than the wharf, projected
for several feet above and below it. Hilliard turned his boat inshore
with the object of passing between the hull and the bank and so reaching
the landing steps. But as he rounded the vessel's stern he saw that her
starboard side was lighted up, and he ceased rowing, sitting motionless
and silently holding water, till the boat began to drift back into the
obscurity down-stream. The wharf was above the level of his head, and
he could only see, appearing over its edge, the tops of the piles of
pit-props. These, as well as the end of the ship's navigating bridge and
the gangway, were illuminated by, he imagined, a lamp on the side of one
of the deckhouses. But everything was very still, and the place seemed
deserted.

Hilliard's intention had been to land on the wharf and, crouching behind
the props, await events. But now he doubted if he could reach his hiding
place without coming within the radius of the lamp and so exposing
himself to the view of anyone who might be on the watch on board. He
recollected that the port or river side of the ship was in darkness, and
he thought it might therefore be better if he could get directly aboard
there from the boat.

Having removed his shoes he rowed gently round the stern and examined
the side for a possible way up. The ship being light forward was heavily