down in the stern, and he found the lower deck was not more than six or
seven feet above water level. It occurred to him that if he could get
hold of the mooring rope pawls he might be able to climb aboard. But
this after a number of trials he found impossible, as in the absence of
someone at the oars to steady the boat, the latter always drifted away
from the hull before he could grasp what he wanted.

He decided he must risk passing through the lighted area, and, having
for the third time rowed round the stern, he brought the boat up as
close to the hull as possible until he reached the wharf. Then passing
in between the two rows of piles and feeling his way in the dark, he
made the painter fast to a diagonal, so that the boat would lie hidden
should anyone examine the steps with a light. The hull lay touching the
vertical piles, and Hilliard, edging along a waling to the front of the
wharf, felt with his foot through the darkness for the stern belting.
The tide was low and he found this was not more than a foot above the
timber on which he stood. He could now see the deck light, an electric
bulb on the side of the captain's cabin, and it showed him the top of
the taffrail some little distance above the level of his eyes. Taking
his courage in both hands and stepping upon the belting, he succeeded
in grasping the taffrail. In a moment he was over it and on deck, and in
another moment he had slipped round the deckhouse and out of the light
of the lamp. There he stopped, listening for an alarm, but the silence
remained unbroken, and he believed he had been unobserved.

He recalled the construction of the ship. The lower deck, on which he
was standing, ran across the stern and formed a narrow passage some
forty feet long at each side of the central cabin. This cabin contained
the galley and mess room as well as the first officer's quarters.
Bulla's stateroom, Hilliard remembered, was down below beside the
engine-room.

From the lower deck two ladders led to the bridge deck at the forward
end of which was situated the captain's stateroom. Aft of this building
most of the remaining bridge deck was taken up by two lifeboats,
canvas-covered and housed in chocks. On the top of the captain's cabin
was the bridge and chart-house, reached by two ladders which passed up
at either side of the cabin.

Hilliard, reconnoitering, crept round to the port side of the ship. The
lower deck was in complete darkness, and he passed the r