w of thirty required for her
navigation and their comfort. A good all-weather boat, very steady in a
seaway, her lines were nevertheless fine, nothing in her appearance in
the least suggested a vessel of commercial character--"all yacht" was
what Monk called her.

The first mate, a Mr. Swain, was a sturdy Britisher with a very red
face and cool blue eyes, not easily impressed; if Lanyard were not in
error, Mr. Swain entertained a private opinion of the lot of them,
Captain Monk included, decidedly uncomplimentary. But he was a civil
sort, though deficient in sense of humour and inclined to be a bit
abrupt in a preoccupied fashion.

Mr. Collison, the second mate, was another kind entirely, an American
with the drawl of the South in his voice, a dark, slender man with eyes
quick and shrewd. His manners were excellent, his reserve notable,
though he seemed to derive considerable amusement from what he saw of
the passengers, going on his habit of indulging quiet smiles as he
listened to their communications. He talked very little and played an
excellent game of poker.

The chief engineer was a Mr. Mussey, stout, affable, and cynic, a heavy
drinker, untidy about his person and exacting about his engine-room, a
veteran of his trade and--it was said--an ancient croney of Monk's.
There was, at all events, a complete understanding evident between
these two, though now and again, especially at table, when Monk was
putting on something more than his customary amount of side, Lanyard
would observe Mussey's eyes fixed in contemplation upon his superior
officer, with a look in them that wanted reading. He was nobody's fool,
certainly not Monk's, and at such times Lanyard would have given more
than a penny for Mussey's thoughts.

Existing in daily contact, more or less close, with these gentlemen,
observing them as they went to and fro upon their lawful occasions,
Lanyard often speculated as to their attitude toward this lawless
errand of the Sybarite's, of which they could hardly be unsuspicious
even if they were not intimate with its true nature. And remembering
what penalties attach to apprehension in the act of smuggling, even
though it be only a few cases of champagne, he thought it a wild risk
for them to run for the sake of their daily wage.

Something to this effect he intimated to Phinuit.

"Don't worry about this lot," that one replied. "They're wise birds,
tough as they make 'em, ready for anything; hand-picked down