"Very well, Mr. Sandman; I will leave you in charge of the forecastle,"
replied the engineer, with a light laugh; but they had been boys
together, and understood each other perfectly.

"Captain Sullendine is the only dangerous man on board, and I think you
had better look after him," added Christy. "If there is any lock on the
door of his stateroom, it would be well to turn the key."

"I will look after him at once, sir," answered Graines, as he leaped
upon the cotton bales and made his way to the quarter-deck.

On the way he examined the condition of Sopsy, and found him snoring
like a roaring lion, in an uneasy position. He turned him over on his
side, and then went to the lair of Bokes, who was in the same condition;
and he concluded that neither of them would come to his senses for a
couple of hours at least.

Captain Sullendine had been assisted to a comfortable position when he
turned in, and he was sleeping with nothing to disturb him. There was no
lock on the door, and Graines could not turn the key. The interior of
the cabin was finished in the most primitive manner, for the vessel had
not been built to accommodate passengers. The door of the captain's
stateroom was made of inch and a half boards, with three battens, and
the handle was an old-fashioned bow-latch. There was a heavy bolt on the
inside, as though the apartment had been built to enable the master to
fortify himself in case of a mutiny.

The engineer could not fasten the door with any of the fixtures on it;
but it opened inward, as is generally the case on shipboard, and this
fact suggested to the ingenious officer the means of securing it even
more effectually than it could have been done with a lock and key. In
the pantry he found a rolling-pin, which the cook must have left there
for some other purpose.

This implement he applied to the bow-handle of the fixture on the door.
It would not fit the iron loop, but he whittled it down on one side
with his pocket-knife till he made it fit exactly in its place with some
hard pressure. But shaking the door might cause it to drop out, and he
completed the job by lashing it to the handle of the door with a lanyard
he had in his pocket. When he had finished his work he was confident the
captain could not get out of his room unless he broke down the door,
which he lacked the means to accomplish.

"West Wind, ahoy!" shouted some one from the stern of the steamer before
the engineer had completed his wo