had been standing in the light of a shop
window. Now she dodged inside.

"Huh!" he grunted. "Thought that looked like her, but of course it
couldn't be. Some ship captain's daughter probably."

They arrived on board the _Kittlewake_ just as the captain, a red-faced
old British salt, and the engineer, a silent man who was fully as slim
and wiry of build as Curlie himself, were finishing lunch.

"Pardon me," said Curlie, "but did you get Mr. Ardmore's wire?"

"You're this wireless man, Curlie Carson?" asked the captain.

"Yes."

"'Is message is 'ere; came this morning."

"Then you're ready to put off at once."

"At once!" The captain stared his amazement. "'Ere it is night. At once,
'e says!"

"It's very necessary that we go at once," said Curlie firmly, "and I
believe you have your orders."

"To be hat your service in hevery particular."

"All right then, we must be on our way in an hour."

"Wot course?" The skipper rose to his feet.

"This is the point we must reach with all speed," said Curlie, drawing
the photograph of the mysterious old map from his pocket and pointing
to the star near the center. "Compare that with your own chart, locate
it as well as you can and then mark out your own course."

The skipper stared at him as though he thought Curlie crazy.

"That! Why that--"

Turning quickly, he disappeared up the hatch, to return presently with a
chart. This he placed upon the table, beside the photograph.

After five minutes of close study he turned an astonished face upon the
boy.

"That, as I 'ave thought, is five 'undred miles hout to sea. Five
'undred miles in a cockleshell. Man, you're daft."

"All right," said Curlie; "the trip's got to be made. I thought you
might be afraid to undertake it; that's why I wanted to know at once.
I'll go out and hunt another skipper. There's surely plenty of them idle
these dull times."

"Hafraid, did 'e say! Me! Hafraid!" The skipper was purple with rage.
"Hafraid 'e says. 'E says it, a bloomin' Yankee kid, an' me as 'as 'ad
ships sunk under me twice by the bloody German submarines! Me, Captain
Jarvis, hafraid."

He turned suddenly upon Curlie. "Go git yer togs an' shake a leg er the
bloomin' _Kittlewake_'ll be off without you on board."

"That's the talk!" smiled Curlie. "Never fear! We'll be here."

He turned to Joe. "You go ashore and buy us each a suit of roughing-it
things, a so'-wester and the like. We'll need 'em. I'll be back in less
than