he'll fetch up."

"He ain't a bad sort," said Jack.

"Has he ever been over to the island?"

"No."

"Then he hasn't followed your teaching, that's all I can say."

"Never mind about the boy," said Jack, who had grown weary of the
subject. "He can take care of himself."

Here Julius reappeared with the whisky. Both men brightened up at the
sight of their favorite beverage.

"Have you got a pack of cards?" asked Marlowe.

"Are there any cards?" asked Jack, appealing to Julius.

The boy found some hidden away in the cupboard, and the men taking
them were soon intent upon a game of poker. Julius looked on for a
time, for he, too, knew something of the game; but after a time he
became drowsy, and threw himself upon a pallet in the corner, which he
shared with his guardian. He didn't sleep immediately, however, for
now that his attention was drawn away from the game, he began to
consider how he should act in the matter which had been confided to
him. Should he prove true to his guardian and treacherous to Paul, or
should he repay the latter for the kindness he had received at his
hands? It was a difficult question. While he was pondering it his eyes
closed and he fell asleep.

The men continued to play for about two hours, for penny stakes. The
game had no interest for them unless something was staked upon it, and
the winner pocketed his winnings with as much satisfaction as if it
had been a thousand times as large.

CHAPTER XI.

FREE LUNCH.

About seven o'clock the next morning Julius awoke. Jack Morgan was
still asleep and breathing heavily. His coarse features looked even
more brutal in his state of unconsciousness. The boy raised himself on
his elbow and looked thoughtfully at him as he slept.

"How did I come to be with him?" This was the question which passed
through the boy's mind. "He ain't my father, for he's told me so. Is
he my uncle, I wonder?"

Sometimes, but not often, this question had suggested itself to
Julius; but in general he had not troubled himself much about
ancestry. A good dinner was of far more importance to him than to know
who his father or grandfather had been. He did not pretend to have a
warm affection for the man between whom and himself existed the only
tie that bound him to any fellow-creature. They had got used to each
other, as Jack expressed it, and that served to keep them together
when the law did not interfere to keep them apart. In general Julius
had obeyed suc