e set himself to
steal the charm and desert from the barkentine.

From this point on to the catastrophe my information is somewhat hazy.
I cannot say, for instance, just how the theft was committed, but it is
certain that Freeman was not aware of it until a considerable time had
passed. What did concern him particularly was the absence of the Malay
when the barkentine was weighing anchor and giving a line for a tow out
to sea. The Malay was a valuable sailor; to replace him adequately was
clearly so impossible a task that Freeman decided, after a profitless
and delaying search of hours, to leave port without him or another in
his place. It was with a heavy heart, somewhat lightened by a confident
assumption that the amulet was safe in his possession, that Freeman
headed down the channel for the Golden Gate.

Meanwhile, the Flying Devil was having strange adventures. In a hastily
arranged disguise, the principal feature of which was a gentleman's
street dress, in which he might pass careless scrutiny as a thrifty
Japanese awkwardly trying to adapt himself to the customs of his
environment, he emerged from a water-front lodging-house of the poorer
sort, and ascended leisurely to the summit of Telegraph Hill, in order
to make a careful survey of the city from that prominent height; for it
was needful that he know how best to escape. From that alluring
eminence he saw not only a great part of the city, but also nearly the
whole of the bay of San Francisco and the shores, towns, and mountains
lying beyond. His first particular attention was given to the "Blue
Crane," upon which he looked nearly straight down as she rolled gently
at her moorings at the foot of Lombard Street. Two miles to the west he
saw the trees which conceal the soldiers' barracks, and the commanding
general's residence on the high promontory known as Black Point, and
these invited him to seek concealment in their shadows until the advent
of night would enable him to work his way down the peninsula of San
Francisco to the distant blue mountains of San Mateo. Surmising that
Freeman would make a search for him, and that it would be confined to
the docks and their near vicinity, he imagined that it would not be a
difficult matter to escape.

After getting his bearings the Malay was in the act of descending the
hill by its northern flank, when he observed a stranger leaning against
the parapet crowning the hill. The man seemed to be watching him. Not
reflec