orecastle head facing toward him,
else he could not have seen the light from the cigarette.

The foremast and the boom were faintly visible in relief against
the lighter shade of the sky, and knowing he might be seen above
the bulwark, Trask moved away from the edge of the schooner, and
drew near the base of the foremast, which offered better
concealment. He was now but a few feet from the forecastle scuttle
and could see it outlined by a dim pencilling of light. Voices
reached him, but he was not able to distinguish any words.

Presently he heard wary footsteps ahead, and saw a figure rise up
and go into the bows, marked by a faint, comet-like streak of light
which must be the man's cigarette. The spot of light disappeared
for a second and reappeared again in a swift, descending arc cut
off by the bows. The smoker had thrown away his cigarette.

For several minutes Trask watched and listened. The man on the
forecastle head coughed gently, and then came clumping aft, dropped
to the main deck with a smack of bare feet, and drew the scuttle
aside, to put his head and shoulders down.

"It's all right!" Trask heard him whisper, hoarsely. He recognized
him as Shope. The light coming up through the scuttle illuminated
the foremast above Trask's head in a manner disconcerting. Trask
ducked down under the boom.

All was silence below, and then the creaking of the steps leading
up, and the light below went out. There were sounds of men coming
on deck, known to Trask by the rattle of the scuttle as incautious
shoulders rasped it coming out, making the board rattle in its
grooves.

There was a conference in guarded whispers, and someone started aft
along the starboard side. Trask could make him out as he passed,
and after he had disappeared against the blackness made by the fore
bulkhead of the cabin there was a peculiar rattle along the deck in
his wake.

Trask was now thoroughly alarmed. The crew could not be out on deck
whispering and moving about with such secrecy with any good intent
toward those who had made the voyage possible.

The rattle along the deck continued, and dropping to his hands and
knees, Trask crawled to the starboard side. He encountered a small,
hard line, like a lead-line, being paid out from the forecastle and
carried aft by the man who had passed. Trask put his hand upon it
and let it run through his fingers for a second.

There came a slight patter of rain and Trask made his way toward
the c