in the matter."

"He's not in this," Dick agreed. "Have you a cigarette? I think I'd like
a smoke. It doesn't follow that I'd have been killed, if I had fallen."

"Then you'd certainly have got hurt enough to keep you quiet for some
time, which would probably satisfy the other fellow. But I don't think
we'll stop here talking; there may be somebody about."

They climbed down by the foot of the tower and crossing the sluice went
up the ladder. When they reached their shack Dick sat down and lighted
the cigarette Jake had given him, but he said nothing and his face was
sternly set. Soon afterwards he went to bed.

CHAPTER XXVI

THE LINER'S FATE

Next morning Dick reviewed the situation as he ate his breakfast in the
fresh coolness before the sun got up. He had got a shock, but he was
young and soon recovered. His anger against the unknown plotter remained
fierce, but this was, in a sense, a private grievance, by which he must
not be unduly influenced. It was plain that he was thought dangerous,
which showed that he was following the right clue, and he had determined
that the raiding of ships belonging to Britain or her allies must be
stopped. Since he had gone to the representative of British authority and
had been rebuffed, he meant to get Fuller to see if American suspicions
could be easier aroused, but he must first make sure of his ground. In
the meantime, Don Sebastian had asked his help and he had given a
conditional promise.

Dick decided that he had taken the proper course. Don Sebastian held
Kenwardine accountable and meant to expose him. This was painful to
contemplate for Clare's sake, but Dick admitted that he could not shield
Kenwardine at his country's expense. Still, the matter was horribly
complicated. If Kenwardine was ruined or imprisoned, a serious obstacle
in Dick's way would be removed, but it was unthinkable that this should
be allowed to count when Clare must suffer. Besides, she might come to
hate him if she learned that he was responsible for her father's
troubles. But he would make the liner's fate a test. If the vessel
arrived safe, Kenwardine should go free until his guilt was certain; if
she were sunk or chased, he would help Don Sebastian in every way he
could.

For three or four days he heard nothing about her, and then, one hot
morning, when Stuyvesant and Bethune stood at the foot of the tower by
the sluice examining some plans, Jake crossed the pipe with a newspaper
in h