o sneak it through like this, and with all their
hiding and lying and sneaking there was a leak somewhere, and these
fine chaps aboard us laid lines to git it--and here we are."

"And still fighting, captain," I said.

"Did you ever hear of the Devil's Admiral, Mr. Trenholm?"

"I never did. Who is the gentleman?"

"I never believed in the stories myself, but Harris did; and now I am
sure that he is right. Two years ago a ship left Singapore for Bombay,
and never was heard from until her chronometer turned up in Swatow or
somewhere. A Portuguese Jew had them in a pawnshop, and he said he bought
them from a chink for seven Mex dollars. They never found the chink; but
there was the ship's name, or the captain's name written in the case with
a pencil.

"Then last year the steamer _Legaspi_ left Manila for Hong-Kong with
cattle and Christmas goods and passengers, and never was heard from. Some
said she went out to run the blockade before Port Arthur, and the Japs
sunk her, but the others said the Devil's Admiral got her; and then the
stories began, and when a ship was overdue or never heard from, people
began to say the Devil's Admiral had her."

"But who is he, captain?"

"That's it, Mr. Trenholm. Nobody knows. He never leaves a man alive to
tell the tale. Some say he's a big chink, some say he's a big black man
from the African coast who was mate in a whaler, some say he was an
officer in the British navy.

"They found a man dying from starvation and wounds in a boat that got
away from him, and the poor chap told a crazy story that they couldn't
make head or tail of, and he died before he told enough to help any, but
he said it was the Devil's Admiral and his crew that got 'em.

"Pearlers he went after first, and then he got bolder and went after
sailing-ships; and now they say he went after steamers and got the
_Legaspi_, and, Mr. Trenholm, I believe he's aboard here now."

"But who--"

We heard heavy blows struck against a bulkhead, and the shriek of a door
as it was torn from its hinges.

"They are breaking into the storeshold," explained Riggs. "They have got
the gold, and the next move will be to get away with it in the boats
after they have opened her sea-valves, and down we'll go with the old
_Kut Sang_."

"But what makes you think we have this Devil's Admiral aboard?" I asked.

"Thirkle is supposed to be the name of the Devil's Admiral."

"And Thirkle is--"

"Our Rev. Luther Meeker, Mr. Trenholm