ave to the whole face a
crafty expression.

Captain Hogan, it was clear, would never be hung for his good looks,
although it would be too much to say that he might not, some time, be
strung up for his evil deeds.

Wynn dropped the money into the satchel and sat back arm the bench. As
usual, he was whiffing at a cigarette. Hogan was smoking a big black
cigar.

Neither Clancy nor Katz was so situated that he could hear the
conversation going forward between the two in the cabin. The voices
sounded from below in considerable volume, but the words ran together in
hollow echoes that baffled the ear.

"Go on, Katz," whispered Clancy. "We'll try that scheme. If Hogan leaves
the cabin, I'll go down."

"Suppose Wynn stays with the money?"

"I guess I can take care of Wynn."

"Well, here's hopin'. I'd like to crack out a winnin', this play. Sit
tight, now, and listen to the meller trill o' my bazoo."

The motor wizard remained at his post while Katz crept back to the after
part of the boat. Then, suddenly, Katz opened up with a yell for "Hogan!
Cap'n Hogan!"

Hogan leaped to his feet, all energy and curiosity in a moment. A
startled look crossed Wynn's face, and was clearly visible in the rays
of the swinging lamp. The captain jumped for the companion stairs,
closely followed by Wynn. Clancy fell to wondering which side, of the
deck house they'd travel on their way aft. If they came down his side,
then the chances were good for a scrimmage instead of a dash into the
cabin.

In the excitement of the moment, the satchel had been left entirely
unprotected on the cabin table.

As luck would have it, Hogan and Wynn ran along the alley across from
the one in which Clancy was lying. The time had now come for Clancy to
act, and, without loss of a moment, he gained the companion, and made
his way swiftly down the steep stairs.

He could hear a sound of husky voices and a tramp of quick feet from
aft. What was going on, between the captain and Wynn, on one side, and
Katz, on the other, was a mystery. Clancy did not waste time in any
guessing, but grabbed up the satchel and started with it on his return
up the companion stairs.

But he only started. As he began going up at the bottom, some one began
coming down from the top. The fellow above was in as big a hurry as
Clancy, and he lost his footing on the steep stairs and came below with
a rush.

The motor wizard was caught full by the descending form, and knocked
flat.