pulled away Lister was conscious of relief.

"I agree with the fellow. Caution _is_ indicated," Brown observed.

CHAPTER III

A FUEL PROBLEM

A few days after his visit to the factory, Lister sat one morning under
a tarpaulin they had stretched across the hulk. The paint on the canvas
smelt as if it burned, but the awning gave some shade and one could not
front the sun on the open deck. The sea breeze had not sprung up and
dazzling reflections played about the oily surface of the swell. In one
place, where the shadow of the wreck fell, the water was a cool, dull
green.

A row of bubbles slowly crossed the belt of shade, stopped and made a
frothy patch, and then lengthened out. A flexible pipe slipped across
the edge of the open gangway, and Lister felt the line he held. The line
was slack and he knew the diver needed nothing. Two half-naked men,
their skins shining with sweat, turned the air-pumps handles, and the
rattle of the cranks cut the dull rumble of the surf. Brown, sitting on
a tool-box, studied a plan of the wreck Cartwright had given him, and
Lister thought it typical Cartwright had got the plan. The old fellow
was very keen.

By and by Brown looked up and indicated the panting men.

"We want colored boys for this job and must get a gang. I expect you
noted Montgomery declared his lot were Kroos. The Kroos are hefty boys
and pretty good sailors, but they come from Liberia and there are
regulations about their employment. You must engage them on a contract,
hold yourself accountable for their return and so forth. All the same my
notion is, Montgomery didn't mean to help."

"Then we had better try the native headman he talked about."

Brown smiled, "I've no use for bushmen, but didn't see much use in
telling Montgomery I'd been on the Coast before. For one thing, his boys
were not all Kroos. You know the Kroo by his blue forehead-stripe, but I
saw two or three with another mark. Thought them Gold Coast Fantis, and
a Fanti fisherman is useful on board ship. In a day or two I'm going
back to see."

Lister lighted his pipe and weighed the captain's remarks. On the whole,
he agreed that it did not look as if Montgomery meant to help. The
fellow was hospitable, but hospitality that implied his pressing liquor
on the captain and making the sailors drunk had drawbacks. Brown had
used control, but Lister doubted if his resolution would stand much
strain. Then, although Montgomery's story about the need