ard and their poses slack. The stamp of the fever-coast was plain.

The telegraph rang, the engines stopped, and a man on the bridge
shouted: "Good morning! You have taken on an awkward job!"

His voice was hollow and strained, and by contrast Brown's sounded full
and hearty.

"We're getting ahead all the same. Where are you for?"

"_Sar_ Leone, after we call at Montgomery's."

"Then you can fill your bunkers, and our coal's getting short. Can you
sell us some?"

The other asked how much Brown wanted and how much he would pay. Then he
beckoned a man on the deck to come up, and turned to Brown again.

"We might give you two or three surf-boat loads, but I'll see you when
we come back. We must get up the creek and moor her before the tide
ebbs."

He seized the telegraph handle, the propeller began to turn, and when
the steamer forged ahead Brown looked thoughtful.

"Perhaps I'd better take a trip up the creek in the evening. We want the
coal and I don't altogether trust Montgomery," he said.

Lister agreed that it might be prudent for Brown to go, but he was
occupied by the pump and they said no more. To lift the cargo when the
water covered the wreck's hatches and loosened the pulpy mass was easier
and he must keep his engine running full speed. When they stopped he was
exhausted by the heat and the strain of watching and did not go with
Brown.

The captain did not, as he had promised, come back in the morning, but
after a time a smoke-trail streaked the forest and the steamer moved out
on the lagoon. Lister sent a boy for the glasses, since he expected
Brown was on board, but so far as he could see, the captain was not. The
white wave at the bows indicated that the vessel was steaming fast and
it did not look as if she was going to stop. In order to reach the
channel across the bar, she must pass near the hulk, and Lister waved to
the captain.

"What about the coal?" he shouted.

The other leaned out from the rails and Lister, studying him with the
glasses, saw a small patch, like sticking plaster, on his forehead. The
side of his face was discolored, as if it were bruised, and frowning
savagely, he shook his fist.

"You can go to _Sar_ Leone or the next hottest spot for your coal!" he
roared and began to storm.

Lister had sometimes disputed with Western railroad hands and marine
firemen, but he thought the captain's remarks equaled the others' best
efforts. In fact, it was some relief when a lump of