arding the
real out-and-outer, the excursion should be to your liking. For,"
rubbing his hands, "a properer lot of cutthroats and bad magsmen, it has
never been my privilege to escort across the equator; and this is my
sixth trip to Australia!"

"How interesting! How very interesting!" The lady's voice floated
languidly. "Sir Charles is quite right. We must really go down. At any
rate, it will be a change, after having been shut up so long in that
terrible state-room."

"One moment, m'lady! There's a little formality that must be observed
first."

"Formality?" And the lady, who was of portly appearance and uncertain
age, gazed from the speaker standing deferentially before her, to a man
of size, weight and importance seated in a comfortable chair at her
side. "What does he mean, Sir Charles?"

"Regulations, m'lady--m'lord!" was the answer. "No one allowed on the
prisoners' deck without the captain's permission. There he is now."

"Then be good enough to beckon to him!" said the lady.

But this Mr. Gillett, agent of the police, discreetly declined to do;
Captain Macpherson was a man not to be beckoned to by any one; much less
by him. As he stood squarely in the center of the ship, he looked like a
mariner capable of commanding his boat and all the people aboard;
indeed, some of the characteristics of his vessel seemed to have entered
into his own make-up; the man matched the craft. Broad-nosed, wide of
beam, big, massive, obstinate-looking, the _Lord Nelson_ plowed
aggressively through the seas. With every square sail tugging hard at
her sturdy masts, she smote and over-rode the waves, and, beating them
down, maintained an unvarying, stubborn poise. But although she refused
to vacillate or shuffle to the wooing efforts of the uneasy waters, she
progressed not without noise and pother; foamed and fumed mightily at
the bow and left behind her a wake, receding almost as far as the eyes
might reach. Captain Macpherson looked after the bubbles, cast his
glance aloft at the bulging patches of white, and then condescended to
observe the agent of the police who had silently approached.

"Sir Charles and lady, and Sir Charles' party have expressed, Captain
Macpherson, the desire to obtain permission to visit the prisoners'
deck."

Captain Macpherson looked toward Sir Charles and his lady, the other
passengers lounging around them, a little girl, at the rail, her hair,
blown windward, a splash of gold against the blue sk