ls, they'll keep mum about the stuff being already
ashore; but if there are any traitors among them, the first thing
they'll do will be to curry favour by setting the troops after you,
one-time."

"Yes, that's so," agreed Frobisher, stroking his chin. "Still, it's the
only way out that I can see; and the sooner we get the cargo ashore and
test the scheme for ourselves, the better, I think."

"Right!" answered Drake. "Come along, boys,"--to the listening
crew--"you have heard what's been said, so you see we've got to hurry.
Jones, take this fellow Ling down below, and lock him up somewhere until
Mr Frobisher is ready for him--I'm not taking any risks this trip.
Then, when you've done that, take a few of the hands and swing eery one
of our boats over into the water. We have enough cases on deck now to
begin taking some of them ashore."

Encouraged by the captain and Frobisher, both of whom worked as hard as,
or harder than, any of the seamen, the men buckled-to again in earnest;
and soon the chests and cases were leaping up out of the holds on to the
decks, off the decks into the boats, and so ashore, at a very
satisfactory rate of progress.

All night the work went swiftly and steadily on, and well into the
following morning, with only a few minutes' break for meals. Frobisher
went ashore early in the morning with one of the loads, taking Ling with
him as interpreter, in order to make arrangements for the transport of
the cargo, and also to try to discover if there were as yet any signs of
the arrival of the troops.

The villagers proved only too glad of the chance to hire out their carts
and animals; and after a lengthy ride along the Yong-wol road, on a
horse which he had borrowed, Frobisher satisfied himself that, thus far
at any rate, there was no sign of troops in the neighbourhood.

By the time he got back to the ship the last of the cases was just being
placed on deck, and two more trips of the little fleet of the
_Quernmore's_ boats would see the whole of the cargo safely ashore.
Frobisher therefore ran down to his cabin and, throwing off his uniform,
dressed himself in a pair of khaki-coloured riding-breeches, which he
had brought out with him from England, thick-soled brown boots, and good
leather leggings. An old Norfolk jacket completed the outfit, so far as
his outer garb was concerned. And when he had donned an old and
somewhat battered, but still serviceable, topi helmet--a relic of more
prosp