f time for him to free himself entirely, and soon he
found himself at liberty.

What should he do next? He knew that several hours had passed since he
had been thrust into the cabin, and that it was now night, for no light
came through the bull's-eye in the deck.

Groping his way cautiously up the companion-way, he tried the door. It
was fastened. And, even if it was unfastened, how could he escape the
men who stood guard on deck?

Then he bethought himself of the passageway under the cabin-floor. He
would wait till a late hour, and then endeavor to escape by that way.

Up to this time he had been so engrossed with thoughts of his own
freedom that he had quite forgotten the money which he believed the boys
had found. Now it came back to him with redoubled force. Long years of a
roving, reckless life had prepared him for almost every emergency.
Taking from his pocket a small folding lantern and a diminutive
spirit-lamp, he soon got it in working order.

All this time the Swan had been rocking on the waves, but suddenly there
was a shock, and then she lay quiet and still.

Patiently the prisoner waited. He heard the noise of feet upon the deck,
and then all was silent.

"They have landed, and quitted the vessel," he muttered. "Now is my time
to escape."

He struck a match and lighted his little lantern, looking at his watch
by its feeble rays. It was past ten o'clock.

As rapidly as possible he searched the cabin thoroughly--the berths, the
locker for food, and the bunker for wood.

Having satisfied himself that the money was not hidden in any of these,
he unfastened and raised the trap-door, and descended into the vacant
place below the floor. Almost creeping on his face, he moved along,
noticing at once that the ballast had been moved.

Then the corner of the sack in which the money had been placed caught
his eye, and he unfastened the iron bars and moved them to one side. His
breath came quick and heavy. He had found the money!

So intent was he in his searching that he had not noticed that the door
had closed in the cabin floor. In fact, the rattle of the iron bars as
he moved them had drowned the noise of its fall.

His greedy eyes devoured the pile of gold exposed to view, and his hands
trembled, and a feeling of suffocation came over him, as he strove to
put the sack in condition for removal.

This was finally accomplished, but his arms had grown so weak and
nerveless that he could not raise it. In