on the side?" she asked.

"The doors of my room only," the Captain replied, a little shortly. "It
was Brown you saw, of course. He was standing exactly where you thought
you saw Craig."

Laura walked to the end of the deck and back.

"Very well, then," she said, "you people had better get a strait-waistcoat
ready for me. If I didn't see Craig there, I'm going off my head."

Quest had disappeared some seconds ago. He came thoughtfully back, a
little later.

"Captain," he asked, "what shall you say if I tell you that I have proof
that Craig is on board?"

The Captain glanced at Laura and restrained himself.

"I should probably say a great many things which I should regret
afterwards," he replied grimly.

"Sit down and we'll tell you what has happened in my room," Quest
continued.

He told the story, calmly and without remark. The Captain held his head.

"Of course, I'm convinced that I am a sane man," he said, "but this sounds
more like a Munchausen story than anything I've ever heard. I suppose you
people are all real? You are in earnest about this, aren't you? It isn't a
gigantic joke?"

"We are in deadly earnest," the Professor pronounced gravely.

"I have been down to the pantry," Quest went on. "The porthole has been
open all day. It was just possible for a man to have reached the cups of
bouillon as they were prepared. That isn't the point, however. Craig is
cunning and clever enough for any devilish scheme on earth, and that card
proves that he is on board."

"The ship shall be searched," the Captain declared, "once more. We'll look
into every crack and every cupboard."

Lenora turned away with a little shiver. It was one of her rare moments of
weakness.

"You won't find him! You won't ever find him!" she murmured. "And I am
afraid!"

Lenora grasped the rails of the steamer and glanced downwards at the great
barge full of Arab sailors and merchandise. In the near background were
the docks of Port Said. It was their first glimpse of Eastern atmosphere
and colour.

"I can't tell you how happy I am," she declared to Quest, "to think that
this voyage is over. Every night I have gone to bed terrified."

He smiled grimly.

"Things have been quiet enough the last few days," he said. "There's
Harris on this barge. Look at Laura waving to him!"

The Scotland Yard man only glanced up at them. He was occupied in leaning
over towards Laura, who was on the deck below.

"If you said the word," he call