llow
had observed the arrival of the steamer and it had occurred to him that
possibly Cappy Ricks' messenger might be aboard her. He had been on
the lookout for two hours, accordingly, and the instant he saw a launch
coming toward the Retriever his suspicions were fully aroused. He ran
below and returned with the two ounce gloves and Captain Kendall's
powerful marine glasses, which latter he leveled at the approaching
launch, and while the new skipper was still a couple of cable lengths
distant, Mr. Murphy recognized him. Instantly he secured the two ounce
gloves and ran aft to where Matt Peasley, dressed in slippers, duck
trousers and undershirt, sat under an awning reading Sinful Peck.

"Matt," he declared, "the special messenger will be aboard in about
three shakes of a lamb's tail. I recognize him."

"Who is he?" Matt demanded coolly.

"All Hands And Feet--and believe me, he's there! He isn't a man, Matt,
he's a bear--he's a devil, and if he ever gets his hands on you it's
Kitty bar the door! Get into the gloves, boy, get into the gloves. You
could smash that big Swede to your heart's content, but you wouldn't
even stagger him with the first few punches. You'd just break your hands
on him before you could knock him out and then he'd walk over you. Into
the gloves, Matt, and save your knuckles."

"All right, Mike. Don't be in such a hurry. Call a couple of hands and
let down the companion ladder so the special messenger can bring his
dunnage aboard. I'll fight him after I've finished this chapter--that
is, if he insists on being accommodated."

"He'll insist," Mr. Murphy declared. "He likes it, and the reason he
likes it is because he does it well, and that's the reason he's here. He
won't waste any ceremony on you, Matt. He's always up and doing."

Matt finished his chapter of Sinful Peck just as All Hands And Feet,
followed by a Cape Town gentleman and two Kru boys, bearing respectively
a brown canvas telescope basket and a sea chest, bore down upon him,
convoyed by Mr. Murphy.

"A big Swede skipper," Matt Peasley soliloquized, as he eyed the
stranger with alert interest. "Thunder, but he's big. He's the biggest
thing I ever saw walking on two legs, with the exception of a trick
elephant." He rose, put down his book and advanced to greet his
visitors. While All Hands And Feet was still fully thirty feet from him
he bawled aloud:

"You ban Mr. Peasley?"

"Captain Peasley," young Matt corrected him. "Since