said the Captain
slowly; "there is no hope for us, but to surrender or starve: disguise
is impossible."

The Colonel nodded wearily.

"We have food for twenty men for three days; we have power left to go
three thousand knots at ten knots an hour. The men are murmuring; where
can we renew our power? The yacht is useless in two weeks."

"It is lucky," continued Captain Hans, after a pregnant pause, "that
none of the men picked up this paper; you would have been knifed before
night."

If it is possible, Colonel Odminton turned a shade paler, but he did not
say anything. The smallest child could see that he was a broken man.

What a trap had he sprung for himself!

"The case is desperate, sir," began the Captain again. "What do you
propose?"

The Colonel shook his head vacantly.

"We can take the launch, the men, and the gold, abandon her here, and
land on the coast. We might escape clear."

The Colonel shook his head vigorously. He was ready to give up his life,
but not his venture.

"Then we will go, sir. Pay us, give us the launch, and we will go. We
cannot stay to be starved and tossed upon the sea with not even a
jury-mast and a handkerchief."

"Let them go, father!" Rupert had entered from his own room, and stood
pleadingly before the criminal.

The unhappy man looked at his son: back at his Captain; and nodded
assent.

"Then we will go now," said the Captain decidedly. "We are within ten
miles of the coast. The launch will carry us easily. Will you give us a
hundred thousand in gold? You may keep the rest, you and the boy and the
three niggers."

The Colonel mechanically went to an inner room, unlocked a secret safe,
took out a heavy weight of gold and threw it upon the table before the
Captain with a clang.

The stolen money was newly coined, and the gold glistened in the
port-hole light. The Captain tied the bag, and held out his hand as he
arose. He was honest after his kind, though a masterful man; but the
Proclamation had thrown him upon his self-interest. Still, he felt sorry
for the man whom the Proclamation had shrivelled.

One of the Colonel's faithful colored sailors was sent to the wheel. For
a half an hour there was a bustle of chests and men. There was a
counting of gold, and a commanding and warning voice. Finally there was
a splash, as the powerful launch dipped into the water from its davits.
There was a bounding of many feet, and a cry to shove her off.

"Good-bye, Colonel!" o