re the mate, striving to
scrutinize the impassive gargoyle face above him.

"No bodder. I know. My man, he see eve'thing. Schooner no can sail, hey?
All ri'. Bring men here. To-morrow p'isen dat dog, I tell you. Misser
Vand'see, he say so. He know all things, sar."

Rolfe turned away, more than half impressed in spite of himself.
Growling and swearing he rejoined his men, and, sending a messenger to
bring back the two men from the gig, after leaving her hidden in the
riverside jungle, he led the party to the stockade. Now the gate was
open to them; they passed inside and were shown into the big main hut of
the post, where they might have been expected for weeks, so complete
were the accommodations awaiting them.

"Something creepy in this!" muttered the mate, gazing around. Beds were
ready on the floor; a table was spread with a rough but hearty supper;
things seemed to come out of the shadows, for not a man appeared to them
once their guide had left them. But to calm any suspicions Jerry Rolfe
might have excusably entertained, under the table lay a pile of rifles,
and to each was tied a full cartridge belt. Even a last flickering doubt
was set at rest; for examination satisfied the mate that every cartridge
was a live one.

"Reg'lar bloomin' fairy tale, I calls it, sir," whispered Bill Blunt
hoarsely. "Too good to be true, be dummed if 't ain't. Here's weepins,
an' powder an' shot, all sammee navy style, and ther' ain't a bloomin'
paint pot in th' hull shebang! I be awake, ain't I, sir?"

"Wide," returned Rolfe, grinning at the old salt's query. "If we'd been
as awake two hours ago, we wouldn't have lost our ship."

"Mebbe, sir. An' we wouldn't ha' started on what looks to be a reg'lar
man's landin' party. Will I keep fust watch?"

"Turn in, Blunt. I won't sleep to-night," replied the mate. And in two
minutes the old navy salt filled the hut with deep-sea nasal noises, to
the sleepy admiration of his little brown men who only snored in
whistles.

As the night turned to morning, Jerry Rolfe experienced a change of
feeling, and when silent-footed natives brought in food for breakfast,
he had arrived at a state of confidence that permitted him to sleep for
two hours after eating, no longer hampered by doubts. As for Blunt, that
very self-possessed seaman had accepted the situation immediately he had
satisfied himself about those cartridges. He had slept well, eaten
well, and now while the mate slept, he assumed w