HAPTER NINETEEN

Inside the main hut the skipper burst upon a little tableau that sent
him hastily back with apologies in place of the hot inquiries he had
prepared. Gordon and Mrs. Goring were standing in the middle of the hut,
and the man's arms were holding the woman closely, while her face,
upturned to his, glowed with a love that irradiated the place. They
started at the intrusion; then, recognizing their visitor, Gordon called
to him.

"Don't run away, Barry. I'm coming on board with you."

"Yes, wait a moment, Captain," Mrs. Goring rejoined. "I have something
for you."

Barry returned, doubting the good of anything that might be for him. But
Mrs. Goring took something from the table and went to him, smiling.

"There, Captain," she said, proffering the thing she had picked up. "You
may have it now."

Barry took from her the picture of Natalie Sheldon that had been stolen
from his chronometer case on the voyage from Surabaya. He stared at it,
then at the giver, and from one to the other in a daze.

"How did you get this?" he stammered helplessly.

"Oh, it came to me," she smiled. "You will know how, all in good time.
But I can tell you why you lost it, if you care to know. It was stolen
from you--as you stole it yourself, you know," she rippled--"but with
different motives. You lost it in order that you might be kept hot in
the service of its original."

"Then it worked! Have I ever cooled? It seems to me that I have been
required to keep cold and hold off."

"Yes, Captain. Events have turned out rather differently from our
expectations, but they are running smoothly now. You may safely have the
picture. And I believe you will find little restraint upon your actions
from now on."

The skipper gazed at the photograph for some time without speaking, then
he laid it down on the table and said quietly:

"I don't want it now. If that picture ever takes a place in my cabin
again, it will be placed there by Miss Sheldon. That is not very likely
to happen. Thank you, just the same, Mrs. Goring, and if I never know
how it was lost, it won't bother me much. I'll go aboard and move my
ship down river. Coming, Gordon?"

Gordon embraced Mrs. Goring again and kissed her, totally unembarrassed
by Barry's presence, then followed the skipper out and down to the
wharf. As they paddled out to the ship, Barry eyed the schooner narrowly
but saw nothing unusual aboard her. He wondered about all those silent
figures he