d Roderick, as he filled his cup for the
third time.

"Yes, last night, no orders," jerked the skipper with his usual
brevity.

"Ah, we must see to that--and the second officer----"

"Still ashore; he left a bit of writing; he'll be aboard midday!"

He had the writing in his hand, and was about to crumple it, but I
caught sight of it, and snatched it from him. It was in the same
handwriting as the letter which Captain Black had sent to me at the
Hotel Scribe in Paris.

"What's the matter?" said Roderick, as he heard me exclaim; but the
skipper looked hard at me, and was much mystified.

"Do you know anything of the man?" he asked very slowly, as he leant
back in his chair, but I had already seen the folly of my ejaculation,
and I replied--

"Nothing at all, although I have seen that handwriting before
somewhere; I could tell you where, perhaps, if I thought."

Roderick nodded his head meaningly, and deftly turned the subject. I
yawned with a great yawn, and the episode passed as we both rose to go
to our cabins. It is not well to greet the waking day with eyes that
are half-closed in sleep; and, although the skipper seemed to desire
some fuller knowledge as to the ends of our cruise and the course of
it, we put him off, and left him to the coffee and the busy work of the
final preparation. But Roderick followed me to my berth and had the
matter of the handwriting out. I told him at once of the robbery of
some of the papers, and the coincidence of the letter which the second
mate had left with the skipper. He was quick-witted enough to see the
danger; but he was quite reckless in the methods he proposed to meet
it.

"There's no two thoughts about this matter at all," he said; "we've
evidently run right into a trap, but luckily there's time to get out
again--of course, we shall sail without a second mate?"

"That's one way out of the hole, no doubt, but it's very serious to
find that our very first move in the matter is known to others. Hall
said well that his diamond-buyer could command and be obeyed in ten
cities: and there isn't much question that we've got one of his men
aboard this ship--but I don't know that we shouldn't keep him."

"Keep him! What for?--to watch everything we do, and hear everything we
say, and arrange for the cutting of our throats when we land at New
York? You've a fine notion of diplomacy, Mark!"

"Perhaps so; but we won't quarrel about that. There's one thing you
forget in this