own that a
fire was in the hold.

The captain had spoken truly, and in the morning the fire was
completely out, a few charred bales of cotton being the only things
damaged. They were hauled up and dumped into the sea, while Tom,
making a hasty inspection of his other goods placed in that
compartment saw, to his relief, that beyond one case of trinkets,
designed for barter with the natives, nothing had been damaged, and
even the trinkets could be used on a pinch.

"But what was in that box?" asked Ned, that night as they got ready
to retire, the excitement having calmed down.

"Hush! Not so loud," cautioned Tom, for Mr. Damon was in the next
stateroom, while Eradicate had one across the corridor. "I'll tell
you, Ned, but don't breathe a word of it to Rad or Mr. Damon. They
might not intend to give it away, but I'm afraid they would, if they
knew, and I depend on the things in that box to give the native
giants the surprise of their lives in case we--well, in case we come
to close quarters."

"Close quarters?"

"Yes, have a fight, you know, or in case they get so fond of us that
they won't hear of letting us go--in other words if they make us
captives."

"Great Scott, Tom! You don't think they'll do that, do you?"

"No telling, but if they do, Ned, I've got some things in that box
that will make them wish they hadn't. It's got--" and Tom leaned
forward and whispered, as though he feared even the walls would
hear.

"Good!" cried his chum! "That's the stuff! No wonder you thought the
ship might be damaged if the fire got to that!"

It seemed that the slight fire was about all the excitement destined
to take place aboard the Calaban, for, after the blaze was so
effectually quenched, the ship slipped along through the calm seas,
and it was actually an effort to kill time on the part of the
passengers. As they progressed further south the weather became more
and more warm, until, as they approached the equator, every one put
on the lightest garments obtainable.

"Crossing the line," was the signal for the usual "stunts" among the
sailors. "Neptune" came aboard, with his usual sea-green whiskers
made from long rope ends, and with his trident much in evidence; and
there was plenty of horseplay which the passengers very much
enjoyed.

Then, as the tropical region was left behind, the weather became
more bearable. There were one or two storms, but they were of no
consequence and the steamer weathered them easily.