Merry. "But he seems to ply
for something more than amusement."

"How's that?" asked Jack, interested.

"I've noticed that he never cares for whist or any game where there are
no stakes. He gets into a game only when there's something to be won."

"Well, it seems to me that he's struck a poor crowd on this boat if he's
looking for suckers. He should have shipped on an ocean liner. What does
he play?"

"He seems to have taken a great fancy to draw poker. 'Pocaire' is what
he calls it. He pretended at first that he didn't know much of anything
about the game, but, if I am not mistaken, he's an old stager at it. I
watched the party playing in the smoking-room last night."

"Who played?" asked Bruce.

"The Frenchman, a rather sporty young fellow named Bloodgood, a small,
bespectacled man, well fitted with the name of Slush, and an Englishman
by the name of Hazleton."

"That's the crowd that played in the Frenchman's stateroom to-day,"
groaned Rattleton from his berth.

"Played in the stateroom?" exclaimed Frank. "I wonder why they didn't
play in the smoking-room?"

"Don't know," said Harry; "but I fancy there was a rather big game on,
and you know the Frenchman has the biggest stateroom on the boat, so
there was plenty of room for them. They could play there without
interruption."

"There seems to be something mysterious about that Frenchman," said
Frank.

"I think there's something mysterious about several passengers on this
boat," grunted Browning. "I haven't seen much of this young fellow
Bloodgood, but he strikes me as a mystery."

"Why?"

"Well he seems to have money to burn, and I don't understand why such a
fellow did not take passage on a regular liner."

"As far as that goes," smiled Merry, "I presume some people might think
it rather singular that we did not cross the pond in a regular liner;
but then they might suppose it was a case of economy with us."

While they were talking there came a rap on their door which Frank threw
open.

Just outside stood a young man with a flushed face and distressed
appearance. He was dressed in a plaid suit, and wore a red four-in-hand
necktie, in which blazed a huge diamond. There were two large solitaire
rings on his left hand, and he wore a heavy gold chain strung across his
vest.

"Beg your pardon, dear boys," he drawled. "Hope I'm not intruding."

Then he walked in and closed the door.

"My name's Bloodgood," he said--"Raymond Bloodgood. I've seen y