en Lacomb that Jack has found out, and
they're afraid he'll tell. That's why I think they would be glad to see
him taken away--no matter what happened to him. It's all very well for
Captain Brisco to say he doesn't want Jack to go, but I believe he's
glad this happened."

"Oh, Alice! What a thing to say!"

"I don't care! I believe it!"

All this while preparations had been under way aboard the steamer to
lower a small boat, but there seemed to be some delay.

Meanwhile Jack Jepson remained as lookout on the _Mary Ellen_, though
there was no need of him there, for the schooner was now merely
drifting, with sails aback, and the steamer, too, was at the call of the
wind and currents.

"Come on, mate!" hoarsely whispered a sailor to Jack. "Slip below, mate,
and we'll hide you. If they try to take you, we'll stand 'em off. I
don't like the Britishers anyhow. I was shanghaied into one of their
lime-juicers once, an' I never forgot it! Slip below!"

"No, I'll take my medicine!" said Jack grimly. "Might as well get it
done with. This thing has been hangin' over my head a number of years
now, and I'll be glad to hear the last of it. It's a terrible thing for
an innocent man."

"Perhaps some way may be found for clearing you," suggested Alice. "I'll
speak to my father. He knows some prominent lawyers in New York, and
they will induce the government to take up your case. Go quietly, Jack,
and we'll do all we can for you."

"Oh, I shan't raise a row, Miss, never fear. No good'd come of that, and
it would only make trouble. I'll go quietly enough."

"Ha! What is going on?" asked Mr. DeVere, who had been down below. "Has
anything happened?"

Alice and Ruth tried to tell him at once, the former eager to enlist
his sympathies in Jack's cause. Mr. DeVere promised readily enough.

"Though I can't hold out any hope for you," he said. "I know nothing of
law, but international affairs are always slow."

"But I ought to get justice in the end, ought I not?" asked Jack,
respectfully.

"You ought, my man, and I'll do all I can for you," said Mr. DeVere.

"Oh, what a pretty sight!" exclaimed the voice of Miss Dixon, as she
emerged from a companionway with her chum, Miss Pennington. "Isn't it
romantic--stopping to speak to a steamer at sea?"

"Delightful," agreed Miss Pennington. "I wonder if the captain of the
steamer will ask us to tea? It's a British vessel, and Englishmen are so
fond of tea."

"Yes, and they are so roman