you go dive for it."

"It was swinging around and making so much noise I took it down and hung
it on the bracket there by the compass," replied Arnold pointing to the
missing article hung over the place indicated.

"Good night," cried Jack. "Here we've been trying to steer a compass
course in a thick fog all the way from Mobile with that thing there! No
wonder we've been hoodooed."

"Why, what's the matter?" innocently inquired Arnold.

Jack's answer was to take the horseshoe from its resting place and make
as if to fling it overboard. He restrained himself, however, and turning
to Arnold said quietly:

"Look here, young man, you evidently do not know how sensitive a thing
the compass is. But if you had done a thing like that on some vessels
they would have thrown you overboard. You have rendered the compass
useless and we have been steering by a crazy instrument. Your horseshoe
hanging there has deflected the needle to such an extent that we cannot
even guess where we have been going."

"I'm sorry," contritely answered Arnold, "but I didn't understand it
that way. I won't do that again, that's sure."

"Thanks, awfully," scornfully answered Tom. "Maybe now you'll agree that
the thing is bigger than you imagined at first."

"You're right," was Arnold's reply. "A little thing can be mighty big in
some cases. I'll remember this for a long time."

"Boys, I believe the fog is thinning out somewhat," announced Harry.
"Maybe the old horseshoe is bringing us luck after all."

"I believe you're more than half right," responded Jack.

"We'd better be on the lookout for breakers and things inside as well as
outside," declared Tom. "Remember what that Carlos de Sneakodorus Madero
did to us when our backs were turned."

"Sure enough, we ought to set a guard on this fellow," agreed Harry.
"I'll volunteer to go and 'red up' the cabin as the Dutchman says, and
incidentally keep an eye on his royal joblots."

The boy descended to the cabin and in furtherance of his design walked
to a locker and extracted an automatic pistol which he placed in a
convenient pocket. He then busied himself about the place in small tasks
that always kept him within sight of the rescued man.

No effort was made by the stranger to engage the boy in conversation,
however, and he worked away undisturbed. Occasionally the bulldog would
enter and after sniffing suspiciously at the prostrate figure of the
rescued man would emit a low growl of disapp