so young when she died that I don't remember her."

"Father?"

"I never saw much of him. He went to sea--anyhow, he disappeared."

"Oh!" Joe did not know what to say, and an oppressive silence, broken only
by the churn of the _Dazzler's_ forefoot, fell upon them.

Just then Pete came out to relieve at the tiller while they went in to eat.
Both lads hailed his advent with feelings of relief, and the awkwardness
vanished over the dinner, which was all their skipper had claimed it to be.
Afterward 'Frisco Kid relieved Pete, and while he was eating Joe washed up
the dishes and put the cabin shipshape. Then they all gathered in the
stern, where the captain strove to increase the general cordiality by
entertaining them with descriptions of life among the pearl-divers of
the South Seas.

In this fashion the afternoon wore away. They had long since left San
Francisco behind, rounded Hunter's Point, and were now skirting the
San Mateo shore. Joe caught a glimpse, once, of a party of cyclists
rounding a cliff on the San Bruno Road, and remembered the time when
he had gone over the same ground on his own wheel. It was only a month
or two before, but it seemed an age to him now, so much had there been
to come between.

By the time supper had been eaten and the things cleared away, they were
well down the bay, off the marshes behind which Redwood City clustered.
The wind had gone down with the sun, and the _Dazzler_ was making but
little headway, when they sighted a sloop bearing down upon them on the
dying wind. 'Frisco Kid instantly named it as the _Reindeer_, to which
French Pete, after a deep scrutiny, agreed. He seemed very much pleased
at the meeting.

"Red Nelson runs her," 'Frisco Kid informed Joe. "And he 's a terror and
no mistake. I 'm always afraid of him when he comes near. They 've got
something big down here, and they 're always after French Pete to tackle
it with them. He knows more about it, whatever it is."

Joe nodded, and looked at the approaching craft curiously. Though somewhat
larger, it was built on about the same lines as the _Dazzler_ which meant,
above everything else, that it was built for speed. The mainsail was so
large that it was more like that of a racing-yacht, and it carried the
points for no less than three reefs in case of rough weather. Aloft and
on deck everything was in place--nothing was untidy or useless. From
running-gear to standing rigging, everything bore evidence of thorough
o