ott the information.

"Probably he stopped at the station while we were on board of the Ophir,
or your party had gone to the town," said the commander. "It was easy
enough for him to stow himself away in the cabin of the Maud while no
one but Philip was on board of her."

"I supposed we had got to the end of the pirate when I saw him trotted
on shore to the hotel," added Scott.

"So did I, though he made some huge but very indefinite threats when I
saw him last," mused the commander. "But why did he go on board of the
Maud, when he could have gone to Suez by the railroad?"

"I don't see," replied Scott. "He is a Moor, and must be as revengeful
as his 'noble master,' as he calls him. It was the Maud that did his
business for him, and I was at the wheel of her when she smashed into
the side of the Fatime. I only hope his grudge is against me and not
against Louis Belgrave."

"You mention the idea I had in my mind when I asked why he went on board
of the Maud, Captain Scott," said the commander. "Perhaps it is a lucky
chance that I sent for the 'Big Four' so that they might hear all that
was said about the scenes through which we were passing."

"You mean that it may have been a lucky chance for Louis or for me; but
I believe it is a luckier chance for the pirate, for I think I should
have thrown him overboard if I had seen him on our deck," said Scott.

"Then there would probably have been a fight on board of the Maud, and
work made for our surgeon in your party. It may have been lucky for all
that you were called on board of the ship. But we must take care that
he does not resume his voyage in the morning with us."

Captain Ringgold took all necessary precautions. A watch was kept on
board of both vessels; and when they started on the remainder of the
trip through the canal in the morning, nothing had been seen or heard of
Mazagan. It was agreed that nothing had better be said about the matter;
and when the cabin party, with the "Big Four," gathered on the promenade
at five o'clock in the morning, not one of them, except the big and the
little captain, suspected that an enemy was near, if the stranger really
was Mazagan, of which they could not be sure.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE TOY OF THE TRANSIT MANAGER

The village of Serapeum has had an existence of over twenty years; and
its pleasant little gardens looked very inviting in the fresh morning
air to the members of the cabin party as they took their places