im,
and whichever gets there first wins. If it's the policeman, he gets
his sovereign. If it's the sailor, he is considered to have arrived
not in a state of custody, and gets off easier. What a judicious
remark that was of the Governor of North Carolina to the Governor of
South Carolina! Just one more cup, please, Phyllis."

"But how does all that apply?" I asked, dry-mouthed.

"Why, Hawk upset the professor just as those Maltese were upset.
There's a patent way of doing it. Furthermore, by judicious
questioning, I found that Hawk was once in the navy, and stationed at
Malta. _Now_, who's going to drag in Sherlock Holmes?"

"You don't really think--" I said, feeling like a criminal in the
dock when the case is going against him.

"I think friend Hawk has been reenacting the joys of his vanished
youth, so to speak."

"He ought to be prosecuted," said Phyllis, blazing with indignation.

Alas, poor Hawk!

"Nobody's safe with a man of that sort hiring out a boat."

Oh, miserable Hawk!

"But why on earth," I asked, as calmly as possible, "should he play a
trick like that on Professor Derrick, Chase?"

"Pure animal spirits, probably. Or he may, as I say, be a minion."

I was hot all over.

"I shall tell father that," said Phyllis in her most decided voice,
"and see what he says. I don't wonder at the man taking to drink after
doing such a thing."

"I--I think you're making a mistake," I said.

"I never make mistakes," Mr. Chase replied. "I am called Archibald the
All Right, for I am infallible. I propose to keep a reflective eye
upon the jovial Hawk."

He helped himself to another section of the chocolate cake.

"Haven't you finished yet, Tom?" inquired Phyllis. "I'm sure Mr.
Garnet's getting tired of sitting talking here."

I shot out a polite negative. Mr. Chase explained with his mouth full
that he had by no means finished. Chocolate cake, it appeared, was the
dream of his life. When at sea he was accustomed to lie awake o'
nights thinking of it.

"You don't seem to realize," he said, "that I have just come from a
cruise on a torpedo boat. There was such a sea on, as a rule, that
cooking operations were entirely suspended, and we lived on ham and
sardines--without bread."

"How horrible!"

"On the other hand," added Mr. Chase philosophically, "it didn't
matter much, because we were all ill most of the time."

"Don't be nasty, Tom."

"I was merely defending myself. I hope Mr. Hawk will be able