ayo's hands at Maquoit, and
he read that the wrecked steamer had been put up at auction by the
underwriters. It was plain that the bidders had shared the insurance
folks' general feeling of pessimism--she had been knocked down for two
thousand five hundred dollars. The newspapers explained that only this
ridiculous sum had been realized because experts had decided that in
the first blow the steamer would slip off the ledges on which she was
impaled and would go down like a plummet in the deep water from which
old Razee cropped. Even the most reckless of gambling junkmen could not
be expected to dare much of an investment in such a peek-a-boo game as
that.

"But I wonder what was the matter with the expert who predicted that,"
mused Mayo. "He doesn't know the old jaw teeth of Razee Reef as well as
I do."

When the _Ethel and May_ set forth from Maquoit on her next trip to
Cashes Banks, Mayo suggested--and he was a bit shamefaced when he did
so--that they might as well go out of their way a little and see what
the junkers were doing at Razee.

Captain Candage eyed his associate with rather quizzical expression.
"Great minds travel, et cetry!" he chuckled. "I was just going to say
that same thing to you. On your mind a little, is it?"

"Yes, and only a little. Of course, there can't be anything in it for
us. Those junkers will stick to her till she ducks for deep water. But
I've been wondering why they think she's going to duck. I seined around
Razee for a while, and the old chap has teeth like a hyena--regular
fangs."

"Maybe they took Art Simpson's say-so," remarked the old man, wrinkling
his nose. "Art would be very encouraging about the prospects of saving
her--that is to say, he would be so in case losing that steamer has
turned his brain."

"Guess there wasn't very much interest by the underwriters," suggested
Mayo. "They weren't stuck very hard, so I've found out. She was mostly
owned in sixty-fourths, and with marine risks up to where they are,
small owners don't insure. It's a wicked thing all through, Candage!
That great, new steamer piled up there by somebody's devilishness! I
believe as you do about the affair! I've been to sea so long that a boat
means something to me besides iron and wood. There's something about
'em--something--"

"Almost human," put in the old man. "I sorrowed over the _Polly_, but
I didn't feel as bad as if she'd been new. It was sort of like when old
folks die of natural causes-