t
chance. He had been sent down to the docks to do some repairs on a small
steamer and had pleased the skipper, who was himself an elderly man, by
the ability he had shown.

"You're worth twice as much as some of these darned young 'uns,"
grumbled the old man. "Are you married?"

"No," said the other.

"Got any kids?"

Boundary shook his head.

"Why don't you sign on with me?" asked the skipper. "I want a carpenter
bad."

"Where are you going?" asked Boundary, breathing more quickly.

"We're going to Valparaiso first, then we're going to work down the
coast, round the Horn to San Francisco and maybe we'll get a cargo
across to China."

"I'll think it over," said the colonel.

That night he called on the captain and told him that he had made up his
mind to go.

"Good!" said the skipper, "but you'll have to sign on to-night. I'm
leaving to-morrow by the first tide."

The colonel nodded, not daring to speak. Here was luck, the greatest in
the world. Nobody would suspect a carpenter, taken from a local firm and
shipped with the captain's goodwill. At seven o'clock the next morning
he was standing on the deck of the _Arabelle Sands_, watching the low
coast-line slipping past. The ship was to make one call at Falmouth and
two days later she reached that port. Boundary went ashore to buy some
wood and a few tools that he found he needed, and pulled back to the
ship in the afternoon. In the evening he accompanied the captain ashore.

"We shan't leave till to-morrow at twelve," said the captain. "You might
as well spend a night on solid earth whilst you can. It will be a long
time before you smell dirt again."

The captain's idea of a pleasant evening was to sit in the bar-parlour
of the Sun Inn and drink interminable hot rums. He had fixed up a room
for himself at the inn and offered Boundary a share, but the colonel
preferred to sleep alone. He secured lodgings in the town, and making an
excuse to the captain returned to his room early. He had purchased all
the newspapers he could find and he wanted to study them quietly. It was
with unusual relish that he read the account of an inquest on himself.
There was no breath of suspicion that he was not dead.

"Old Dan Boundary has tricked them all. Clever old Dan Boundary!"

He chuckled at the thought. He had deceived all those clever men at
Scotland Yard--Sir Stanley Belcom, Stafford King, Jack o' Judgment! Yes,
he had deceived Jack o' Judgment and that seemed t