he's a D.A.R. She has told me so five times; that's how
I know."

"Really, why was she chosen to be the Daughter of the Regiment?"

"The Revolution, not the regiment. You remember that little skirmish
that took place in '75?"

Percival considered this thrust beneath his notice. His simmering
antagonism for the captain was nearing the boiling-point.

"I say," he said, "will you kindly arrange for a bit of air to enter
this room? It's ghastly, perfectly ghastly."

"Sure," said the captain, dexterously mixing a salad of alligator pears.
"Ah Foo, open some of those ports and let in the coal-dust. Have some of
this tropical mess?"

"Thanks, no. I'm not specially fit today. Had a beastly night of it.
Fancy having to keep one's umbrella up in the berth to keep the light
from the passage out of one's eyes! I don't believe such a thing could
happen on a British steamer. Can't you manage to give me another
state-room?"

"That's the purser's job; he's the room-clerk," said the captain. "I'm
only the skipper."

Percival glanced quickly at the weather-beaten face, but found no
guiding expression.

"I can't say I found your purser over-civil," he went on. "He insists on
putting another passenger in my state-room. Nothing was said about it in
San Francisco, nothing whatever. I shall report the matter at my first
opportunity."

"I bet you've drawn that Chinese bigwig that's booked from here," said
the captain, grinning.

Percival pushed back his plate. A German or an American had appalled
him, but a Chinaman!

"I say, this is a bit thick, you know. What time does the next launch go
ashore?" he demanded, with, a fierce determination to find the purser
and demand satisfaction.

"About to start now," said the captain, adding, with a twinkle: "Better
think twice about that Chinaman. If he takes the upper berth, his
queue'd come in mighty handy to hang your umbrella on."

Percival dashed up the stairs. He had been seeking an excuse for going
ashore for the last four hours, and now he felt that he had one. It was
of the utmost importance, he assured himself, that he see the purser
without further delay.

V

STRANDED

When a man insists too strenuously upon his rights, the imps of
perversity invariably combine to thwart him. Percival was aware of their
pursuing footsteps from the moment he went ashore and lost his umbrella,
to the hour of his return to the dock, when he found himself face to
face with a situat