er in the Himalayas."

"And, meanwhile, what shall be done with Kidd?" asked Holmes.

"He ought to be expelled from the club," said Johnson.

"We can't expel him, because he's not a member," replied Raleigh.

"Then elect him," suggested Ward.

"What on earth for?" growled Johnson.

"So that we can expel him," said Ward.

And while Boswell's hero was trying to get the value of this notion
through his head, the others repaired to the deck, and the _Gehenna_ was
soon under way once more. Meanwhile Captain Kidd and his fellows were put
in irons and stowed away in the forecastle, alongside of the water-cask in
which Shylock lay in hiding.

XII

THE ESCAPE AND THE END

If there was anxiety on board of the _Gehenna_ as to the condition and
whereabouts of the House-boat, there was by no means less uneasiness upon
that vessel itself. Cleopatra's scheme for ridding herself and her
abducted sisters of the pirates had worked to a charm, but, having worked
thus, a new and hitherto undreamed-of problem, full of perplexities
bearing upon their immediate safety, now confronted them. The sole
representative of a sea-faring family on board was Mrs. Noah, and it did
not require much time to see that her knowledge as to navigation was of an
extremely primitive order, limited indeed to the science of floating.

When the last pirate had disappeared behind the rocks of Holmes Island,
and all was in readiness for action, the good old lady, who had hitherto
been as calm and unruffled as a child, began to get red in the face and to
bustle about in a manner which betrayed considerable perturbation of
spirit.

"Now, Mrs. Noah," said Cleopatra, as, peeping out from the billiard-room
window, she saw Morgan disappearing in the distance, "the coast is clear,
and I resign my position of chairman to you. We place the vessel in your
hands, and ourselves subject to your orders. You are in command. What do
you wish us to do?"

"Very well," replied Mrs. Noah, putting down her knitting and starting for
the deck. "I'm not certain, but I think the first thing to do is to get
her moving. Do you know, I've never discovered whether this boat is a
steamboat or a sailing-vessel? Does anybody know?"

"I think it has a naphtha tank and a propeller," said Elizabeth, "although
I don't know. It seems to me my brother Raleigh told me they'd had a
naphtha engine put in last winter after the freshet, when the House-boat
was carried ten miles down t