liquor on the Ella. Remember, not a bottle is to be saved."

"But Mistah Turner--"

"I'll answer to Mr. Turner. Get it overboard before he gets around.
And, Williams!"

"Well?"--sullenly.

"I'm going around after you, and if I find so much as a pint, I'll put
you in that room you have just left, and lock you in."

He turned even grayer, and went into the storeroom.

A day later, and the crew would probably have resented what they saw
that morning. But that day they only looked up apathetically from
their gruesome work of sewing into bags of canvas the sheeted bodies on
the deck, while a gray-faced Negro in a white coat flung over the rail
cases of fine wines, baskets and boxes full of bottles, dozen after
dozen of brandies and liquors, all sinking beyond salvage in the blue
Atlantic.

CHAPTER IX

PRISONERS

MY first thought had been for the women, and, unluckily, to save them a
shock I had all evidences of the crime cleared away as quickly as
possible. Stains that might have been of invaluable service in
determining the murderer were washed away almost before they were dry.
I realized this now, too late. But the axe remained, and I felt that
its handle probably contained a record for more skillful eyes than mine
to read, prints that under the microscope would reveal the murderer's
identity as clearly as a photograph.

I sent for Burns, who reported that he had locked the axe in the
captain's cabin. He gave me the key, which I fastened to a string and
hung around my neck under my shirt. He also reported that, as I had
suggested, the crew had gone, two at a time, into the forecastle, and
had brought up what they needed to stay on deck. The forecastle had
been closed and locked in the presence of the crew, and the key given
to Burns, who fastened it to his watch-chain. The two hatchways leading
to the hold had been fastened down also, and Oleson, who was ship's
carpenter, had nailed them fast.

The crew had been instructed to stay aft of the wheel, except when on
watch. Thus the helmsman need not be alone. As I have said, the door
at the top of the companion steps, near the wheel, was closed and
locked, and entrance to the after house was to be gained only by the
forward companion. It was the intention of Burns and myself to keep
watch here, amidships.

Burns had probably suffered more than any of us. Whatever his relation
to the Hansen woman had been, he had been with her only three hou