panying words Cleggett understood
that Loge, out of the depths of his perplexity, had said that he
(Cleggett) was mentally erratic.

"Ah, you think so, do you?" said Cleggett aloud, laying down his glass
and seizing a rifle. "Well, just to let you know that I have a certain
opinion of you, also, my friend Loge----" And he sent a bullet over
the heads of the three men. They hastily ducked into the house.
Cleggett might have picked Loge off, but he disdained to do so. It was
his purpose to take the man alive, if possible.

But the rifle shot did not end the espionage. All day scouting parties
in taxicabs kept appearing on the sandy plain to reconnoiter the fleet
and fortress. They circled, they swooped, they dashed, they zigzagged
here and there, but always at a high rate of speed, and always at a
prudent distance from the canal. Beyond sending an occasional rifle
ball whistling towards the wheels of the cabs, or over the heads of the
occupants, to remind them to keep their distance, Cleggett paid but
little attention to these parties. If Loge thought him demented, if he
had his enemy guessing, so much the better. The eccentric movements of
these cabs was a circumstance which in itself testified to Loge's
bewilderment and curiosity.

Cleggett had no idea that there would be an attack before nightfall,
and at two o'clock in the afternoon he awakened all the members of his
crew who were still sleeping, ordered them into bathing suits, a supply
of which he had been thoughtful enough to have the young doctor bring
out along with the nurses, and piped them into the canal. The water
was cold, but they came out refreshed and invigorated by the plunge and
feeling fit for any struggle that might be ahead of them. This
maneuver on the part of Cleggett and his marines and infantrymen seemed
still more to excite the curiosity and contribute to the bewilderment
of Loge and his ruffians.

After the general bath and a substantial lunch, Cleggett called all
hands aft and addressed them.

"Ladies and loyal followers and co-workers," he said. "We have passed
some nights and days of peril. And there are, I doubt not, still
parlous times ahead of the Jasper B. before our ship sets sail for the
China Seas. But what is sweeter than pleasure snatched from the very
presence of danger? Courage and gayety should go hand in hand! It is
a beautiful May afternoon, we have a goodly deck beneath our feet, and,
briefly, who is for a