at of a huskiness which prevented speech. "Hump," he
said slowly, "you can't do it. You are not exactly afraid. You are
impotent. Your conventional morality is stronger than you. You are the
slave to the opinions which have credence among the people you have known
and have read about. Their code has been drummed into your head from the
time you lisped, and in spite of your philosophy, and of what I have
taught you, it won't let you kill an unarmed, unresisting man."

"I know it," I said hoarsely.

"And you know that I would kill an unarmed man as readily as I would
smoke a cigar," he went on. "You know me for what I am,--my worth in the
world by your standard. You have called me snake, tiger, shark, monster,
and Caliban. And yet, you little rag puppet, you little echoing
mechanism, you are unable to kill me as you would a snake or a shark,
because I have hands, feet, and a body shaped somewhat like yours. Bah!
I had hoped better things of you, Hump."

He stepped out of the companion-way and came up to me.

"Put down that gun. I want to ask you some questions. I haven't had a
chance to look around yet. What place is this? How is the _Ghost_
lying? How did you get wet? Where's Maud?--I beg your pardon, Miss
Brewster--or should I say, 'Mrs. Van Weyden'?"

I had backed away from him, almost weeping at my inability to shoot him,
but not fool enough to put down the gun. I hoped, desperately, that he
might commit some hostile act, attempt to strike me or choke me; for in
such way only I knew I could be stirred to shoot.

"This is Endeavour Island," I said.

"Never heard of it," he broke in.

"At least, that's our name for it," I amended.

"Our?" he queried. "Who's our?"

"Miss Brewster and myself. And the _Ghost_ is lying, as you can see for
yourself, bow on to the beach."

"There are seals here," he said. "They woke me up with their barking, or
I'd be sleeping yet. I heard them when I drove in last night. They were
the first warning that I was on a lee shore. It's a rookery, the kind of
a thing I've hunted for years. Thanks to my brother Death, I've lighted
on a fortune. It's a mint. What's its bearings?"

"Haven't the least idea," I said. "But you ought to know quite closely.
What were your last observations?"

He smiled inscrutably, but did not answer.

"Well, where's all hands?" I asked. "How does it come that you are
alone?"

I was prepared for him again to set aside my questi