er now? from a blind man?" she queried.

"I shall never be able to trust him," I averred, "and far less now that
he is blind. The liability is that his part helplessness will make him
more malignant than ever. I know what I shall do to-morrow, the first
thing--run out a light anchor and kedge the schooner off the beach. And
each night when we come ashore in the boat, Mr. Wolf Larsen will be left
a prisoner on board. So this will be the last night we have to stand
watch, and because of that it will go the easier."

We were awake early and just finishing breakfast as daylight came.

"Oh, Humphrey!" I heard Maud cry in dismay and suddenly stop.

I looked at her. She was gazing at the _Ghost_. I followed her gaze,
but could see nothing unusual. She looked at me, and I looked inquiry
back.

"The shears," she said, and her voice trembled.

I had forgotten their existence. I looked again, but could not see them.

"If he has--" I muttered savagely.

She put her hand sympathetically on mine, and said, "You will have to
begin over again."

"Oh, believe me, my anger means nothing; I could not hurt a fly," I
smiled back bitterly. "And the worst of it is, he knows it. You are
right. If he has destroyed the shears, I shall do nothing except begin
over again."

"But I'll stand my watch on board hereafter," I blurted out a moment
later. "And if he interferes--"

"But I dare not stay ashore all night alone," Maud was saying when I came
back to myself. "It would be so much nicer if he would be friendly with
us and help us. We could all live comfortably aboard."

"We will," I asserted, still savagely, for the destruction of my beloved
shears had hit me hard. "That is, you and I will live aboard, friendly
or not with Wolf Larsen."

"It's childish," I laughed later, "for him to do such things, and for me
to grow angry over them, for that matter."

But my heart smote me when we climbed aboard and looked at the havoc he
had done. The shears were gone altogether. The guys had been slashed
right and left. The throat-halyards which I had rigged were cut across
through every part. And he knew I could not splice. A thought struck
me. I ran to the windlass. It would not work. He had broken it. We
looked at each other in consternation. Then I ran to the side. The
masts, booms, and gaffs I had cleared were gone. He had found the lines
which held them, and cast them adrift.

Tears were in Maud's eyes, and I