of their canvas rags he recognized his
two enemies. Involuntarily Rogers smiled; but the smile left his face
when he saw that they were showing fight, and that in the fight they
were being sadly bested by the mate, aided by his confrere, the second
officer. Yet they fought as they could, and as the whirl of battle
drifted aft Rogers could hear their voices.

"I want to see the Captain!" they each declared explosively, whenever a
moment's respite enabled them to speak, and in time the reiterated
demand bore results. The Captain himself appeared, watched the conflict
for a moment, then roared out:

"Mr. Billings, that'll do! Send those men up here, and let's see what
they want."

The two mates stood back, and the disfigured Sheriff of Maricopa and
the almost unrecognizable mounted policeman climbed the poop steps and
faced the Captain in the weather alley. They were game--still full of
fight, and in no way abashed by the autocrat of the ship.

"You the Captain o' this boat?" demanded Quincy, his eyes flaming green
from the rage in his soul. "If you are, put me ashore, or I'll make you
sweat!"

"Steady as you go," answered the Captain, quietly. "I'm too big a man
to sweat. It's dangerous to make me sweat. What's on your mind?"

"Put us ashore!" yelled Benson, insanely. "Those fellows that hammered
us just now said we shipped in this boat. We did not. We were drugged
and abducted."

"Whew!" whistled the big skipper, turning his back on them for the
moment. Then he turned back and said, "What d'you want?"

"To go ashore and take our prisoner with us. We'll settle between
ourselves as to which one gets him."

"Your prisoner? Where is he?"

"That fellow standing there--steering, I suppose," answered Quincy.

The skipper turned toward Rogers. "You a prisoner?" he asked, with the
good humor coming of size and self-confidence.

"I'm wanted, Sir," said Rogers, grimly, "in Arizona and in Manitoba.
These men are what they say, officers of the law."

"What crime have you committed?"

"None, Sir," answered Rogers; "though I'm indicted in one place for
stage robbery and in the other place for murder."

"Well, well!" commented the big man. "You seem to be a dangerous
character. What are you doing aboard my ship?"

"These fellows chased me, and I went to a boarding master to get a
ship. They followed and were shanghaied with me--though I do not see
why he drugged me, Sir; I was willing to ship."

"But did you," dem