t through the pier-heads unquestioned save
by a passing launch which hailed, and was politely answered in
gibberish.

There was a singular lack of formality about our departure which was
much to be regretted. But there was some small trouble about big
accumulations of harbour dues and such minor items, which would have
had to be settled in return for a clearance _en regle_; and,
remembering how history was galloping, we could not afford the time to
deal with them. And so, after a narrow squeak of being cut down by a
big steamer just outside, we found ourselves close-hauled under all
plain sail, making a long leg with a short one to follow.

"Funds wouldn't run to the luxury of a chart," observed Haigh when I
inquired about this trifle, "but I had a look at a big Mediterranean
track chart at the place where I bartered the dinghy, and the course to
Port Mahon is due south-west, as near as no matter."

"As near as no matter," groaned I in response.

"Why, my dear chap, we really can't indulge in the extreme niceties of
navigation. We've got a compass, which is fairly accurate if you joggle
it with your finger occasionally, and we can fix up a lead line when we
get in soundings, and I dare say we can make a log. D'you mind having a
spell at the pump now? I'm a bit out of condition."

The leaking decreased as the planking swelled to the wet, but other
unpleasantnesses began to show themselves. One of the greatest, to my
way of thinking, was the way we were victualled. To begin with, there
were twenty-three bottles of vermouth, straw-jacketed, and carefully
stowed. Then there was a bag of condemned sea-biscuits, which Haigh
pleasantly alluded to as "perambulators." And the list of solids was
completed by half a dozen four-pound tins of corned beef, and a hundred
and fifty excellent cigars which had not paid duty. There was an iron
tank full of rusty water which "had to do," as refilling it might have
entailed awkward questions. And, lastly, there had been brought on
board a very small and much-corroded kedge anchor, which, as it was the
only implement of its kind that we possessed, gave much force to
Haigh's comment that "it might come in handy."

To tell the truth, when the cold sea air blew away the glamour of
plotting and planning, and I was able to tot up all these accessories
with a practical mind, I was beginning very much to wish myself well
off what seemed a certain road to Jones.

Haigh, on the other hand, se