houted. "The moorin' rope
nivver bruk. It was cut."

A sharp hiss of breath between McCulloch's teeth betrayed the stress of
his emotions. To think that he, a smart roundsman of the Broadway
squad, should have been bested so thoroughly by a miserable alien
chauffeur! The man had merely slipped over the edge of the quay, and
clung like a limpet to the rough baulks of timber which faced it; when
his pursuers were safely disposed of on board the barge, one cut of a
sharp knife had sent them adrift by the stern, while the forward rope,
released of any strain, had probably uncoiled itself from a stanchion
with the diabolical ingenuity which inanimate objects can display at
unlooked-for moments.

"Fling a coil uv line here," continued the speaker. "This fag ind is
no good, at all at all."

The thud of a falling rope, and various grunts and comments from the
Irishman, showed that the barge was being secured. Still the three
waited. The primary display of secrecy, the instinct to remain unseen,
had passed, but there was nothing to be gained by entering into a long
and difficult explanation with the ship's hands, while it would be a
simple matter to recoup the owner of the barge for any charge which
might be levied on him for injury to the vessel, provided the liability
rested with him and not with others.

Swearing and grumbling, Pat stumbled along the quay, carrying the lamp.
He passed within a few feet of the motionless group, and soon they
heard him and his mate descending the companionway to their bunks.

"Now for a light," said the policeman, "and let's get out of this!"

Taking heed not to turn the lamp toward the ship, lest their movements
should be overheard and a head pop up out of the hatch, he led the way
quietly to the rear of the wharf. A rough road climbed the hill to the
left, and, as this direction offered the only probable means of
regaining the car, they took it.

After a long climb they reached a better road, which ultimately brought
them into a main thoroughfare. Then Curtis bethought him of looking at
his watch, and was astonished to find that the hour was half-past two
o'clock.

"By Jove!" he cried. "We must have consumed fully half an hour over
that trip. I wonder whether your man has waited, Devar; or would he
give us up as lost, and go home?"

"What! Arthur return alone, and tell my aunt that the last he saw of
me I was adrift on the Hudson River in a barge with a policeman and a