"

"No; of course not."

"Your friends would have been sending flowers, and bringing tears.
They would be looking at you, to-morrow, and saying, in undertones:
'Goodness, how natural he looks!'"

Halstead was puzzled for a moment or two. Then, comprehending, he
grinned, though he demanded:

"You think Dalton would have dared anything like that?"

"Well, you notice what kind of a rascal Mr. Seaton thinks Dalton is.
And you know we don't go armed aboard the 'Restless.' Now, I'm pretty
certain that Dalton could have displayed and used weapons if we had
given him any cause to do so."

Ten minutes later, when Powell Seaton entered the room, he beheld
Captain Tom Halstead seated at the operator's table, sealing an
envelope that he had just directed.

"What are you doing, Captain?" asked the charter-man.

"You know that miserable twenty dollars that I took from Anson Dalton
for passage money?" inquired Halstead, looking up.

"Yes."

"I've just enclosed the money in this envelope, with a note."

"Going to return the money to Dalton when you find his address?"
smiled Mr. Seaton, wearily.

"No, sir," retorted Tom, in a voice sharp with disgust. "Dalton seems
to have more money, already, than is good for him. I've addressed this
envelope to a county institution down in the state that I come from."

"A public institution?"

"Yes, sir; the home for feeble-minded youth."

"Don't take it so hard as that, Halstead," urged Mr. Seaton. "Had you
had a suspicion you would have done whatever lay in your power. I
might have warned you against Dalton, but the truth is, _I_ did not
imagine he would be right on the scene."

Saying which, Powell Seaton walked away by himself. He was gravely,
even sadly preoccupied. Though Captain Halstead could not even guess
what the underlying mystery was, he knew that it seriously affected
Mr. Seaton's plans and fortune. Their charter-man was worried almost
past endurance, though bravely trying to hide the fact.

After the consultation of the surgeons, two of them departed aboard
the tug, the third remaining to care for the patient. Hank, despite
all his bluntness of manner, was proving himself valuable in the
sick-room, while Joe spent most of his time in the wireless room of
the bungalow, waiting to receive or send any word. So, as evening
came, Tom Halstead bestirred himself with the preparation of the
evening meal.

By dark there was a considerable wind blowing. Halstead left his