e
role of "comic lead," if such a description can apply to any Chinese
artiste. As a matter of fact they are so serious, even in their fun,
that the Californian romancer, Bret Harte, has told us that he never
saw a genuine Chinaman laugh, and has even confessed that he is unable
to say whether one of the national pieces he witnessed was a tragedy or
a farce.

In short, Seng Vou was a comedian. The season had ended, crowned with
success--perhaps out of proportion to the gold pieces he had amassed--he
wished to return to his country otherwise than as a corpse, for Chinamen
always like to get buried at home and there are special steamers who
carry dead Celestials and nothing else. At all risks, therefore, he had
secretly slipped on board the _Dream_.

Loaded with provisions, did he hope to get through, incognito, a passage
of several weeks, and then to land on the coast of China without being
seen?

It is just possible. At any rate, the case was hardly one for a death
penalty.

So Godfrey had good reason to interfere in favour of the intruder, and
Captain Turcott, who pretended to be angrier than he really was, gave up
the idea of sending Seng Vou overboard to battle with the waves of the
Pacific.

Seng Vou, however, did not return to his hiding-place in the hold,
though he was rather an incubus on board. Phlegmatic, methodic, and by
no means communicative, he carefully avoided the seamen, who had always
some prank to play off on him, and he kept to his own provisions. He
was thin enough in all conscience, and his additional weight but
imperceptibly added to the cost of navigating the _Dream_. If Seng Vou
got a free passage it was obvious that his carriage did not cost William
W. Kolderup very much.

His presence on board put into Captain Turcott's head an idea which his
mate probably was the only one to understand thoroughly.

"He will bother us a bit--this confounded Chinee!--after all, so much
the worse for him."

"What ever made him stow himself away on board the _Dream_?" answered
the mate.

"To get to Shanghai!" replied Captain Turcott. "Bless John and all
John's sons too!"

CHAPTER VII.

IN WHICH IT WILL BE SEEN THAT WILLIAM W. KOLDERUP WAS PROBABLY RIGHT IN
INSURING HIS SHIP.

During the following days, the 13th, 14th, and 15th of June, the
barometer slowly fell, without an attempt to rise in the slightest
degree, and the weather became variable, hovering between rain and wind
or storm. T