, it was morning. His father already had left, for he was
not in the bow under the canvas. Charley hastily crawled out, into
sunshine and a wide expanse of blue under which a gray green ocean
tossed its racing white-caps.

The passengers on the upper deck were astir, spreading out wet clothing
and bedding, to hang them from the awning and the rails to dry.
Charley's father and Mr. Grigsby were talking earnestly together, but
checked themselves when they saw Charley emerge, and land on deck.

"Morning to you," greeted Mr. Grigsby. "Did you sleep well?"

"Fine," said Charley. "Did you? What was the matter in the night?"

"Yes; you can count on me to sleep in any kind of weather," answered
Mr. Grigsby. And--"Shall we tell him?" he queried, of Mr. Adams.

Mr. Adams, who looked a little worried, nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "We might as well. He's one of us."

"The truth is," resumed Mr. Grigsby, to Charley, "one of those three
fellows tried to cut the boat down, in the night. But I caught him.
Here's his knife."

"Which one was it?" gasped Charley, cold at the thought.

"Jacobs," said his father. "And lucky for us that he didn't do it.
Mr. Grigsby has a sharp ear. Why, we wouldn't have lasted a minute in
that sea. Now, wasn't that a cowardly thing even to think of?"

"I'd feared it," admitted Mr. Grigsby. "But it didn't seem possible,
in any human being. Last night was a good night for it--and I suppose
the davits would have looked as though the boat had been torn loose by
a sea. Whew! I ought to have shot the scoundrel without parleying."

"What'll we do about it?" quavered Charley, sitting down hard on the
bench. He felt weak.

"It's all over with, so don't be scared, boy," encouraged his father.
"A miss is as good as a mile, you know. We're safe, after this. Oh,
Mr. Grigsby and I've decided there's little to be done. Of course,
here's the knife for evidence, and we'll speak to the captain; but
there's nothing else to do. We have to look out for ourselves."

After breakfast Mr. Adams brought aft, not the captain, but the first
mate. He was the same official who had objected to their using the
boat at all.

"So you think somebody was bent on cutting that boat down, do you?" he
queried, brusquely, of Mr. Grigsby.

"I don't think so; I know it," returned Mr. Grigsby.

"How do you know it?"

"Because I knocked him down and took his knife."

"Do you know who it was?"

"His name is Ja