eel had jammed. But those
lazy swabs want talkin' to. I'll just give 'em a bit of me mind," and
he went forward.

Hozier heard him reading the Riot Act to the shell-backs who were
supposed to keep a sharp lookout ahead. But the captain did not
monopolize the conversation. His deep notes rumbled only at intervals.
The men had something to say. He returned to the bridge.

"One of them scallywags sez 'e 'as seen a ghost," he announced, with
the calm air of a man who states that the moon will rise during the
next hour.

"I wish he could see less remarkable things, such as schooners, sir,"
said Hozier.

"But 'e swears 'e sawr it twiced."

"Oh, is he the man who reported a ghost outside the lazarette last
night?"

"I s'pose so. Did 'e tell you about it? That's where she walks."

"She!"

"That's his yarn--a female ghost, a black 'un, black clo'es anyhow.
He's a dashed fool, but he's no boozer, though his mate's tongue is a
bit thick yet. I'll take the forenoon watch, an' you might overhaul
the ship for stowaways after breakfast. Never heard of one on this
journey--I've routed out as many as twenty at a time w'en I was runnin'
between Wellington an' Sydney--but you never can tell, so 'ave a squint
round."

"Yes, sir," said Hozier, and that is how it fell to his lot to discover
Iris Yorke, looking very white and miserable, when the hatch of the
lazarette was broken open at half-past eight o'clock on Thursday
morning!

A tramp steamer is not a complex organism. She is made up of holds,
bunkers, boilers and engines, with scanty accommodation for officers
and crew grouped round the funnel or stuck in the bows. When the boats
were stripped of their tarpaulins, and a few lockers and store-rooms
examined, the only available hiding-places were the shaft tunnel, the
holds, and the lazarette, a small space between decks, situated
directly above the propeller, where a reserve supply of provisions is
generally carried.

But the door of the lazarette was locked, and the key missing, though
it ought to be hanging with others, all duly labeled, on a hook in the
steward's cabin. A duplicate set of keys in the captain's possession
was far from complete. As the steward was certain he had fastened the
lazarette himself early on Tuesday morning, there was nothing for it
but to force the lock.

Even that would not have been necessary had the carpenter slackened his
efforts after the first assault. Iris cried loudly e