yal of a sacred
trust. He is an arch-criminal.'

"'Aren't you laying it on a little thick?' I laughed.

"Lee Fu smiled quietly, giving me a glance that was a mere flicker of
the eyelids. 'Captain, let me tell you, murder is brave and honorable
compared to this. Consider what he did: Trained to the sea and ships,
after a lifetime of service to his traditions, he suddenly forsakes them
utterly. It is blasphemy which he has committed; blasphemy against the
gods who guide and sustain us, and without whose aid we cannot live. So
I abhor him--and am fascinated. If you will believe me, Captain, I have
not in all my talk with him received a single flash of illumination; no,
not one! There is no clue to his design. He speaks of his ship as others
do; he is a big, red-faced man with frank glances and open speech. I
swear to you, his heart is untroubled. And that is horrible.'

"I was a little amused at my friend's moral fervor. 'Perhaps he's
innocent,' I said.

"'You forget that he holds the vessel,' Lee Fu reminded me. 'To one of
your race, if no blood flows, then it is not so bad. But bear in mind
that a strong man within your circle has murdered the spirit--and wait
until the actual blood flows.'

"'What do you mean. Lee Fu?'

"'I mean that Captain Wilbur will bear watching. In the meantime, do not
fail to study him when opportunity offers. Thus we learn of heaven and
hell.'

"A few years went by, while the case of Captain Wilbur and the
'Speedwell' was in its initial stages of being forgotten. Nothing
succeeds like success; the man was growing rich, and there were many to
whom the possession of a fine vessel covered a multitude of sins. Some
of his old friends were willing after a while to let bygones be bygones.
Little by little, one began to see him again on the quarter-deck of an
evening, among the fleet captains. When, in time, it became unwise to
start the story against him for fear of misconstruction of the motive,
it was evident that he'd won his nefarious match against society.

"I'd met him a number of times during this interval. Indeed, he
compelled attention. That perfect urbanity, that air of unfailing
dignity and confidence, that aura of a commanding personality, of an
able shipmaster among his brethren, of a man whose position in the world
was secure beyond peradventure; these could spring only from a quiet
conscience or from a heart perfectly attuned to villainy. So unconscious
was his poise that one