, 1921-12-17

peculiar to his calling. aud in the Pan
theon saloon. whittier his pathway led
him. he nlled himself with beer and
gossip. II was here that NeiIs came
across an item In az afternoon ape
which challenged his instant atten-
tion. 1t was lust q squib in the ship
ping news. but Neils Haivorsen read
II with Amusement and Joy;
The power schooner Magic II arrived
this morning. ten days from the Frieudiy
Islands The nttls schooner came Into
port with her hold bursting with the most
valuable cargo that hsa entered Homo
lulu IN many ysars- II oonsists for the
most part Of black coral.
The Mags1s II IL commanded BY Cap
tain Phlneas scraEEs. and after taking
on provisions and water today will pro-
coed 70 san Francisco. tomorrow. for dis
charge CT cargo"
"By yiminy.- quoth Neiis Halvorsen.
aye bat you that bane de ole man so
sure as you bane alive. And aye bat
new bat he skau be glad to see Neiis
Haivorsen- I guess aye hire Rz1aks
boy an he bane pull ne n TO see
de ole man."
A Jacobs ladder was hanging over
the side OF the schooner as the canoe
shot IN under her lee quarter, and half
a minute later the expectant Nells
stepped upon her deck. A tall dark
man. wearing an ancient paimieaf
hat. sat smoking on the hatch coam-
Ing, and him Neils Halvorsen ad-
dressed.
"Aye bsne want to see cap'n
scrRggs." he said.
The tall dirk man stood erect md
EAST a quick. questioning look at Neils
Halvorsen. He hesitated before he
made answer.
what do you wantT' he asked de-
liberately. and there was a subtle
menace in his tones. As for Neils
Haivorsen. thinking only OF the sur
prise he had In store for his old m
plo!er. he replied evaEively:
AYE bane want job"
well. Tn Captain Scrnggs. and I
haven't any Job for you. Get of my
boat and walt until you're invited be-
fore you come aboard again."
For nearly n minute Neils Halvor-
sen stared open-mouthed at the spuri-
Gus Captain Scraggs, while slowly
there slfted through his brain the no
ton that he had happened across the
track Of a deep and bloody mystery
Of the seas. There was something
rotten In Denmark" OF that Neils
Halvorsen was certain. More he could
not be certain OF until he had paved
the way for a complete investigation.
and as a preliminary step toward
that end he ciinchcd his fist and
sprnng swiftly toward the bogus skip
per.
"Aye tank you bane d--n iinr," he
muttered, and struck home. straight
and true. to the point OF the Jaw.
The man went down, and in an In
slant NeIls was on top Of him. on
came the sailors belt, the hands Of
the half,stunned man were quickly
tied behind him. and before he had
time to realize what had happened
Neils had cur a length Of cord from
u trailing halynrd and tied his feet
securely, after which he gagged him
securely with his bnndana handker-
chief.
n QuACh CIGull Va Jhu snip t0h-
WINGED Neils Halvorsen that the re-
mainder OF the bastard crew were
evidently ashore. SO he descended TO
the cabin in search OF further evil
dence Of crime. He was quite pre-
pared to ind Captain scraggs'
ter.s certificate in Its familiar oaken
frame, hanging on the cabin wall. but
he was dumfounded to observe. hang
ing on the wall in a similar and
equally familiar frame. the certificate
OF Adelbert p. Gibney as first mate
Of steam OF. sail. any ocean and any
tonnage. But stiil a third framed
certificate hung on the wall. and Nells
again scratched his head when he
read the wording hal set forth the
legal qualifications OF Bartholomew
McGuffey to hold down a Job as
chief engineer Of coastwise vessels
up to 1900 tons net register.
1t was patent. even to the dull
witted swede. that there had been
foul play somewhere. an1 the schoon-
er's log, lying open on the table.
seemed to offer the first means at
hand for a solution OF the mystery.
Eagerly NeIls turned to the last en-
try. It was not in Captain Scraggs'
handwriting. and contained nothing
more interesting than the stereotyped
reports of daily observations. cur
rents, weather conditions. ETC., In
Guiding a notation of arrival hat day
at Honolulu. Slowly Halvorscn
turned the leaves backward. until at
last he was rewarded by a glimpse of
a different handwriting. 1t was the
last entry under that particular hand
writing. and read rs follows:
June n. Is-. Took an observation Mt
noon, and n that we are In 2o-s g..
1884 w. " this rate should lift Tuvana
thoio early this afternoon. All hands
well and looking forward to the fun at
Tuvana. Bent a new flying lib this morn
ing and had the king and Tabu-Tabu
hoiystone the deck AP. CHENEY"
Neils Halvorsen sat down to think.
and nfter several minutes OF this un-
usual exercise It appeared to the