"Well, sir?" There was a hint of effort at restraint in the captain's
voice.

"She's the _Laughing Lass_, sir. Everything ship-shape, but not a
soul aboard."

"Come below, Mr. Edwards," said the captain. And they went, leaving
behind them a boiling cauldron of theory and conjecture.




III

THE DEATH SHIP


Billy Edwards came on deck with a line of irritation right-angling the
furrows between his eyes.

"Go ahead," the quarter-deck bade him, seeing him aflush with
information.

"The captain won't believe me," blurted out Edwards.

"Is it as bad as that?" asked Barnett, smiling.

"It certainly is," replied the younger man seriously. "I don't know that
I blame him. I'd hardly believe it myself if I hadn't----"