"Yes, I know that," gurgled Holman; "but Leith--oh, damn it! I can't get
you to understand! He pulled the Professor into this deal, and the old
man is as green as grass. Herndon supplied the money and all that, and
he's that much of a silly old doodlebug that this fellow is buncoing him
out of his good gold."

"Yes," I muttered; "and what do his daughters say?"

"Say?" cried the youngster. "They can say nothing that will do any good
when they are talking to a madman. He sees Fame coming down the pike,
and he's blind to all the tricks of that devil. It's a fact, Verslun!
Leith is after the old man's cash--and after Edith Herndon as well."

I stood and looked at the youngster. His boyish face was aflame with
indignation, and any suspicions I had regarding his good intentions were
swept away immediately.

"After Edith Herndon?" I repeated slowly.

"Yes!" he gasped. "Oh, I knew you didn't like the big, sallow brute.
Miss Barbara told me how you turned him down cold when he wanted you to
repeat that yarn to satisfy his curiosity. He's a bad egg, do you hear?
He's out for trouble, and we're going to run into it head on before we
finish the trip. Only for the girls I would have stayed ashore at
Levuka."

"And the captain?" I questioned.

"We don't know about him," he snapped. "He's Leith's captain. I mean
Leith put him in his job when the Professor chartered the yacht. Anyhow,