enough of his condition. He had become as clear as crystal, and had it not
been for his rugged outlines he would hardly have been visible even to his
fellow-spirits. As for Kidd, he had taken on the aspect of a rainbow, and
it was patent that his fears for himself were all too well founded.

Bonaparte embarked the leaders of the band first, returning subsequently
for the others, and repaired with them at once to the _Gehenna_, where
they were ushered into the presence of Sherlock Holmes. The first question
he asked was as to the whereabouts of the House-boat.

"That we do not know," replied Kidd, mournfully, gazing downward at the
wreck of his former self. "We came ashore, sir, early yesterday morning,
in search of food. It appears that when--acting in a wholly inexcusable
fashion, and influenced, I confess it, by motives of revenge--I made off
with your club-house, I neglected to ascertain if it were well stocked
with provisions, a fatal error; for when we endeavored to get supper we
discovered that the larder contained but half a bottle of farcie olives,
two salted almonds, and a soda cracker--not a luxurious feast for
sixty-nine pirates and a hundred and eighty-three women to sit down to."

"That's all nonsense," said Demosthenes. "The House Committee had provided
enough supper for six hundred people, in anticipation of the appetite of
the members on their return from the fight."

"Of course they did," said Confucius; "and it was a good one, too--salads,
salmon glacé, lobsters--every blessed thing a man can't get at home we
had; and what is more, they'd been delivered on board. I saw to that
before I went up the river."

"Then," moaned Kidd, "it is as I suspected. We were the victims of base