criminology is an exact science, reasoning by your respective ears, you
ought to beat him out by a perceptible though possibly narrow margin."

With which assurance Raleigh went ahead with his preparations, and within
twelve hours the _Gehenna_ was under way, carrying a full complement of
crew and officers, with every state-room on board occupied by some spirit
of the more illustrious kind.

Even Shylock was on board, though no one knew it, for in the dead of night
he had stolen quietly up the gang-plank and had hidden himself in an empty
water-cask in the forecastle.

[Illustration: "IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT SHYLOCK HAD STOLEN UP THE
GANG-PLANK"]

"'Tisn't Venice," he said, as he sat down and breathed heavily through the
bung of the barrel, "but it's musty and damp enough, and, considering the
cost, I can't complain. You can't get something for nothing, even in
Hades."




VIII

ON BOARD THE "GEHENNA"


When the _Gehenna_ had passed down the Styx and out through the beautiful
Cimmerian Harbor into the broad waters of the ocean, and everything was