himself curling up comfortably on the ties. He had a strong
desire to sleep, but was conscious that a bed on a railroad
track, on account of trains wanting to pass, was unsafe. This
doubt did not long disturb him. His head rolled against the steel
rail, his limbs relaxed. From a great distance, and in a strange
sing-song he heard the voice of the barkeeper saying,
"Nine--ten--and OUT!"

When David came to his senses his head was resting on a coil of
rope. In his ears was the steady throb of an engine, and in his
eyes the glare of a lantern. The lantern was held by a
pleasant-faced youth in a golf cap who was smiling
sympathetically. David rose on his elbow and gazed wildly about
him. He was in the bow of the ocean-going tug, and he saw that
from where he lay in the bow to her stern her decks were packed
with men. She was steaming swiftly down a broad river. On either
side the gray light that comes before the dawn showed low banks
studded with stunted palmettos. Close ahead David heard the roar
of the surf.

"Sorry to disturb you," said the youth in the golf cap, "but we
drop the pilot in a few minutes and you're going with him."

David moved his aching head gingerly, and was conscious of a bump
as large as a tennis ball behind his right ear.

"What happened to me?" he demanded.

"You were sort of kidnapped, I guess," laughed the young man. "It
was a raw deal, but they couldn't take any chances. The pilot