And without further ado he set the alarm clock for seven o'clock,
kicked off his shoes, and climbed into his berth with his clothes
on.




CHAPTER VIII


The crews of the _Aphrodite_ and the _Bodega_ slept late also,
for they were weary, and fortunately, no calls for a tug came
into the office of the Red Stack Company all morning. About ten
o'clock Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty breakfasted and about ten
thirty both met in the office. Apparently they were two souls
with but a single thought, for the right hand of each sought the
shelf whereon reposed the blue volume entitled "Lloyd's
Register." Dan Hicks reached it first, carried it to the counter,
wet his tarry index finger, and started turning the pages in a
vain search for the American steamer _Yankee Prince_. Presently
he looked up at Jack Flaherty.

"Flaherty," he said, "I think you're a liar."

"The same to you and many of them," Flaherty replied, not a whit
abashed. "You said she was an eight thousand ton tramp."

"I never went so far as to say I'd been aboard her on trial trip,
though--and I did cut down her tonnage, showin' I got the
fragments of a conscience left," Hicks defended himself.