along."

"And a rattling fine idea, too," Cappy Ricks declared warmly. "Mike,
my boy, you're a wonder. That's the spirit. Always keep down the
overhead, Matt. That's what eats up the dividends."

"Well, I wouldn't agree to it if the _Narcissus_ wasn't going to be
engaged in neutral trade, or if she was carrying munitions of war to
the Allies," Matt declared. "I'd be afraid some of Mike's Germans
might blow up the ship."

"Believe me," quoth Michael J. Murphy, "if she was engaged in
freighting munitions to England, it'd be a smart German that would get
a chance to blow her up. I think I'd scuttle her myself first."

"Well, Mike, if your courage failed you," Cappy Ricks replied
laughingly, "I think we could safely leave the job to Terence
Reardon."






CHAPTER IV