was getting along towards dusk.

He first entered the cabin. It was of a good size and divided
into several compartments. But it was in a state of dilapidation
and littered with a jumble of odds and ends which looked like the
ruins of a barroom. As he turned to ascend to the deck again,
after possibly five minutes, intending to take a look at the
forecastle next, he heard the sound of a motor.

Looking out of the cabin he saw a taxicab approaching the boat
from the direction of Fairport. It was a large machine, but it
was overloaded with seven or eight men. It stopped within twenty
yards of the vessel, and two men got out, one of them evidently a
person who imposed some sort of leadership on the rest of the
party. This was a tall fellow, with a slouching gait and round
shoulders. And yet, to judge from his movements, he was both
quick and powerful. The other was a short, stout man with a
commonplace, broad red face and flaxen hair. The two stood for a
moment in colloquy in the road that led from Fairport proper to
the bayside, passing near the Jasper B., and Cleggett heard the
shorter of the two men say:

"I'm sure I saw somebody aboard of her."

"How long ago, Heinrich?" asked the tall man.

"An hour or so," said Heinrich.

"It was old man Abernethy; he's harmless," said the tall fellow.
"He's the only person that's been aboard her in years."