"You've put me clean, out of reckonin'. Never bin to sea, you say?
Wot's yer name?"

"King, Richard King."

"Damme, I'm comin' to like you. You're a bit of a charak-ter. By the
time the _Aphrodite_ points her nose home again I'll 'ave you licked
into shape."

They were crossing the saloon, and were sufficiently noteworthy by
force of contrast to draw many eyes. Indeed, were Baron von Kerber on
board, he must have been disagreeably impressed by the fact that in
sending the short skipper and the long second mate of the _Aphrodite_
to Marseilles in company he had supplied an unfailing means of tracking
their movements. Of course, he was not responsible for the chance that
threw them together, but the mere presence of two such men on the same
vessel would be remembered quite easily by those who make it their
business to watch trans-Channel passengers.

Royson gave no thought to this factor in the queer conditions then
shaping his life. Had Stump remained taciturn, it might have occurred
to him that they were courting observation. But it needed the exercise
of much resourcefulness to withstand the stream of questions with which
his commander sought to clear the mystery attached to a second mate who
knew not the sea. Luckily, he emerged from the flood with credit; nay,
the examiner himself was obliged at times to assume a knowledge which
he did not possess, for, if Stump knew how to con a ship from port to
port, Royson could give reasons for great circle sailing which left
Stump gasping. At last, the stout captain could no longer conceal his