"Ah!" The Austrian gasped a little, and his pallor increased. "That is
of no consequence--the place--is a desert--we shall meet with no
interference."

Then Royson spoke. Hitherto, he had taken no share in the conversation,
but he saw that von. Kerber was unable to withstand any further strain.
The man was bearing up gallantly, yet he had reached the limit of
endurance, and the trouble, whatever it was, seemed to be wearing his
very soul.

"Neither Captain Stump nor Mr. Tagg knows that you are wounded, sir,"
said Dick. "Perhaps it would, be advisable to defer our talk until the
morning."

Von Kerber shaded his face with his hands.

"I cannot add much to what I have said already," he answered. "I think
you understand me, I want silence--and good service. Give me these and
I shall repay you tenfold."

They went on deck. Stump dug Royson n the ribs.

"It would ha' done me a treat to see you upper cut that Frog," he
whispered, his mouth widening in a grin. "I'm good at a straight punch
myself, but I'm too short for a swing. Lord love a duck, I wish I'd bin
there."

So the burly skipper of the _Aphrodite_ paid slight heed to the wonders
half revealed by von Kerber's story. He had been stirred but for a
moment when the project was laid bare. Already his mind was rejecting