Herman Cyril McNeile

“ It was packed—not with Bibles—but with nitroglycerin.”
Jim paused and took a drink, then lit a cigarette thoughtfully.
“I don't think that I have ever seen a man in quite such a dreadful rage as Kelly was,” he went on gravely. “There was a clockwork mechanism which could be started by turning a screw on the outside of each box, and the whole diabolical plan was as clear as daylight. There was enough stuff there to sink a fleet of battleships, and when they had cleared off in the yacht with the gold we should suddenly have split in two and gone down with every soul on board. ”

“ The skipper and his three officers were there—covered by another of the parsons. And the fifth member of the party was the Reverend Samuel Longfellow. He was smiling gently to himself, and as the last of the boxes was lowered over the side, he came to the edge of the bridge and addressed us.
“We are now going to leave you,” he remarked suavely. “You are all unarmed, and I wish to give you a word of advice. Should either of the gunners on my yacht see any one move, however innocent the reason, before we are on board, he or both of them will open fire. ”

“ Then he turned to one of the other parsons beside him. “Is it set?” he asked briefly.
“Yes,” said the other. “We'd better hurry. What about that woman up there?”
“Confound the woman!” answered the Reverend Samuel. “A pleasant journey, Captain Kelly.”
He stepped down the gangway into the second boat, and was pulled away toward the yacht. And, feeling almost sick with rage, I glanced at the skipper beside me. Poor devil! What he must be feeling, I hardly dared to think. To be held up on the High Seas and robbed of specie and pearls the first time he was carrying them was cruel luck. ”

“ He listened in silence, and when I ended he said:
“More people know Tom Fool, old boy, than Tom Fool knows. I certainly don't know either of those two sportsmen, but it's more than likely they know me, at any rate by sight. And wouldn't you swear if you had to wear a dog collar in this heat?”
Evidently Jim was inclined to dismiss the episode as trifling, and after a time I came around to the same view. Even at lunch that day, when the skipper was formally introducing us and the clergyman still gave no sign of claiming any previous acquaintance with Jim, I thought no more about it. ”

“ And even the two determined-looking parsons smiled, though not for long.
“Go below,” said one of them to Miss Armstrong. “Remain in your cabin. And you“—he turned to me—“go aft where the others are.”
“You infernal scoundrel!' I shouted. “What are you playing at?”
“Don't argue, or I'll blow out your brains,” he said quietly. “And get a move on.”
I found the two Americans and the colored gentleman standing in a bunch with a few of the deck hands, and every one seemed equally dazed. ”

“ Don't pass it on, but we've got over half a million in gold below, to say nothing of a consignment of pearls worth certainly another quarter.”
JIM whistled. “By Jove! It would be a nice haul for some one. Bit out of your line, isn't it, James—carrying specie?”
“Yes, it is,” agreed the other. “It generally goes on the bigger boats, but there was some hitch this time. And it's just as safe with me as it is with them. That has made it safe.” He pointed to the wireless operator busily sending out the parson's message. “That has made piracy a thing of the past. ”

“ We changed the cargo around—he and I. Their chests containing nitroglycerin we filled with gold; and the specie boxes we filled with nitroglycerin and some lead and iron as a make-weight. And then we let the plan proceed. We banked on a holdup and the wrecking of the wireless. We thought they'd send over a boatload of armed men, and transfer the stuff to the yacht—as in fact they did. Further, we banked on the fact that they wouldn't fool around with a fat, hysterical old woman, or a man in the throes of fever. Good girl—that Miss Armstrong ”

“ Jim laughed. “You old humbug, James! You'll never give up the sea.”
The skipper sighed and stretched himself.
“Maybe not, lad; maybe not. Not till she gives me up, anyway. But chickens are nice companionable beasts they tell me, and Dorset is England.”
WE continued talking for a few minutes longer, when a sudden and frenzied explosion of mirth came from the wireless operator. I had noticed him taking down a message, which he was now reading over to himself, and after a moment or two of unrestrained joy he came out on deck. ”

“ Could it be possible that any one would attempt piracy in the twentieth century, especially when the ship, as the skipper had pointed out, was equipped with wireless. The idea was ridiculous, and the next morning I went around to Jim's cabin to tell him so. ”

“ There they sit from morning till night reading and praying, till they fairly give you the hump.”
“It doesn't sound like one long scream of excitement,” said Jim. “But if they're happy, that's all that matters. Come on, Dick. Let's go up and see if old man Kelly is still being polite.”
We went on deck to find that the argument was finished, and with a shout of delight the skipper recognized Jim. Jim went forward to meet him, and for a moment or two I stood where I was, idly watching the scene on the quay. And then quite distinctly I heard a voice from behind me say, “By God! ”

“ But he's a pig-headed fellow, and he'll probably be darned rude about it. I should, if I were he. They aren't worrying over his salvation.”
And with that he went to bed, leaving me thinking fairly acutely. ”