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“ It ain't the times as is wrong, matie; it's the swabs as goes to sea. Look at the swipes aboard this ship.” He lowered his voice, and the single eye glowed with an evil light. “Think o' what they could do if only they had a mind, an' you——”
He broke off abruptly, and glared fiercely at the secret-service agent, who had strolled carelessly into view, an unlighted cigarette in one hand. The sailor squirmed around, and stared upward, a sullen, half-frightened look in his shifty eyes.
Darrell's face was calm and undisturbed; his manner coolly nonchalant. “Either of you men got a match?” ”

“ It was rather an impalpable sense of tension which affects one sometimes much as does an electric-shock vibration, and even that was made almost negligible by Darrell's presence of mind.
“Magdalena Bay!' he repeated, in very natural surprise. “I can't conceive what would take a man of that sort there. I've always understood it was one of the most desolate, God-forsaken spots on the Pacific coast. There isn't even a settlement, is there?” ”

“ In spite of the fact that he was a passenger, the man evidently preferred to mess with the crew. He did not appear in the cabin at dinner time, and afterward, when the three men took a turn or two about the deck, he was not to be seen.
It was not until late in the afternoon that Darrell, taking advantage of Carmen's absence in the cabin for some cigarettes, was able to slip away for a little tour of investigation. It was some time before he had any success. The fore deck was quite deserted, save for the lookout and a couple of black-browed sailors languidly scrubbing up. ”