Brandon of the Engineers

After this he took a black seaman, who was making some noise as he swept

the poop, by the arm and firmly led him to the other side of the deck.

Then he drained the glasses with a sigh of satisfaction, and lighting a

cigarette, sat down near Dick's feet. He did not mean to sleep, but when

he got up with a jerk as the lunch bell rang he saw Dick smiling.

"Have I been sitting there all this time?" he asked.

"No," said Dick. "You were lying flat on deck when I woke up an hour

ago." Then he indicated the two glasses, which had rolled into the

scupper channel. "I shouldn't be surprised if those accounted for it."

"Perhaps they did," Jake owned, grinning. "Anyhow, we'll have some more,

with a lump of ice in it, before we go down to lunch."

The Danish boat met fine weather as she leisurely made her way across the

Caribbean, and after an uneventful voyage, Dick and Jake landed at a port

in Cuba. The British steamer from Santa Brigida had not arrived, but the

agent expected her in the evening, and they found Don Sebastian waiting

them at a hotel he had named. When it was getting dark they walked to the

end of the harbor mole and sat down to watch for the vessel.

Rows of the lights began to twinkle, one behind the other, at the head of

the bay, and music drifted across the water. A bright glow marked the

plaza, where a band was playing, but the harbor was dark except for the

glimmer of anchor-lights on the oily swell. The occasional rattle of a

winch, jarring harshly on the music, told that the Danish boat was

working cargo. A faint, warm breeze blew off the land, and there was a

flicker of green and blue phosphorescence as the sea washed about the end

of the mole.

"I wonder how you'll feel if Kenwardine doesn't come," Jake said

presently, looking at Dick, who did not answer.

"He will come," Don Sebastian rejoined with quiet confidence.

"Well, I guess he must know he's doing a dangerous thing."

"Señor Kenwardine does know, but he plays for high stakes and takes the

risks of the game. If it had not been necessary, he would not have

ventured on British soil, but since he was forced to go, he thought the

boldest plan the safest. This is what one would expect, because the man

is brave. He could not tell how far my suspicions went and how much

Señor Brandon knew, but saw that he was watched and if he tried to hide

his movements he would betray himself. It was wiser to act as if he had

nothing to fear."