She thought that the men should be made aware of her presence, so she

leaned over and said: "May I ask what you four are plotting?"

They looked at her in surprise. They were so engrossed in their

discovery that they had eyes for nothing else. Walker straightway

plunged the sausage-shaped gray stick into the water again.

"What are you doing with that dynamite?" she demanded. "Do you intend

to visit the Valley of the Golden Sands? If so, please take me. I am

very poor."

It was Courtenay who answered.

"Are you alone?" he asked.

"Mr. Boyle is in the chart-house."

"I know; but is any one else up there?"

"No."

"Then we shall join you at once."

Notwithstanding the serious demeanor of the men, Elsie was far from

guessing what had happened. But she was soon enlightened.

"In which bunker was the coal placed which we shipped at Valparaiso?"

Courtenay asked Boyle.

"In the forrard cross bunker," was the instant answer.

"And that was the first coal used in the furnaces?"

"Yes, sir."

The captain's tone was official, exceedingly so, and the chief officer

took the cue from his superior in rank.

"Did we get up steam with it?"

"There might have been a hundred-weight or two lying loose in the

stoke-hold, but, for all practical purposes, we have used nothing but

the Valparaiso bunker since we left port."

"The rest of our coal was shipped at Coronel?"

"Yes, sir."

"You hear? It is exactly as I have told you," said Courtenay, glancing

at the others. "I must explain to you, Mr. Boyle, that I wished you to

state the facts in front of witnesses before I gave you my reasons for

cross-examining you on the matter. Mr. Walker and I have been certain,

all along, that the furnaces were blown up wilfully. Now our

suspicions are proved. This morning, after a careful scrutiny, we came

across a number of lumps of coal cleverly constructed out of small

pieces glued together. In the center of each lump was a stick of

dynamite, protected by an asbestos wrapper. It was undoubtedly the

intent of some miscreant that a number of these lumps should be fed

into the furnaces. This actually occurred, as we know, but, by the

mercy of Providence, the ship did not experience the full power of the

explosion, or she must have sunk like a stone."

"Huh," grunted Boyle. "Who holds the insurance?"

"The shippers of the cargo, of course--Messrs. Baring, Thompson &

Miguel."

"Worth a quarter of a million sterling, ain't it?"

"Yes."

"Huh, it's a lot of money."

There was a momentary silence. Elsie's eyes grew larger, and she

became rather pale. As was her habit when puzzled, she placed a finger

on her lips. Christobal noted her action. Indeed, he missed few of

her characteristic habits or expressions. He laughed quietly.




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