Page:Arthur Stringer - The Shadow.djvu/216

 puzzled. But a wave of relief swept through Blake when in the pale blue eyes he saw almost a look of pity.

"What d' you want me to do?" he finally asked.

Blake, instead of answering that question, asked another.

"When do you move out of here?"

The engineer put the coins in his pocket.

"Before noon to-morrow, thank God! The Yorktown ought to be here by morning—she 's to give us our release!"

"Then you 'll sail by noon?"

"We 've got to! They 've tied us up here over a month, without reason. They worked that old yellow-jack gag—and not a touch of fever aboard all that time!"

A great wave of contentment surged through Blake's weary body. He put his hand up on the smaller man's shoulder.

"Then you just get me out o' sight until we 're off, and I 'll fix things so you 'll never be sorry for it!"

The pale-eyed engineer studied the