Page:Vance--The trey o hearts.djvu/93

Rh ! We were a wee mite excited, you've got to admit. It's possible we didn't hear the noise of their oars. And it's black enough for them to have overlooked us. A man's head in the water isn't really a conspicuous object on a dark night."

"I suppose not," said Alan indifferently. "It doesn't matter. Tell me, Barcus, what's the nearest symptom of civilization?

"Chatham village," said Mr. Barcus, "six miles or so to the no'th'ards, and cut off by an inlet. Then there's the lighthouse on Monomoy Point, three miles to the south."

A silence followed, broken only when Mr. Law voiced a thought bred of malignant contemplation.

"I'd give a deal to know who's aboard that vessel."

"You don't mean you think your regular young woman!"

"It's possible," said Law. "Judith kidnapped her in Portland. That's not so far from Gloucester a motor-car couldn't have caught that schooner before she sailed to waylay us this morning. And what better way to take care of a girl you've kidnapped than to ship her somewhere by sea, in the care of trustworthy hellions?"

"Don't ask me. I've done very little kidnapping."

"For tuppence," said Law, "I'd swim off to that boat and see for myself."

"For two million dollars, I would not!" Barcus