Isle o' Dreams. Frederick Ferdinand Moore

all 'cause ye've got somethin' chafin' yer top-hamper. I won't stand for it no more."

      "But I got a man to take us," pleaded Dinshaw, going after him. "A man said he'd charter the Nuestra and we'd all go. Two men and a lady it was, up at the——"

      "Oh, I've heard enough of yer cock-and-bull yarns," retorted Jarrow, who was not averse to freeing his mind on Dinshaw. "What the devil do ye want to make fast to me fer! I don't want ye traversin' round charterin' my schooner and me. Makin' jokes for the loafers up on the canal. Ye done that once before, and ye'll do it again. I'll have the police on ye! It's about time Prayerful Jones was shut of lettin' loose his bums and lunatics on us folks with property."

      "No harm," said Vanderzee, soothingly.

      "I say it is harm! I'm hailed whurever I go about this business of the old un's island, Van! Just 'cause I've got a schooner, it's Jarrow, Jarrow, Jarrow! I'd look fine and smart cruisin' round for a P. D. island, wouldn't I? Now tell me that?"

      "It's a lie!" cried Dinshaw. "Them geodetic youngsters didn't look for my island, an' what's more, they wouldn't know it if they found it. That's why they come back with a 'Position Doubtful' report. Think I'm goin' to let them young whippersnappers know about my island so they can find it? Find it! I can find it with a bone quadrant and——"

      "Find Tophet!" yelled Jarrow, and turned to the door.

      "Look here!" shouted Dinshaw, reaching into his pocket and fishing out the bill he got from Locke for his picture. "I can prove it! Here's money, planked down, and more where it comes from. I'm to go, I tell ye, an' if ye don't want none of it, I'll see Hood about a boat. I thought ye was a friend of mine, Jarrow, so I come to ye. This man I got could buy your old schooner and a hundred like her, an' never miss the money. He asked for a boat and I said Jarrow, an' when the young lady asked who's to skipper it, I said Jarrow's the man, an' Peth for mate, an' he sung out for me to bring ye up to the tavern an' sign the charter. I'll say no more—I'll see Hood."

      "What's this?" demanded Jarrow, turning back to stare at the bill. Vanderzee leaned over the bar, and Peth craned his neck forward, maintaining his eternal grin. They had never seen Dinshaw with so much wealth before.

      "Money!" piped Dinshaw, triumphantly.

      "Has he gone plumb loco?" asked Jarrow, looking at Vanderzee.

      "Dot money ain'd crassy," said the black man.

      "Where'd ye git it?" asked Jarrow, reluctantly gentle.

      "A rich man at the Bay View—with a young lady and a young man in a helmet. I told 'em about the Wetherall and they give me this money to buy clothes, and sent me on the run for you. They want to go to the Golden Isle. I better see what Hood's got for charter."

      "You better stay right here," said Jarrow, pushing Dinshaw back toward the bar. "I'm goin' to look into this."

      "I'll see Hood," persisted Dinshaw.

      "Luff!" commanded Jarrow, holding out his arms to head Dinshaw off from the door. "You'll see me! You've been usin' me and my schooner long enough, and if there's anything in this yarn of yours, it's mine. Who's this man?"

      "He's a rich man, and he'll take us," said Dinshaw.

      "I'd believe ye sooner if ye said ye saw pink elephants," said Jarrow. "Git down to cases. What's his name?"

      "Money talks," suggested Vanderzee.

      "Moonshine!" declared Peth.

      "His name's Locke," said Dinshaw. "Will ye go, Jarrow? I'll make ye all rich."

      "Now what did this Locke man say?" demanded Jarrow. "I don't want any ravin's. I want facts, straight out, so you come up into the wind. What'd he say?"

      "He said to look sharp about it," said Dinshaw, blinking at Jarrow, a trifle confused at being questioned. "Stores and crew—right away, and be ready to sail in a day's time. We don't want no soldierin' on the job. It's to be up hook and away and look lively. You'll have to move navy style, Jarrow. You know me."

      "Thinks I'm foremast in his brig," said Jarrow, with a leer at Vanderzee.

      "You better cut over across the river," said Dinshaw, "and tell him you're ready and you'll have the Nuestra alongside the Mole by dark to take on stores, or he'll have another boat. He said somethin' about knowin' a man out here who had a yacht, comin' down from Japan."

      "Smoke," said Peth.

      "I wonder," remarked Jarrow, scratching his head. "Sure ye didn't lift that ten-peso bill from Prayerful Jones? I'll be bugs myself if I listen to you."

      "Hood'll listen," said Dinshaw, crisply, and made a new effort to reach the door.

      "Vhy don'd you to der Pay Few go?" suggested Vanderzee.

      Jarrow looked at himself. "I'd have to shift my duds," he said, "and I ain't for huntin' sharks' eggs on Looney's say. What ye think, Peth? Shall we fill up that way?"

      "I ain't no hand for them swells," said Peth. "You go, cap'n, an' I'll stand by down here with Dinshaw."

      "Vait!" said Vanderzee, holding up a black hand. "Vot's der name? Locke!" He stepped into a tiny office behind the bar. They heard him asking the clerk at the Bay View if there was a man named Locke staying there. In an instant he was back again, grinning.

      "Iss!" he exclaimed. "So soon I know, I hang opp."

      "Well," said Jarrow, who was still in doubt as to what he should do, "that's somethin' to know. Maybe some rich tourist did fall for Looney's yarn."

      Peth went back to the bar and leaned against it as if he had made up his mind not to move until Jarrow reached some decision.

      "By the Mighty Nelson, I've got a twist in my chains to take a run over to the hotel!"

      "Shoot," said Peth, displaying more interest than he had at any time since Dinshaw had arrived.

      "Come along, Peth," said Jarrow. "I'll git into some fresh duds, and you brail yerself up to look smart, and we'll drift over in a carromata. Will you wait here, Dinshaw?"

      "I'll wait, Jarrow, I'll wait. Tell him I sent ye, and he'll know. It's all settled right enough if you lay alongside and make fast, and no time lost."

      "See that he don't git away," Jarrow whispered to Vanderzee. "I can't take no chances with this—and keep him quiet—in there."

      Pointing to the alcove, Jarrow slipped out through the door, followed by Peth, close at heel, like a well-trained dog behind his master.

      "It's this way," said Jarrow, as they made their way between the bales and barrels among the workers on the Mole. "Maybe Looney give 'em hot shot about this island and they're keen to go, thinkin' there's bunches of gold there, which I know ain't so. But it don't matter if we git a charter at fifty a day or so, and drag it out into a couple of weeks."

      "We'll want our own crew," suggested Peth.

      "Bevins," said Jarrow.

      "Shope," said Peth.

      "And Doc Bird for steward, and Shanghai Tom ships as cook."

      "Right. Ye leave it to me, and if there's anything in it, I'll have all hands come dark."

      "I ain't hatchin' no chickens on what Looney said," cautioned Jarrow, "but if there's a man who's lit up on Looney's island-o'-gold yarn, it ain't my way to throw sand in his eyes. And if we do find gold that's two tails to the cat. We'll take things as they lay."