Stump gained a measure of confidence in the knowledge of war-ships in the harbor of Ukula, not over twelve miles distant. The very tops of their lofty spars could indistinctly be seen against the dark green background of the island. “I have been considering cutting out this here kind of life,” he replied. “That girl in Suva made me hanker after going back to my own folks. I haven’t heard of them for nearly ten years.” A sinister look came into Captain Scott’s cold gray eyes. Stump was not only a useful man, but he shared too many of the schooner’s dark secrets. A way must be found to shake these sentimental longings loose from Stump’s mind. “Some day,” he returned suavely, “we’ll make a trip with the ‘Talofa’ up to ‘Frisco’ and turn over a new page in our life. You are just down on your luck now, Stump,” he added kindly. “That will all pass away when you get ashore among your old cronies on the beach at Ukula.” In Stump’s mind a battle was being waged. He was not naturally a bad man, but was weak in character. He had run away from home when he was only a lad, and the years he had spent upon the sea had only brought him lower in the human scale. Hard knocks and brutality had been showered upon him. He was by nature shiftless and lazy. No one had ever taken the trouble to show him the error of his ways. Captain Scott had used him because he could bend him to his will. The many unlawful acts he had committed were at the instigation of his benefactor. Stump was not a coward. He had proved his fearlessness during many fights with the savages of the black islands to the southward where the “Talofa” had gone to steal the inhabitants to sell them in the labor markets of the South Seas. Captain Scott he did fear. He feared his cold, calculating but nevertheless diabolical temper, backed by a physical strength almost superhuman. Ever since leaving Suva, Stump had been brooding over his misdeeds. Now he must finally make up his mind. He wanted to get clear of the life he now hated. He wanted to be free of the fear of being arrested and put behind prison bars. He wanted to part forever from the man he so much feared. He was not entirely ungrateful, nor did he harbor extreme revenge against Captain Scott. Yet if he opposed him, he must, to succeed, betray him into the hands of the law even if by so doing he arrived there himself. After dark the “Talofa” was put under more canvas and headed upon a compass course set by the captain. An hour later Captain Scott and his mate, Stump, stood again together near the wheel. There were no lights except a dim lantern set in a deck bucket. “Stump,” the captain said pleasantly, “how’d you like to be captain of the ‘Talofa’?” The mate glanced up in surprise. “You’ll have to be taught navigation,” the captain added. “That’s most all you need. A little chart reading and practice in picking your way among the reefs.” “I navigated the ‘Pango’ from the Ellice Islands to Strong Island,” Stump reminded him.