What a grand chap he was! I left his cabin feeling that he had not hampered me with any restrictions whatsoever, and had placed entire confidence in my judgment. If only senior officers would always treat their juniors in that way they would not so often have to grumble at the way they are served—and, what is more important still—they would make more efficient officers of them. I met Popple Opstein outside. For once he had shipped a long face. "Did the skipper tell you who has been killed?" he asked. "I’m afraid it’s our poor little friend’s brother. What rotten hard luck on her if it’s true!" In my excitement at getting this job I had never thought. Of course it must be Borsen; he was the only other European there. Poor fellow! Poor little sad-eyed slip of a girl, she would be weeping her heart out. I had a burning feeling inside me, and I wished that I could have started off then and there to blow a dozen or more of those cowardly treacherous Baluchis to atoms. "I wish I could come along with you," my chum said wistfully. "I’d love to have a ’go’ at them!" He tried to get leave, but without success, so back I went to the "_B.A._", angry, and impatient to get away. "Good-bye, old chap! Tell her how very sorry I am," he called after me. "Right you are!" I shouted back, but had an uneasy thought that perhaps she was still too angry to allow me to speak to her. I told Mr. Scarlett the news, rather expecting him to show the old half-frightened expression, and was quite taken aback when he smiled and said: "A chance of our seeing a bit more scrapping—eh, sir?" He said it as if he, too, rather looked forward to such a thing happening, and I had to look again at his face to make sure. Well, his disposition seemed to be changing, and as there was nothing else to account for the change except the parting with the snake I put it down to that. It was splendid the way those artificers and lascars worked to finish their job. They knew why they had to hurry, and they toiled and sweated in the heat of the engine-room like demons. By half-past ten that night we were ready. I sent the _Intrepid’s_ artificers back to their ship with something inside them to warm their stomachs, flashed across the "Permission to part company", and steamed out of the harbour. "He won’t be there very long now," Mr. Scarlett grunted, jerking his thumb towards the fort, whose towers and walls showed up above us in the moonlight. I really had forgotten Jassim, and did not care how soon he bribed the jailers and got free. I despised myself for having allowed him to be kept there. Off we went to Jask—-easily at first, to give the engines a chance of settling down; later on as fast as they would whizz round. We were all so impatient to get there that however fast they went the "_B.A._" seemed to crawl along.