THE MYSTERY BY STEWART EDWARD WHITE AND SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS _Illustrations by Will Crawford_ 1907 CONTENTS PART ONE THE SEA RIDDLE I. DESERT SEAS II. THE "LAUGHING LASS" III. THE DEATH SHIP IV. THE SECOND PRIZE CREW V. THE DISAPPEARANCE VI. THE CASTAWAYS VII. THE FREE LANCE PART TWO THE BRASS BOUND CHEST _Being the story told by Ralph Slade, Free Lance, to the officers of the United States Cruiser "Wolverine"_ I. THE BARBARY COAST II. THE GRAVEN IMAGE III. THE TWELVE REPEATING RIFLES IV. THE STEEL CLAW V. THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE VI. THE ISLAND VII. CAPTAIN SELOVER LOSES HIS NERVE VIII. WRECKING OF THE "GOLDEN HORN" IX. THE EMPTY BRANDY BOTTLE X. CHANGE OF MASTERS XI. THE CORROSIVE XII. "OLD SCRUBS" COMES ASHORE XIII. I MAKE MY ESCAPE XIV. AN ADVENTURE IN THE NIGHT XV. FIVE HUNDRED YARDS' RANGE XVI. THE MURDER XVII. THE OPEN SEA XVIII. THE CATASTROPHE PART THREE THE MAROON I. IN THE WARDROOM II. THE JOLLY ROGER III. THE CACHE IV. THE TWIN SLABS V. THE PINWHEEL VOLCANO VI. MR. DARROW RECEIVES VII. THE SURVIVORS VIII. THE MAKER OF MARVELS IX. THE ACHIEVEMENT X. THE DOOM ILLUSTRATIONS "And you know a heap too much" A schooner comporting herself in a manner uncommon on the Pacific A man who was a bit of a mechanic was set to work to open the chest Slowly the man defined himself as a shape takes form in a fog "These sheep had become as wild as deer" The firing now became miscellaneous. No one paid any attention to any one else With a strangled cry the sailor cast the shirt from him "Sorry not to have met you at the door," he said courteously PART ONE THE SEA RIDDLE I DESERT SEAS The late afternoon sky flaunted its splendour of blue and gold like a banner over the Pacific, across whose depths the trade wind droned in measured cadence. On the ocean's wide expanse a hulk wallowed sluggishly, the forgotten relict of a once brave and sightly ship, possibly the Sphinx of some untold ocean tragedy, she lay black and forbidding in the ordered procession of waves. Half a mile to the east of the derelict hovered a ship's cutter, the turn of her crew's heads speaking expectancy. As far again beyond, the United States cruiser _Wolverine_ outlined her severe and trim silhouette against the horizon. In all the spread of wave and sky no other thing was visible. For this was one of the desert parts of the Pacific, three hundred miles north of the steamship route from Yokohama to Honolulu, five hundred miles from the nearest land, Gardner Island, and more than seven hundred northwest of the Hawaiian group. On the cruiser's quarter-deck the officers lined the starboard rail. Their interest was focussed on the derelict.