"No Board o' Trade inquiry," said the Old Man, taking a good drink of neat brandy. "Come on deck and let us have another look at the Island of San Pedro." Overcome by a sense of uncanny fascination the boy followed the Old Man and the mate up the companion and to the deck. Long the Old Man gazed at the island through his glass, but made no further remark. Then, having seen enough of it, he handed the glass to Mr. Thompson, who made no remark either, but gazed with a mask of steel at the Island of San Pedro. Mr. MacFarlane, who stood by, pointed with his finger suddenly. "Sharks," he said. "Aye," said the Old Man with queer eyes, "these roads is full of 'em. Aye, there they are, the pretties!" The boy followed Mr. MacFarlane's finger over the deck rail, and sure enough, quite near to the ship was a number of creatures whose upturned bellies shone a strange dead white. "Come every morning to look at us, the pretties, on the Island of San Pedro." The Old Man laughed in a queer way. "The tide brought 'em more than one nice breakfast, but they never had no luck with me and that bye. He! he! he!" The Old Man went down to the cabin rather unsteadily, but laughing all the way. XV "Shouldn't wonder if it's a wet night," said Mr. MacFarlane to the mate in the hearing of the boy. This was a technicality that Henry Harper didn't understand, but it held no mystery for Mr. Thompson, who smiled as he alone could and growled, "Yep." After supper, the Old Man sat late and drank deep. He pressed both his officers to share with him. He was always passing the bottle, but though Mr. Thompson and Mr. MacFarlane were able to keep a stout course, they were simply not in it with the Old Man. For one thing both were men of principle who preferred rum to brandy, and very luckily for the _Margaret Carey_, Mr. Thompson in certain aspects of his nature preferred his ship to either. The Old Man talked much that night of the Island of San Pedro, overmuch perhaps for the refined mind of the second mate. The boy stood listening behind the Old Man's chair, ready to go about as soon as the Old Man should be at the end of the bottle. "No, we didn't touch human flesh," said the Old Man. "I give you my word of honor as a Christian man. But we caught one o' the Chinamen at it--two of us was Chinamen--an' we drew lots as to who should do him in. There was three white men left at that time, including myself and excluding the bye. Andrews it was, our bosun, who drawed the ticket, and as soon as he drawed it I thought he looked young for the work. He wanted to pass it to me, but I said no--he'd drawed the ticket an' he must do the will o' God." "'Scuse my interrupting, sir," said Mr. MacFarlane, "but how did ye know it was the will o' God?" "Because he'd drawed the ticket, you fool," snapped the Old Man. "Didn't I say he'd drawed the ticket?" "Yep," nodded Mr. Thompson.