what had gone by and what was yet to come,
unshaven and unkempt, the men gathered on
the forecastle-head and waited.

The conference below lasted perhaps an hour.
At the end of that time the quarantine officer
came up and shouted a direction from below, as
a result of which the jolly-boat was cut loose,
and, towed by the tug, taken to the quarantine
station. There was an argument, I believe,
between Turner and the officer, as to allowing
us to proceed up the river without waiting for
the police. Turner prevailed, however, and,
from the time we hoisted the yellow flag, we
were on our way to the city, a tug panting be-
side us, urging the broad and comfortable lines
of the old cargo boat to a semblance of speed.

The quarantine officer, a dapper little man,
remained on the boat, and busied himself offi-
ciously, getting the names of the men, peering at
Singleton through his barred window, and ex-
pressing disappointment at my lack of foresight
in having the bloodstains cleared away.

"Every stain is a clue, my man, to the trained
eye," he chirruped. "With an axe, too! What
a brutal method! Brutal! Where is the axe?"

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