Honor of Thieves: A Novel - 1 - Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne

HONOR OF THIEVES

A Novel

BY
C. J. CUTCLIFFE HYNE
AUTHOR OF
“THE NEW EDEN,” “THE RECIPE FOR DIAMONDS,” “ADVENTURES OF
CAPTAIN KETTLE,” “THROUGH ARCTIC LAPLAND,” ETC., ETC.

R. F. FENNO & COMPANY : 9 and 11 EAST
SIXTEENTH STREET : NEW YORK CITY
LONDON—CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY
1899

Honor of Thieves.

TO
MY VARIOUS SHIPMATES
AND SHOREMATES
ON SEA AND AMERICAN LAND IN 1893
IN MEMORY OF
WHAT WE SAW TOGETHER AND WHAT WE DID.

C. J. C. H.

PREFACE.

“It seems to me,” said a philosopher once, “that there are no entirely good men in the world, and none completely bad. Single out your best man, and you will find that he lacks perfection in some part of him; and examine your worst, and you will see that he has at least one redeeming quality.”

In this book the men mostly verge towards bad: but some are better than others. Because they are merely human, they act according to their lights. You may meet others like them any day if you go out and about, and most of them give extremely good dinners. Till they are found out, you consider them amusing: afterwards, being better than they, you instantly set them down as most pernicious scoundrels, and shake hands with yourself, and write to your tailor to order more noticeable phylacteries on the next new suit. This is called “keeping up a healthy moral tone,” and does a great deal of good in the world.

Scalloway,
Shetland Islands,
1895.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER		PAGE
I.	The Antecedents of Patrick Onslow	[11]
II.	A Fortune for the Pair of us	[18]
III.	The Requirements of Mrs. Shelf	[27]
IV.	Business at a Ball	[36]
V.	Bimetallism	[44]
VI.	The Tempting of Captain Owen Kettle	[55]
VII.	£500,000—in Gold	[66]
VIII.	The Send-off	[75]
IX.	Ground-Bait	[88]
X.	Mutiny	[100]
XI.	To-Night	[111]
XII.	A Dereliction	[124]
XIII.	Three for Twenty-seven	[137]
XIV.	A Pirates’ Harbor	[ 147]
XV.	Results in London	[162]
XVI.	For the Birthday List	[170]
XVII.	In the Matter of a Trust	[184]
XVIII.	The Plume-Hunters’ Dinner-Party	[198]
XIX.	Subjects for Matrimony	[213]
XX.	At Point Sebastian	[224]
XXI.	The Cyclone	[235]
XXII.	Mr. Shelf’s Little Surprise	[250]
XXIII.	Decisions	[263]
XXIV.	A Flight and a Resting-place	[277]
XXV.	Closing Strands	[288]
XXVI.	The Lucky Man	[295]