THE CRUISE OF THE JASPER B.

BY

DON MARQUIS

TO ALL THE COPYREADERS ON ALL
THE NEWSPAPERS OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

CHAPTER
I [A BRIGHT BLADE LEAPS FROM A RUSTY SCABBARD]
II [THE ROOM OF ILLUSION]
III [A SCHOONER, A SKIPPER, AND A SKULL]
IV [A BAD MAN TO CROSS]
V [BEAUTY IN DISTRESS]
VI [LADY AGATHA'S STORY]
VII [FIRST BLOOD FOR CLEGGETT]
VIII [A FLAME LEAPS OUT OF THE DARK]
IX [MYSTERIES MULTIPLY]
X [IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP]
XI [REPARTEE AND PISTOLS]
XII [THE SECOND OBLONG BOX]
XIII [THE SOUL OF LOGAN BLACK]
XIV [CLEGGETT STANDS BY HIS SHIP]
XV [NIGHT, TEMPEST, LOVE AND BATTLE]
XVI [ROMANCE REGNANT]
XVII [MISS PRINGLE CALLS ON MR. CLEGGETT]
XVIII [THE MAN IN THE BLUE PAJAMAS]
XIX [TWO GREAT MEN MEET]
XX [THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DETECTIVE]
XXI [THE THIRD OBLONG BOX ARRIVES]
XXII [DANCING ON THE DECK]
XXIII [CUTLASSES]
XXIV [THE DUEL]
XXV [THE SECRET OF THE VESSEL'S HOLD]
XXVI [A DOG DIES GAME]
XXVII [CLEGGETT ACCOMMODATES THE KING]

CHAPTER I

A BRIGHT BLADE LEAPS FROM A RUSTY SCABBARD

On an evening in April, 191-, Clement J. Cleggett walked sedately into the news room of the New York Enterprise with a drab-colored walking-stick in his hand. He stood the cane in a corner, changed his sober street coat for a more sober office jacket, adjusted a green eyeshade below his primly brushed grayish hair, unostentatiously sat down at the copy desk, and unobtrusively opened a drawer.