“I gazed with him across to the ship and to my horrified astonishment saw that dreaded yellow flag which denotes the presence of yellow fever fluttering in the evening breeze. Shocked and alarmed, I asked myself who was the victim. There was no sickness among the ship’s company when we went ashore. But I knew well enough the swiftness of death in these latitudes.
“‘Quick! Get a sampan!’ ordered the captain.
“Privately, I doubted whether any boatman would venture into the tainted neighbourhood of a ship with yellow fever on board, and I was agreeably surprised to find that my only difficulty was to choose among the swarm that offered themselves. I could only conclude that they did not understand the meaning of the emblem. A moment or two later we were being propelled swiftly across the stream, our eyes fixed upon that fatal flag. The second officer stood at the top of the ladder to greet us as we climbed on board.
“‘All well, sir,’ I heard him report in a perfectly normal voice.
“‘What?’ ejaculated the captain in astonishment above me.
“‘All well, sir,’ he repeated.
“By that time I had joined the captain on the deck and we exchanged a puzzled glance. Then we looked around us. To our utter bewilderment, of the yellow jack there was no sign at all. There was not a rag of bunting about the ship.
“The captain bit his lip and wrinkled his brow. I could comprehend his perplexity. He turned sharply to the second officer.
“‘Svendson! Has any one been monkeying with the signal-flags?’