“Very little,” said Neeland.

“Have you had any trouble?”

“Oh, yes.”

The captain smiled: 218

“Evidently you have wriggled out of it,” he said.

“Yes, wriggled is the literal word.”

“Then you do not think that you require any protection from me?”

“Perhaps I do. I’ve been a singularly innocent and lucky ass. It’s merely chance that my papers have not been stolen, even before I started in quest of them.”

“Have you been troubled aboard my ship?”

Neeland waved his hand carelessly: