"Aw, gwan—put it up," said Journegan.
Mr. Smithe quickly did so. The knock had aroused him from pleasant reveries to an acute appreciation of the present. He saw the form of the marshal at his door and with trembling fingers he seized his gun for a last stand. It had been something of a relief to find his accomplice standing there with a complacent smile upon his face, his long six feet three of skin and bone fairly shaking with laughter.
Journegan entered unbidden and quickly closed the door.
"It's all right, Bo, the deed is done. I have the means at hand. They will be here shortly. Let's have a drink?" he said.
Mr. Smithe acquiesced, and over the liquor the plan was gone over to the mutual satisfaction of both.
"Gad, but you're not so bad, Mr. Journegan," said the brainy Smithe. "You have executive ability to a marked degree. You have imagination, a thoughtful mind—oh, if it had only been trained in its youth—"
"Skin it, Bo," said Journegan, "don't make me feel badly. I have seen things in my day, things just as instructive as anything you get out of text-books, even chemistry. Have another drink. My man will be here very soon. Don't go around packing that light artillery. It won't do if we're caught up suddenly. What would the Muldoons think if they found us going around this peaceful hostelry armed with Gatlings of forty-five calibre. No, put on your best duds and come away. We've won—mark what I say—we've won. I have the best diver on the Great Bahama Bank to do the trick, the best and biggest man on the reef—see. It's all right. Now, then, I hear his gentle footsteps on the veranda and I think we had better get him in here without delay—what?"
Half an hour later the mate of the Sea-Horse emerged from the room with a faint smile upon his ugly face. He strode forth quickly and made his way to the water-front, getting into a small boat waiting for him and starting down the bay in the direction of the gold plant.
It was about eight in the evening, after supper at the hotel, that the party set out in a gasoline launch for the dock where the gold plant was located. The evening was fine and the western sky still showed the last faint tints of the setting sun. Darkness came apace and the cool sea-breeze made the ride very pleasant, the boat rushing through the water leaving a long, bright wake, flaring here and there with phosphorescence where the screw turned the water and sent it whirling astern. By the time they reached the dock it was quite dark, so dark in fact that the shadow of the wharf loomed dimly above the tide. The launch was made fast at the steps and the party climbed up into the enclosure.
"It is an ideal evening for our work," said Mr. Smithe to Mr. Jackson. "The tide is right and there seems to be no sea, no extraordinary commotion which might interfere with the chemical result. It is generally best to work on calm nights, but the process will obtain under each and every condition the weather permits. Allow me to light up." So saying he switched on the electric lights and the enclosure lit up dimly.