"Ben, we are not going to repeat anything you say to us, and we want you to tell us just what has been troubling you the last few days."
The little lad burst into tears, "They'll kill me," he sobbed, "they'll kill me."
"They will never know you told us," Charley assured him. "We will never let anyone know you told us."
"They are going to kill you all," faltered the boy as soon as he could control his sobs.
"Why do they want to kill us," Charley questioned.
"My uncle makes them mad. When you give orders he adds lots of bad names and swear words to them. He tells the crew that you always take that sailor's part. He tells them you're going to have them all put in jail when you get back to Tarpon. He tells them you love that sailor and hate Greeks."
"But why did they hate that sailor so?" Walter questioned.
"He Turk," explained the lad. "Greeks hate Turks."
The chums glanced at each other in swift comprehension. They knew of the deadly hatred that existed between the two races. A hatred that had led to the bitter war in which the Greeks had been badly beaten. They understood now why the handsome sailor had been shunned by all his shipmates. They could see, too, how the wily Manuel had used their defense of the man to arouse the crew's resentment against them. The cunning Greek had woven about them a net of lies which it would be impossible to explain away.