He pulled the door to after the retreating form of the negro, and I heard the sharp click of the latch, and then his voice, muffled by intervening wood, ordering the steward aft.  There was no appearance of any lock on the door; probably there was none, as otherwise it would not have been necessary to post a guard.  However, this was clearly no time to experiment and I was hungry enough to forget all else in the appetizing fragrance of the meal waiting.  I fell to eagerly, convinced there was a good cook on board, and enjoying every morsel.  This did not look as though I was destined to suffer, and merely being confined in these narrow quarters for a few hours was no great hardship.  Probably the girl was receiving very similar treatment, and, as soon as the Sea Gull made whatever port was aimed at, we would both be put ashore, and left to proceed as we thought best.  Indeed, sitting there alone, under the inspiration of choice food, well cooked, I became quite cheerful, dismissing altogether from my mind any apprehension that this attack upon us had any connection with the inheritance of Philip Henley.  These people were lawless enough, without doubt—­the murders already committed were evidence of that—­but all they desired so far as we were personally concerned, was to get us safely out of the way, where we could no longer interfere with their plans.  What those plans might be I could merely conjecture, with little enough to guide my guessing.  They might be filibusters, connected with some revolution along the Central American coast, smugglers, or marauders of even less respectability.  Their methods were desperate enough for any deeds of crime.  Without doubt they utilized this comparatively forsaken lagoon as a hidden rendezvous, and the deserted Henley plantation—­from which even the negroes had been frightened away—­was an ideal spot for them to meet in, plan their raids, or secrete their spoils.  These fellows were doubtless the ghosts which haunted the place, and had given it so uncanny a reputation throughout the neighborhood.  They would naturally resent any interference, any change in ownership, or control.  Possibly, if they were thieves, as I more than half suspected, they had loot buried nearby, and were anxious to get us out of the way long enough to remove it unobserved.  This appealed to me as by far the most probable explanation.

I had cleaned the dishes, and was sitting on the stool, leaning back against the wall, already becoming sleepy, listening to the rhythmic pulsation of the engines at low speed, when the door opened again, and the guard stood revealed before me in the glare of light.

“The old man wants you,” he explained brusquely, waving his hand aft as though specifying the direction.  “Come on, now.”

“What does he want?”

“How the hell do I know!  But let me tell you, his orders go on this boat.”