Indeed, it was an awful peril he was facing, were it really a fact that the men had “tumbled” to his identity, and were giving him a “blind,” leading him, only waiting for the proper moment to cast off their masks and throw him into the sea.

There was one incident in his favor:  the men were not at all reserved in the discussion of the business on hand.  They talked over the purpose of the night, and opened up their expectations in the most unreserved manner.

The master of the craft, in his orders, made no distinction between our hero and the other members of the crew.

Meantime the boat danced over the waves, and, after an hour or two, was cruising across the track of inward-bound vessels.

Soon there came the announcement of the lights of a vessel, and the “Nancy” was cautiously run on a course which would enable her captain to take observations.

The lights proved to be those of an ocean steamer, and the great leviathan, with its precious freight of human souls, plowed past the taut little yacht distant only half a mile.

When the lights were first seen, the detective was standing forward of the mainmast, and suddenly a pallor overspread his face.  If it should prove that the lights were those of an incoming smuggler, the critical moment had arrived for him.

Our hero was intently watching the lights, as were the balance of the crew, waiting for a signal, and so absorbed was he as not to observe the presence of Sol Burton close by his side.

A few moments passed, and the lights were made out, and the word was passed around, “It’s a steamer!”

The detective turned to go aft, when he found himself face to face with Sol Burton.

The two men had met as comrades once or twice before, during the two or three hours the boat had been out on the sea, but not a word had passed between them; but as they met after the distinguishing of the lights, Burton addressed our hero and said: 

“You’re the new man?”

“Yes,” was the short answer.

“Your first trip on the ‘Nancy?’”

“Yes,”

There was a premonition, of danger in the next words of Sol
Burton.

CHAPTER XVIII.

“I think I’ve seen you before, Ballard!”

Sol Burton spoke in slow and very distinct tones, and his manner betrayed that there was a deep significance in his declaration.

“If you remember having seen me before, you have the advantage, my good friend.”

“I think I’ve seen you before.  I met you on board the ‘Nancy.’”

“Where?”

“I cannot recall, but there is something in your face that strikes me as very familiar.”

The detective laughed in an easy manner, and answered

“Well, you’ll have to depend upon your own recollections, I can’t aid you to a recognition.”

As the detective spoke he remembered Renie’s warning words, “Sol Burton, I fear, has his suspicions aroused.”