"Why puzzle one's brains over foreign tongues when all the
world speaks English?" she telegraphed.
"Mr. Boyle is a peculiar person," said the doctor dryly. "I happen to
have known him during some years. You and I might regard him as a man
of few words, but he has acquired a wonderful vocabulary for the
benefit of sailor-men. I believe he can swear in every known lingo.
His accomplishment in that direction no doubt annoyed Frascuelo, who
became frantic when he heard that the ship would not call at any South
American port. I imagine, too, that the unfortunate fellow is still
suffering from the drug which, he says, was administered to him.
Anyhow, you know how the affair terminated."
"I, for one, think some consideration might have been shown him," said
Elsie.
"There is no time for argument when a Chilean draws a knife, Miss
Maxwell."
"But, if his story is true--"
"There never yet was a stowaway who did not invent a plausible yarn.
Nevertheless, I believe, and Mr. Boyle agrees with me, that the man is
not lying."
They felt the ship swing round on a new course, and the rays of the
setting sun lit up the saloon table through the open starboard ports.
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