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When he did so it was to find that all naval uniforms had been

laid aside, the imitation brass guns forward had been removed,

and the schooner so altered that she would scarcely have been

recognized as the Albatross.

The wireless had been erected again, and now the apparatus was

spitting forth an almost constant series of messages. The crew,

spotless in dungarees and without a vestige of a weapon,

maneuvered the schooner as Code had never in his life seen a

vessel handled. At a word from the officer of the watch they

jumped as one man. Every order was executed on the run, and all

sails were swayed as flat and taut as boards.

Code found Elsa ensconced with a book under the awning amidships.

Big, comfortable wicker chairs were about and the deck so lately

cleared for action had an almost homelike look.