No！——don’tstarttalking，forgoodness’sake。“
TheywentoutintothedarknessofthegardenwiththetrunkstillbowingMr。Ledbetter’sshoulders。ThemanintheyachtingcostumewalkedinfrontwiththeGladstonebagandapistol；thencameMr。LedbetterlikeAtlas；Mr。Binghamfollowedwiththehat-box，coat，andrevolverasbefore。Thehousewasoneofthosethathavetheirgardensrightuptothecliff。Atthecliffwasasteepwoodenstairway，descendingtoabathingtentdimlyvisibleonthebeach。
Belowwasaboatpulledup，andasilentlittlemanwithablackfacestoodbesideit。“Afewmoments’explanation，“saidMr。Ledbetter；
“Icanassureyou——“Somebodykickedhim，andhesaidnomore。
Theymadehimwadetotheboat，carryingthetrunk，theypulledhimaboardbytheshouldersandhair，theycalledhimnobetternamethan“scoundrel“and“burglar“allthatnight。Buttheyspokeinundertonessothatthegeneralpublicwashappilyunawareofhisignominy。Theyhauledhimaboardayachtmannedbystrange，unsympatheticOrientals，andpartlytheythrusthimandpartlyhefelldownagangwayintoanoisome，darkplace，wherehewastoremainmanydays——howmanyhedoesnotknow，becausehelostcountamongotherthingswhenhewasseasick。Theyfedhimonbiscuitsandincomprehensiblewords；theygavehimwatertodrinkmixedwithunwished-forrum。Andtherewerecockroacheswheretheyputhim，nightanddaytherewerecockroaches，andinthenight-timetherewererats。TheOrientalsemptiedhispocketsandtookhiswatch——