I don't want the sentry to overhear." "As you like--but why such mystery ?" he asked as we walked together to the other side of the spick-and-span quarter-deck of the gigantic battleship.
"You'll understand when I tell you the story." And then, standing together beneath the awning, I related to my friend the whole of the curious circumstances, just as I have recorded them in the foregoing pages.
"Confoundedly funny!" he remarked with his dark eyes fixed upon mine.

"A mystery, by Jove, it is! What name did the yacht bear ?" "The _Lola_." "What!" he gasped, suddenly turning pale.

"The _Lola_?
Are you quite sure it was the _Lola_--_L-O-L-A_ ?" "Absolutely certain," I replied.

"But why do you ask?
Do you happen to know anything about the craft ?" "Me!" he stammered, and I could see that he had involuntarily betrayed the truth, yet for some reason he wished to conceal his knowledge from me.

"Me! How should I know anything about such a craft?
They were thieves on board evidently--perhaps pirates, as you say." "But the name _Lola_ is familiar to you, Jack! I'm sure it is, by your manner." He paused a moment, and I could see what a strenuous effort he was making to avoid betraying knowledge.
"It's--well--" he said hesitatingly, with a rather sickly smile.