constantly underestimate the deeper crimes, allowing your master criminals to go scathless, or even, in some instances, to prosper and win repute by their machinations. But, let me tell you, Captain, murder is brave and honourable compared with this. Consider what he did. Trained to the sea and ships, after a lifetime of honourable service to his traditions, he suddenly forsakes them utterly. Because the matter rests with him alone, because there is nothing in it for him to fear, his serenity condemns his very soul. He has fallen from heaven to hell; flagrantly, remorselessly, and without attempt at concealment or evasion, he has played false with sacred honour and holy life. It is blasphemy that he has committed; when the master of the ship is not to be trusted, the gods tremble in the sky. So I abhor him—and am fascinated. He does not speak of his crime, of course, yet I find myself waiting and watching for a hint, an explanation. Believe me, Captain, when I tell you, that in all my talk with him I have received not a single flash of illumination; no, not one! There is no key to his design. He speaks of his ship and her affairs as other captains do. He is a tall, jovial, healthy man, with frank glances and open speech. For all that seems, he might have forgotten what went on at Ombay Pass. I swear to you that his heart is untroubled. As you would say, he does not care a damn.... And that is horrible'

"A little amused at my friend's moral fervour, I adopted a bantering tone. 'Perhaps the man is innocent' said I 'Perhaps there's something unexplained....'

"'You forget that he holds the vessel as his property—the same vessel that he himself ran on shore' Lee Fu reminded me 'You are still thinking, Captain, of violence and blood. No one was lost, no shots were fired ... so, never mind. It is not vital to you that a strong man within your circle has murdered the spirit; you refuse to become excited or alarmed ... Wait then till actual blood flows'

"'What do you mean by that, Lee Fu? You think...?'

"'I think Captain Wilbur will bear watching. In the meantime, take my advice, and study him when opportunity offers. Thus we learn of heaven and hell'"

III

"A few years went by, while the case of Captain Wilbur and the Speedwell passed through its initial stages of being forgotten. Nothing succeeds like success; the man owned a fine ship, and those who did business with him soon came to take the situation for granted. Wilbur made fast passages, kept the Speedwell in excellent trim, and paid his bills promptly; rumour of course had it that he was growing rich. In all probability it was true. After a while, some of his old friends were willing to let bygones be bygones; there were many more to whom the possession of a fine piece of property seemed of enough importance to cover a multitude of sins. The new fellows who came to the East and heard the tale for the first time couldn't credit it after meeting Wilbur in the flesh. Little by little one began to see him again on the quarter-deck at the evening gatherings of the fleet, or among seafaring men ashore at tiffin. When, in time, it became unwise to start the story against him, for fear of misconstruction of one's motive, it was evident that he had well-nigh won his nefarious match against society.

"I'd met him a number of times, of course, during this interval, and had come to understand Lee Fu's urgent advice. Indeed, for one curious about the habits of the human species, Wilbur compelled attention. That perfect urbanity, that air of unfailing dignity and confidence, that aura of a commanding personality, of an able ship-master among his brethren, of a man whose position in the world was secure beyond peradventure: all this could spring from one of only two spiritual conditions—either from a quiet and innocent conscience, or from a heart perfectly attuned to villainy. As he sat among us, taking up his proper word in the conversation, assuming no mask, showing no concern, it was with the utmost difficulty that one placed him as a man with a dark past, with a damnable blot on his escutcheon. So unconscious was his poise that one often doubted the evidence of memory, and found oneself going back over the record, only to fetch up point-blank against the incontestable fact that he had stolen his ship and betrayed his profession. By Jove, it seemed fantastic! Here he was, to all intents and purposes a gentleman; a likeable fellow, too, in many ways. He talked well, was positive without being arbitrary, usually had a fair and generous word for the issue under discussion, never indulged in criticism; and above all, damn him, he sustained a reputation for expert mastery over this profession to which he'd dealt such a foul blow.

"'It is a triumph of character!' Lee Fu used to repeat, as we compared notes on the case from time to time. 'I think he has not been guilty of a single minor error. His correctness is nothing short of diabolical. It presages disaster, like too much fair weather in the typhoon season. Wait and watch; mark my word, Captain, when the major error comes it will be a great tragedy'

"'Must there be a major error?' I asked, falling into the mood of Lee Fu's exaggerated concern 'He's carried it off so far with the greatest ease'

"'Yes, with the greatest ease' said Lee Fu thoughtfully 'Yet I begin to wonder whether he has been properly put to the test. See how the world protects him! Sometimes I am appalled. It is as if we wrapped the doers of evil in cotton wool, so that not even rudeness might disturb them. He has merely maintained a perfect silence, and the world has done the rest. It has seemed more anxious to forget his crime than he to have it forgotten. So he lives with impunity, as it were. But he is not invulnerable. Life will challenge him yet ... it must be ... life, which is truth, and not the world. Can a man escape the anger and justice of the gods? That is why I concern myself with him—to know his final destiny'

"'You admit, then, that he's not the incarnate criminal you once thought him' I chaffed, unable to take the matter so deeply to heart 'He may be only a stupid fool with a wooden face and naturally good manners....'

"'Not stupid' Lee Fu interrupted 'Yet, on the other hand, not exceptional, not superior to life. Such faultless power of will is in itself no mean part of ability. He is, as you might say, self-centred—most accurately self-centred. But the challenge of the gods displaces the centre of all. He will be like a top that is done spinning. A little breath may topple him at last. Wait and see.... But, for the present, it is evident that were is nothing more to be learned. The mask is inscrutable'

"Thinking the case over at sea, I often laughed to myself over Lee Fu's intensity. Voyage followed voyage; at one time when I had just come in from Bankok and was on my way from the Jetty to Lee Fu's office, I passed Captain Wilbur on the opposite side of Queen's Road. He waved a hand to me as he turned the corner: at once it flashed across my mind that I hadn't observed the Speedwell in the roadstead as I came in. When I had finished my business with Lee Fu, I asked him for an explanation of Wilbur's presence in Hong Kong without his vessel.

"'You are mistaken, Captain—it has little significance' he answered with a quizzical smile 'So, after all, you pay a little attention? The fact is, the successful