"I don't know."
"Did he touch anything else?"
"No. He was in a tremendous hurry and wasn't in the galley more than a minute at the most."
"The scoundrel!" Captain Ponsberry clenched his fists. "Larry, you are positive you are making no mistake?"
"I saw the thing done just as I told you. The stuff was in a bit of white paper. When he went forward he threw the paper overboard."
"Did anybody else see this?"
"I don't think so. But"
At that moment came a knock on the cabin door and Luke Striker appeared.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, touching his cap. "But I've got something important to report."
"What is it, Striker?"
"I jess see that air Semmel go in and out o' the cook's galley."
"That is just what I am reporting!" cried Larry. "Did you see what he did, Luke?"
"No. He wasn't in there only a minit. It looked suspicious to me, though—with all hands gittin' sick from the grub."
"This is all the evidence I want," said Captain Ponsberry. "We'll soon make an end of this. Larry, send Semmel to me."
