"An' bein' what ye are," Mr. Reardon continued, "would ye do somethin'
av great binifit to England?"

Riggins replied that inasmuch as he had lost two brothers at the
Battle of the Marne, that ought to indicate bally well where the
Riggins tribe stood on the subject of defense of the realm.

"Good!" Mr. Reardon murmured. "Even if misguided in their pathriotic
motives, shtill yer brothers were brave min, an' for that I respect
thim. Now, thin, Riggins, ye rabbit, listen to me: In a momint av
surpassin' innocince Captain Murphy an' mesilf swallowed a cute
suggestion from a lad whose back I'll break in two halves whin the
_Narcissus_ gets back to San Francisco. 'Why not save expinse,' says
he, 'an' ship the crew av this German liner that's interned over in
Richardson's Bay?' Riggins, to make a long shtory short, we have thim
this minute, an' the dear God knows that even if shipped at the German
scale av wages that gang'll prove a dear crew to the Blue Star
Navigation Company if you an' I, Riggins, fail to do our djooty.
They've half murdered the captain, shtolen the ship an' cargo from
him, an' run her t'ousands av miles off her course to deliver the coal
to the German fleet."

"Oh, my bloody ol' Aunt Maria!" gasped the horrified Riggins.

"What I want to know from you, Riggins, is this: Will ye help me
shteal the ship back to-night? We're runnin' almost due south, an'
that good-for-nothin' von Staden has been in communication wit' the
fleet all day long. I feel it in me bones. If we get the ship back
we'll head due west for the coast av South America an' hug the