By a turn of the screw and a touch of the helm he sheered the _Sissie_ alongside Bamtz's wharf--a miserable structure of a dozen piles and a few planks, of which the ex-vagabond was very proud.

A couple of Kalashes jumped down on it, took a turn with the ropes thrown to them round the posts, and the _Sissie_ came to rest without a single loud word or the slightest noise.

And just in time too, for the tide turned even before she was properly moored.
"Davidson had something to eat, and then, coming on deck for a last look round, noticed that the light was still burning in the house.
"This was very unusual, but since they were awake so late, Davidson thought that he would go up to say that he was in a hurry to be off and to ask that what rattans there were in store should be sent on board with the first sign of dawn.
"He stepped carefully over the shaky planks, not being anxious to get a sprained ankle, and picked his way across the waste ground to the foot of the house ladder.

The house was but a glorified hut on piles, unfenced and lonely.
"Like many a stout man, Davidson is very lightfooted.

He climbed the seven steps or so, stepped across the bamboo platform quietly, but what he saw through the doorway stopped him short.
"Four men were sitting by the light of a solitary candle.