The card was the deuce of hearts. A few
minutes later they were walking down the Bund, with the cool night-air
playing upon their fevered faces. “‘Of course you know what this means,’ said Jelland, lighting a cheroot;
‘we’ll have to transfer some of the office money to our current account. There’s no occasion to make a fuss over it. Old Moore won’t look over
the books before Easter. If we have any luck, we can easily replace it
before then.’

“‘But if we have no luck?’ faltered McEvoy. “‘Tut, man, we must take things as they come. You stick to me, and I’ll
stick to you, and we’ll pull through together. You shall sign the
cheques to-morrow night, and we shall see if your luck is better than
mine.’

“But if anything it was worse. When the pair rose from the table on the
following evening, they had spent over £5,000 of their employer’s money. But the resolute Jelland was as sanguine as ever. “‘We have a good nine weeks before us before the books will be
examined,’ said he. ‘We must play the game out, and it will all come
straight.’

“McEvoy returned to his rooms that night in an agony of shame and
remorse. When he was with Jelland he borrowed strength from him; but
alone he recognized the full danger of his position, and the vision of
his old white-capped mother in England, who had been so proud when he
had received his appointment, rose up before him to fill him with
loathing and madness. He was still tossing upon his sleepless couch when
his Japanese servant entered the bedroom. For an instant McEvoy thought
that the long-expected outbreak had come, and plunged for his revolver. Then, with his heart in his mouth, he listened to the message which the
servant had brought. “Jelland was downstairs, and wanted to see him. “What on earth could he want at that hour of night? McEvoy dressed
hurriedly and rushed downstairs. His companion, with a set smile upon
his lips, which was belied by the ghastly pallor of his face, was
sitting in the dim light of a solitary candle, with a slip of paper in
his hands. “‘Sorry to knock you up, Willy,’ said he. ‘No eavesdroppers, I suppose?’

“McEvoy shook his head. He could not trust himself to speak. “‘Well, then, our little game is played out. This note was waiting for
me at home. It is from Moore, and says that he will be down on Monday
morning for an examination of the books. It leaves us in a tight place.’

“‘Monday!’ gasped McEvoy; ‘to-day is Friday.’

“‘Saturday, my son, and 3 a.m. We have not much time to turn round in.’

“‘We are lost!’ screamed McEvoy. “‘We soon will be, if you make such an infernal row,’ said Jelland
harshly. ‘Now do what I tell you, Willy, and we’ll pull through yet.’

“‘I will do anything—anything.’

“‘That’s better. Where’s your whisky? It’s a beastly time of the day to
have to get your back stiff, but there must be no softness with us, or
we are gone. First of all, I think there is something due to our
relations, don’t you?’

“McEvoy stared. “‘We must stand or fall together, you know. Now I, for one, don’t intend
to set my foot inside a felon’s dock under any circumstances. D’ye see? I’m ready to swear to that. Are you?’

“‘What d’you mean?’ asked McEvoy, shrinking back. “‘Why, man, we all have to die, and it’s only the pressing of a trigger. I swear that I shall never be taken alive. Will you? If you don’t, I
leave you to your fate.’

“‘All right. I’ll do whatever you think best.’

“‘You swear it?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘Well, mind, you must be as good as your word. Now we have two clear
days to get off in. The yawl _Matilda_ is on sale, and she has all her
fixings and plenty of tinned stuff aboard. We’ll buy the lot to-morrow
morning, and whatever we want, and get away in her. But, first, we’ll
clear all that is left in the office. There are 5,000 sovereigns in the
safe. After dark we’ll get them aboard the yawl, and take our chance of
reaching California. There’s no use hesitating, my son, for we have no
ghost of a look-in in any other direction. It’s that or nothing.’

“‘I’ll do what you advise.’

“‘All right; and mind you get a bright face on you to-morrow, for if
Moore gets the tip and comes before Monday, then——’ He tapped the
side-pocket of his coat and looked across at his partner with eyes that
were full of a sinister meaning. “All went well with their plans next day. The _Matilda_ was bought
without difficulty; and, though she was a tiny craft for so long a
voyage, had she been larger two men could not have hoped to manage her. She was stocked with water during the day, and after dark the two clerks
brought down the money from the office and stowed it in the hold. Before
midnight they had collected all their own possessions without exciting
suspicion, and at two in the morning they left their moorings and stole
quietly out from among the shipping. They were seen, of course, and were
set down as keen yachtsmen who were on for a good long Sunday cruise;
but there was no one who dreamed that that cruise would only end either
on the American coast or at the bottom of the North Pacific Ocean. Straining and hauling, they got their mainsail up and set their foresail
and jib. There was a slight breeze from the south-east, and the little
craft went dipping along upon her way. Seven miles from land, however,
the wind fell away and they lay becalmed, rising and falling on the long
swell of a glassy sea. All Sunday they did not make a mile, and in the
evening Yokohama still lay along the horizon. “On Monday morning down came Randolph Moore from Jeddo, and made
straight for the offices. He had had the tip from some one that his
clerks had been spreading themselves a bit, and that had made him come
down out of his usual routine; but when he reached his place and found
the three juniors waiting in the street with their hands in their
pockets he knew that the matter was serious. “‘What’s this?’ he asked. He was a man of action, and a nasty chap to
deal with when he had his topmasts lowered. “‘We can’t get in,’ said the clerks. “‘Where is Mr. Jelland?’

“‘He has not come to-day.’

“‘And Mr. McEvoy?’

“‘He has not come either.’

“Randolph Moore looked serious. ‘We must have the door down,’ said he. “They don’t build houses very solid in that land of earthquakes, and in
a brace of shakes they were all in the office. Of course the thing told
its own story. The safe was open, the money gone, and the clerks fled. Their employer lost no time in talk. “‘Where were they seen last?’

“‘On Saturday they bought the _Matilda_ and started for a cruise.’

“Saturday! The matter seemed hopeless if they had got two days’ start. But there was still the shadow of a chance. He rushed to the beach and
swept the ocean with his glasses. “‘My God!’ he cried. ‘There’s the _Matilda_ out yonder. I know her by
the rake of her mast. I have my hand upon the villains after all!’

“But there was a hitch even then. No boat had steam up, and the eager
merchant had not patience to wait.