text: CHAPTER XVII 
  
  A QUEER CAPTAIN 
  
  "You saw Dan Baxter, here in Pittsburg?" ejaculated Dick. 
  
  "Dat's it." 
  
  "You are sure you were not mistaken, Aleck? I thought that rascal was miles and miles away." 
  
  "Dat's jess wot I dun been thinkin' too. But it was Dan Baxter, suah. I knows him too well to make any mistake about his ugly face." 
  
  "Where was he?" 
  
  "Dat's de alarmin' part ob it, Massah Dick. Yo' know yo' tole me to find de houseboat." 
  
  "Yes." 
  
  "Well, I found de boat wid dat dar Cap'n Starr on board, an' we made all dem 'rangements wot you spoke about. Den I started to leave de boat. Dar was an eleckric light on de dock an' a man standing near it, a-watchin' de houseboat. I almost run into him, an' den I discobered it was dat good-fo'-nuffin Dan Baxter." 
  
  "He was watching the houseboat?" 
  
  "Dat's it." 
  
  "Did he recognize you, Aleck?" 
  
  "Not till I spoke to him. I said, `Wot yo' doin' heah, Dan Baxter?' When he heard dat he 'most jumped a foot. Den he mutters sumthing wot I couldn't make out an' runs away." 
  
  "Did you go after him?" 
  
  "Yes, but I couldn't cotch him nohow. Dar was big piles ob boxes an' barrels on de dock and he got away befo' I know wot I was at. I hunted an' hunted, but I couldn't git on his track." 
  
  "This is certainly unpleasant, to say the least," mused Dick, biting his lip. "If he is watching us he is doing it for no good purpose." 