It was not long after the proposal when some mysterious events would finally rid Higher for Hire of the captain. It was mid-summer, and a powerful storm had come in, making people stay indoors. Kit knew that it was foolhardy to be out in this weather, but the captain still went to the cliffs anyway.

Not long afterward, Kit heard the front door open. He turned to see a lizard in an old lab coat standing in the doorway. His teeth were sharp and very clean, and he spoke in dark hissing way. He sniffed the air, turning his gaze to a table in far corner of the room, then turned toward Kit.

"Is this table for my friend Hal?" He asked with a hiss looking back at the table.

"I don't know your friend Hal, it's for the captain." Kit said. The lizard then asked him to describe the captain, so Kit told him what the captain looked like. The lizard smiled evilly in recognition.

"That's my friend Hal, all right." He said moving menacingly like a phantom toward Kit. Just then the sound of footsteps was heard outside. "We should wait right here and give Hal a little surprise when he comes in," the lizard said, as the captain came into the office.

When the captain saw the lizard, he had the look of a man who had just seen a ghost.

"Come on, Hal, you know me. Your old shipmate," said the lizard licking his teeth.

"Viper!" gasped the captain.

"That's right," laughed the lizard. "And I think that it's time you and I had a little talk."

Viper demanded that Kit bring two bottles of rum while he and the captain had their little talk. When he returned they were seated on either side of the table.

Kit did his best to listen to their conversation, but he could hear nothing but low voices. Soon the voices grew louder and louder.

Viper was asking Hal things that Kit did not understand, like maps and such.

"Where is the map, Hal?" asked Viper in dark tone, but Hal just sat there with his hand in his pocket.

"No, I will not give you the map!" shouted Hal, as he banged his fist on the table. Viper stared at him with a wicked glare.

"You'll fry," taunted Viper, as he took a drink from his bottle. "I think you need to calm down and let me have a look at the map you keep in your bag," hissed the lizard as he pointed to the captain's bag.

"Damn you, and the crew that brought you here!" Hal shouted, drawing his knife. Viper snapped into action, ready for a good fight.

Kit watched in horror as chairs and tables were knocked down, and the men grappled with one another. He saw the captain sink his knife into Viper's arm, as Viper tried to strike at him with his claws. In the middle of the fight the captain was knocked to the floor by a quick blow from the lizard's tail.

Viper ran for the door, but the captain got back to his feet and gave chase. As they reached the door, the captain aimed a blow at Viper that surely would have killed him, had it not been for a low hanging rope.

Once out on the road, Viper, in spite his of his wound, ran away and disappeared into the storm. The captain stood there, holding his side. As he made his way inside, he fell to knees. Kit rushed over to him and saw that the captain had fallen on one of the bottles, lodging a piece of glass deeply in his side.

"Kit," he said, "you're the only one here that I can depend on. I need a drink. Get me some rum, Kit." After he drank, he said, "You know I have told you to look out for a wolf in a blue captain's outfit." Kit tried to tell him that he needed to rest, so he could call the paramedics, but then they heard it, the sound of wood tapping the ground. Slowly, Kit walked out of the office and there in front of him was a man, hunched over and wearing a hooded outfit that looked like it was from the dark ages. He was obviously blind, and he had a cane in his hand.

"Will someone tell a poor blind man where or in what part of this country he is now in?" he asked in a wheezing tone.

Kit told him that he was at Higher for Hire in Cape Suzette. With that, the blind man asked him to show him inside. Kit wasn't sure that he should do this, but he couldn't leave him outside in this storm, so he reached out to lead him in.

As Kit reached for the man's hand, he gripped Kit's hand like a vise and pulled the young cub close to him.

"Now, boy," he said, "you take me to the captain."

Kit tried to refuse, but his grip tightened until it was like iron. All Kit could do was take the blind man to the captain.

"When you see the captain, you will say "Here's a friend of yours, Hal," said the blind man in a raspy voice.

As Kit and the blind man entered the office, the captain looked up, and fear overtook him. He tried to move, but he did not have the strength.

"Now, Hal, sit right where you are," said the blind man. "Even though I can't see, I can hear if you move a finger. Now you, boy, take hold of his left hand and bring it near my right."

Kit and Hal obeyed him to the letter, and Kit saw him pass something from his hand to the captain's hand.

"And now that's done," said the blind man. As he tapped his way out of the office, Kit closed the front door, and locked it. He could still hear the tapping the blind man made in the distance.

It was some time before either he or the captain could move. When Kit looked over to the captain, he had blood coming from his mouth. He was close to death, but seemed not to care anymore. Looking down into the palm of his hand, Kit saw that he had a piece of paper with a black spot on it.

"Ten o'clock!" he cried. "That's two hours away, but I'm dead anyway."

Kit tried to help him to his feet, but he fell back down.

"Kit, take this key," he said, coughing up blood. "This key is for the small box in my bag. Take it so the Pastmaster doesn't get it, and make sure that Baloo gets—gets-" but he did not have the strength to finish. Kit saw that he was no longer breathing, and in fear he took the key.

Soon the sound of the Sea Duck was heard. Kit knew that Baloo would know what to do.