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some new transportation,” Travis shouted amiably.
    The Japanese stood and brushed down his hakama . ” Hei , yes. Throw me a line,” he said with a strange smile. “I have waited long enough for you.” Travis reached down and threw a docking line across to the man.
    “Waited long enough for me?” he muttered.
    The older man turned and picked up a long, narrow bundle—something wrapped in heavy silk and tied with a silk cord. Then, with an agile leap that belied his age, he jumped the five-foot gap between the two boats, landing as nimbly as a cat on the deck in front of Travis.
    The Japanese drew himself erect. “Higado Sensei, at your service,” he said, bowing solemnly.
    Travis wasn’t exactly sure how to follow that act, so somewhat awkwardly, he bowed back. When he looked up, the Japanese was studying him again with that same strange half-smile.
    Standing close to the man, Travis realized he could have been wrong about the fellow’s age. The man had one of those inscrutable, almost ageless Asian faces. His small, black eyes gave away nothing. He had a broad, well-shaped nose, and a narrow but friendly mouth that framed his Mona Lisa grin. He might have been fifty, or sixty-five; it was impossible to tell. His long, dark hair was graying, and tied into a small tail high on the back of his head, much like the Samurai warriors of the seventeenth century. He was only five feet five or six-inches tall, but he was trim and hard looking, and he carried a calm sense of assuredness about him as if he were a man accustomed to respect.
    Suddenly Ra came bounding out of the cabin, having heard the steps on the cabin deck and the voices. Travis yelled, “Ra! Stop!” as he thought, Jesus! He’s gonna eat the guy.
    But, as the animal rounded the corner of the hatch and came at him, the man did the most unusual thing. He knelt on one knee, opened his arms to the dog, and shouted in a clear, commanding tone, “Come, Ra. Come here, now.” The dog stopped dead in his tracks, suddenly uncertain. He cocked his head. The Japanese seemed to have the same confusing effect on him as he’d had on Travis. “Come, Ra,” the man commanded again. The animal moved forward slowly, not sure whether to bite him or lick him. As Ra smelled his outstretched hand, the fellow brought his other hand around in a motion that was so fast it looked like a sleight-of-hand trick, and scratched the dog behind the ears. A moment later, Ra was nuzzling him like a playful puppy.
    “I’ll be damned,” Travis exclaimed. “Do you know this dog?”
    The older man stood up. “No, but I know animals and know myself. If animal senses no fear—truly no fear, but kindred spirit—he is not so likely to do harm.”
    “Well, that’s one of the most remarkable tricks I’ve ever seen,” replied Travis. “I thought for sure you were going to be lunch.”
    The Japanese bowed slightly, acknowledging the compliment, then looked up. “Speaking of food . . .”
    After they had pushed off from the sinking boat, they anchored up and split a couple of cans of beef stew between the three of them. Ra seemed to have accepted Higado Sensei completely, without suspicion or challenge. Though he couldn’t explain it, Travis was certain that this was an exception, not the rule, with the dog’s personality.
    Travis swallowed a chunk of cold beef and looked across at the strange older man. “Nobody’s really from the Florida Keys, least of all I guy dressed like you. So what brought you here in a boat like that.
    The Japanese paused. “You want long story or short story?
    Travis smiled. “Do I look like I’m in a hurry?
    An almost imperceptible smile touched the older man’s lips and he began to speak. Through the course of the conversation, Travis came to realize that he was in rather distinguished company. Higado Sensei was themaster in one of Japan’s oldest and most renowned traditional Budo retreats: a place of study for those students truly dedicated to