“And he is not the master mind, that’s sure,” smiled the captain. “Siki is of greater intelligence by far.”
“The man who sent him to steal the secret dispatch is not in the vessel,” decided Ethan, who had thought much upon this point during the run across.
“My own conclusion exactly,” said the commander. “As like as not the directing mind of the plot will turn up there,” and he waved his hand toward the city. “But,” with a short laugh, “he will hear nothing of his agent, nor will he secure the coveted document. Before dawn Siki will be in irons; and the papers are safe in the strong box in my cabin.”
“I noted the sentry at the cabin door all the way out,” said Ethan approvingly. “And I suppose you examined the chest frequently?”
“Twice a day, to see that it was not tampered with. And the sentries were, in every instance, men whom I could trust.”
Here one of the middies advanced and drew the commander’s attention to something forward. Ethan joined Longsword in the waist.
“We start to-morrow, then?” said the trooper.
“Yes; after daybreak. Lieutenant Wallingford has procured us horses, so there will be no delay.”
“It seems to me, Master Ethan,” grumbled Longsword, ill-humoredly, “that the captain is making a great mistake.”
“In not keeping guard over the cabin door. When we were in mid-ocean and no man could escape he were very strict in that way; but now when there is a chance for some bla’guard to steal the secret and swim ashore, it’s leave the cabin unguarded he do be after doing.”
“I passed there not five minutes ago. There were no one in sight and the place was in darkness. I lit the lamp in the companionway and looked about, for sure I had me suspicions. But there was no one in sight, good or bad.”
“That is very strange,” said Ethan. “I was just now speaking to the captain about that very point and understood that the sentry was still a fixture at the cabin door.”
He paused a moment, hesitating; then he said quietly:
With quick steps he advanced to the companionway and descended.
“Dark!” he muttered, as his eyes tried vainly to pierce the blackness. “And Shamus said he had lit the lamp. This looks strange. Why it would almost seem that some one had”--he caught his breath at the thought--“blown it out.”