"They knew we were coming," said Terry shortly. "Would I have been brought anyhow?"
"_Pero no_," said Horta. "But there are telephones. When we left the shop, one was used."
The men who'd carried out the parcels vanished. Terry and Horta stepped aboard. The tender cast off and headed out into the harbor. There was a Philippine gunboat and a mine-layer and an American flattop in plain view. There were tankers and tramp steamers and a vast array of smaller craft at anchor. A seemingly top-heavy steamer ploughed across oily water two miles distant. The tender headed for a trim sixty-five-foot schooner anchored a mile from shore. It grew larger and seemed more trim as the tender approached it.
The smaller boat passed under the larger one's stern, and the name _Esperance_ showed plainly. On the starboard side a boat boom projected. The tender ran deftly up and a man in a sweat shirt and duck trousers snubbed the line. He said cheerfully, "How do you do, Mr. Holt?" Then he nodded to Horta. "Good to see you, Captain." He offered his hand as Terry straightened up on deck. "My name's Davis. We'll have your stuff aboard right away."
Two young men in dungarees and with crew cuts appeared and took over the motley lot of cartons that Terry and Horta had made ready.
"Have you everything you need?" asked Davis anxiously. "Would some extra stuff be useful?"
"I could do with a few items," said Terry, stiffly.
He had quickly developed an acute dislike for the patent attempt to induce him to join the _Esperance_. He had no reason for his objection, save that he had not been informed about the task he was urged to undertake.
"Also," he added abruptly, "Captain Horta didn't think to stop at my hotel so I could get my baggage."
"Write a list of what you want," suggested Davis. "I'm sure something can be done about your baggage. Make the list complete. If something's left over, it won't matter. There's a desk in the cabin for you to write at." He turned to Horta. "Captain, what's the news about _La Rubia_?"
"She sailed again yesterday," said Horta ruefully. "She was followed by many other boats. And now there is a moon. It rises late, but it rises. Many sailors will be watching her from mastheads. It is said that all the night glasses in Manila have been bought by fishermen...."
