Breakfast had been served in the salon by several Chinamen under the eye of Matt Murphy. The room, as well as their cabins, they saw had been refitted luxuriously. The quarters were considerably larger than one would expect to find aboard a trawler, and the furnishings were those of a wealthy sportsman’s yacht. In addition to the two cabins opening from one side of the salon and which they occupied, two others were similarly located opposite. One was occupied by Matt Murphy who, apparently, was captain of the vessel, and the other by “Black George.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Mr. Temple in answer to Jack’s question. “But a boat such as this is not built for speed. Its especial quality is staunchness.”
“Well, but how fast do you imagine it is going?”
“About eight knots an hour or thereabouts,” said Mr. Temple, considering. “That would be nine to ten miles. A nautical mile, or knot, you know, is between one and one-sixth and one and one-seventh land miles. But, why, Jack? What have you in mind?”
Jack glanced at “Black George’s” door. It was closed. The other, he knew, lay there helpless to move, under care of a man whom they had not yet seen. So much had been gathered from Matt Murphy. The latter had disappeared above deck. Leaning closer, Jack lowered his voice. Instinctively, to hear him better, all put their heads together.
“It was midnight when we came aboard,” said Jack. “It is ten in the morning now. That means we have been at sea ten hours. We have gone one hundred miles, if you are correct about our speed. Now we are heading south. Our cabins are on the port side and the sun from the east is in our portholes.
“I believe we are heading for the smugglers’ cove. And that’s in the south somewhere.”
“Well,” continued Jack, “I’ve been thinking this over. San Diego is about six hundred miles south of San Francisco, isn’t it, Mr. Temple?”
“Roughly that. Go on. What have you in mind?”
“Just this. The smugglers’ cove is either above or below San Diego, said Inspector Burton, and not far from it in either direction. We shall reach San Diego in forty-eight hours more, at this rate, or about this time day after tomorrow. If the cove is this side of it, probably we would make it tomorrow night. If it is below San Diego, probably we would reach there the following night.