remarked. Still, the chances were against it, and he regarded it as
almost certain that she would have put into one or other of the
African ports, as she passed them, for water, fresh meat and fruit.

It was six days after the Osprey passed Saint Vincent before she
anchored off Gib. She had made her number as she came in, and in a
short time the health officer came out in a boat. The visit was a
formal one; the white ensign on her taffrail was in itself
sufficient to show her character, and that she must have come
straight from England; and the questions asked were few and brief.

"We are ten days out," Frank said. "We have touched at Tarifa,
Ceuta, and Tangier, but that is all. The crew are all in good
health. Here is the list of them if you wish to examine them."

"As a matter of formality it is better that it should be done," the
health officer said.

"I will order them to muster," Frank said, "and while they are
doing so, will you come below and take a glass of wine?

"Can you tell me if a craft about this size, a schooner or
brigantine, has put in here during the last fortnight? I don't know
whether she is still flying yacht colours, or has gone into trade,
but at any rate you could see at once that she had been a yacht."

"Certainly no such craft has put in here, Major Mallett. Yours is
the first yacht that has come round this season, and as I board
every vessel that anchors here, I should certainly have noticed any
trader that had formerly been a yacht. The decks and fittings would