"'No, sir. She has steam on them.'

"The commanding officer took his second aside. 'By Jove!' he said, 'you
were right! They were holding their breaths as we passed them. They
were.'

"But the second in command had his doubts now.

"'A fog like this does muffle small sounds, sir,' he remarked. 'And what
could his object be, after all?'

"'To sneak out unnoticed,' answered the commanding officer.

"'Then why didn't he? He might have done it, you know. Not exactly
unnoticed, perhaps. I don't suppose he could have slipped his cable
without making some noise. Still, in a minute or so he would have been
lost to view--clean gone before we had made him out fairly. Yet he
didn't.'

"They looked at each other. The commanding officer shook his head.
Such suspicions as the one which had entered his head are not defended
easily. He did not even state it openly. The boarding officer finished
his report. The cargo of the ship was of a harmless and useful
character. She was bound to an English port. Papers and everything in
perfect order. Nothing suspicious to be detected anywhere.

"Then passing to the men, he reported the crew on deck as the usual lot.
Engineers of the well-known type, and very full of their achievement in
repairing the engines. The mate surly. The master rather a fine specimen