Part 4 (1/2)
Before it was really dark everything on board was in order, and the s.h.i.+p was put in perfect trim. Christy could not help seeing that Captain Chantor was a thorough commander, and that his officers were excellent in all respects. He walked about the s.h.i.+p, wis.h.i.+ng to make himself familiar with her. His father had not written to him in regard to the second vessel which the Chateaugay was to look out for in the vicinity of the Bermuda Islands, and he only knew what the captain had told him in regard to the matter.
If the steamer was armed, as probably she was, an action would be likely to come off, and the young lieutenant could not remain idle while a battle was in prospect. His quick eye enabled him to take in all he saw without much study, and only one thing bothered him. In the waist, secured on blocks, was something like the ordinary whaleboat used in the navy; but it was somewhat larger than those with which he was familiar in the discharge of his duties, and differed in other respects from them. The first watch would begin at eight o'clock, and all hands were still on duty.
”What do you call this boat, Mr. Carlin?” asked Christy, as the third lieutenant was pa.s.sing him.
”I call it a nondescript craft,” replied the officer, laughing. ”It is something like a whaleboat, but it isn't one.”
”What is it for?” inquired the pa.s.senger.
”That is more than I know, sir. It was put on deck while we were still at the Navy Yard. I never saw a boat just like it before, and I have not the remotest idea of its intended use. Probably the captain can inform you.”
Christy was no wiser than before, but his curiosity was excited. He strolled to the quarter-deck, where he found the captain directing his night-gla.s.s towards the Ionian, which showed her port light on the starboard hand, indicating that the Chateaugay was running ahead of her.
The commander called the second lieutenant, and gave him the order for the chief engineer to reduce the speed of the s.h.i.+p.
”The Ionian is a slow boat; at least, she is not as fast as the Chateaugay, Mr. Pa.s.sford,” said Captain Chantor, when Christy had halted near him.
”That is apparent,” replied Christy. ”How many knots can you make in your s.h.i.+p, Captain Chantor?”
”I am told that she has made fifteen when driven at her best.”
”That is more than the average of the steamers in the service by three knots,” added Christy. ”I have just been forward, Captain, and I saw there a boat which is not quite on the regulation pattern.”
”It is like a whaleboat, though it differs from one in some respects,”
added the commander.
”Is it for ordinary service, Captain Chantor?”
”There you have caught me, for I don't know to what use she is to be applied,” replied the captain, laughing because, as the highest authority on board of the s.h.i.+p, he was unable to answer the question.
”You don't know?” queried Christy. ”Or have I asked an indiscreet question?” said the pa.s.senger.
”If I knew, and found it necessary to conceal my knowledge from you, I should say so squarely, Mr. Pa.s.sford,” added the commander, a little piqued. ”I would not resort to a lie.”
”I beg your pardon, Captain Chanter; I certainly meant no offence,”
pleaded Christy.
”No offence, Mr. Pa.s.sford; my hand upon it,” said the commander, and they exchanged a friendly grip of the hands. ”I really know nothing at all in regard to the intended use of the boat; in my orders, I am simply directed to place it at the disposal of Mr. Gilfleur at such time and place as he may require, and to co-operate with him in any enterprise in which he may engage. I must refer you to the French gentleman for any further information.”
The pa.s.senger went below to the ward room. The door of the detective's room was closed, and he knocked. He was admitted, and there he found Mr.
Gilfleur occupied with a file of papers, which he was busily engaged in studying. In the little apartment were two middle-sized valises, which made it look as though the detective expected to pa.s.s some time on his present voyage to the South.
”I hope I don't disturb you, Mr. Gilfleur,” said Christy in French.
”Not at all, Mr. Pa.s.sford; I am glad to see you, for I am ordered to consult very freely with you, and to inform you fully in regard to all my plans,” replied the Frenchman.
”Perhaps you can tell me, then, what that boat in the waist is for,”
Christy began, in a very pleasant tone, and in his most agreeable manner, perhaps copying to some extent the Parisian suavity, as he had observed it in several visits he had made to the gay capital.
”I can tell you all about it, Mr. Pa.s.sford, though that is my grand secret. No other person on board of this s.h.i.+p knows what it is for; but you are my confidant, though I never had one before in the practice of my profession,” replied Mr. Gilfleur, fixing his keen gaze upon his a.s.sociate. ”A man's secret is the safest when he keeps it to himself.