Mordaunt was startled.
“Oh, fear nothing,” said the skipper, showing his face. “I am a friend.”
“Captain Groslow!” cried Mordaunt.
“Himself. The general remembered that I had formerly been a naval officer and he gave me the command of this expedition. Is there anything new in the wind?”
“Nothing.”
“I thought, perhaps, that the king’s death——”
“Has only hastened their flight; in ten minutes they will perhaps be here.”
“What have you come for, then?”
“To embark with you.”
“Ah! ah! the general doubted my fidelity?”