"See here, my boy," said Merrick, "polish up your wits and tell this gentleman what he asks."
"Yesterday," said Hewitt, "no doubt you saw various pieces of wreckage floating about?"
"Yessir."
"What were they?"
"Hatch-gratings mostly—nothin' much else. There's some knockin' about now."
"I saw them. Now, remember. Did you see a hatch-grating floating yesterday that was different from the others? A painted one, for instance—those out there now are not painted, you know."
"Yessir, I see a little white 'un painted, bobbin' about away beyond the foremast of the Nicobar."
"You're sure of that?"
"Certain sure, sir—it was the only painted thing floatin'. And to-day it's washed away somewheres."