It was midnight when the doctor left the sick man's room and sought the captain.
"Has this gentleman any friends?" he inquired.
"Yes, in England," was the reply.
"It will be best to send for them without delay."
"Is the case so grave as that?"
"I cannot answer for the result," replied the doctor.
Captain Cannon at once telegraphed to Lady Maltravers, the mother of the sick man.
That night the patient was very feverish and restless; he recognized no one.
In the afternoon of the following day Lady Maltravers arrived at the hotel accompanied by Bambino, his lordship's Italian servant.
This fellow had a most villainous countenance and it was said that he had been condemned to the galleys for a term of years, in expiation of some terrible crime.