"The pretext must be found."
The Captain stroked his beard with a troubled air.
"I fear there is no second-cabin room empty—we are very crowded. Would it matter if I brought them forward?"
Pachmann pondered a moment.
"No," he said at last. "On the whole, that might be better. You will enter them on your passenger list by some other name—or, better still, omit them altogether."
"But the immigration authorities!" protested the Captain. "You have forgotten them!"
"We will think of them at the proper time," said Pachmann, impatiently. "This is not the moment to make objections. I think you understand?"
Hausmann bowed.
"We will say good-bye, then, for the present," added the Admiral, with a touch of irony. "We shall, perhaps, be forced again to call upon you."