Max turned and left the hut, followed by his uncle. Each asked himself the same question the moment he got out into the open air: where was Captain Crouch?
Crouch must have heard the disturbance. The shrieks of the half-caste, the growling of the dog and the firing of Max's revolver had been enough to have awakened the dead. Yet he had never put in an appearance. When they entered their hut they found him seated cross-legged on the floor, with his pipe between his teeth. The atmosphere was tainted with the smell of Bull's Eye Shag.
"Where have you been?" asked Edward.
Crouch never deigned to reply, but, taking his pipe from his lips, asked a question himself.
"Did you come to blows?" he said.
"Practically," said Max, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I found him thrashing that half-caste within an inch of his life. I threatened him, and his dog flew at me, and, had it not been for Edward, would have torn me to bits. We had a kind of an argument, and in the end he told us to clear out, which we said we were perfectly ready to do."
Crouch returned his pipe to his mouth.
"I was afraid of that," said he.
"Why?"
"I would like to have stayed here just a little longer. I haven't probed the mystery yet. When I saw you two run into de Costa's hut, I knew there was going to be trouble. I knew you wouldn't come out for some minutes, and I had the chance of a lifetime."