"Who is in No. 8?" asked Giacinto, idly.
"'Tis a double apartment, occupied by two Irish people who look like beggars. But a French Monsieur here has his eye on the girl. He spent a long time with them today."
"Let them love each other. So do you and I."
As the pair descended the stairway, Volpetti and his valet were coming up to their chambers. Giacinto kept well in the shade and hastened to join Louis Pierre beside whom a pleasant-faced man stood, dispatching a glass of rum.
This was the captain of the Polipheme.
"Do you wish to leave tonight?" asked the captain.
"Or at dawn," replied Louis Pierre. "Be prepared to draw in anchor and have the sloop in readiness guarded by but one sailor."
The captain hesitated. He drew his fingers through his hair as if about to object.
"Well—" he began.
"Captain Soliviac, do you realize that you cannot refuse?"