“Three! Miss Fairfax—”
“Great Scott! Colonel Fairfax has been wild. Who else?”
“Police Officer Jackson!”
“Yes.”
“And Frank Howard.”
“What! The murderer?”
“No. The convict. This is he talking.”
“Oh! Beg pardon! Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Where did you say you were?”
“We drifted into the Sargasso Sea on the Queen, and brought up finally against the wreck-pack in the middle. Then we changed to another ship. It’s a long story. You’d better note it down carefully. I may be cut off any minute.”
“Oh! I’ll note it down all right. Go ahead. But first about the others on the Queen. Two boats got to port all right. How about the third?”