Topham nodded. “Directly!” he replied.
“Then we shall be fellow passengers.”
“That will be pleasant. You came to take Miss Ferreira back, I suppose?”
But the Brazilian shook his head. “Not exactly,” he replied. “I came to bring her word that she must stop over in Hamburg, only two hours away. Beyond Hamburg we will go on without her.”
Without noticing that Topham had paled at his words the Brazilian glanced over the side.
“If you are ready, senor,” he remarked, turning back. “Perhaps we had better descend to the custom house.”
Topham hesitated. “If you’ll wait for just an instant,” he answered. “I’ll be with you. I want to speak to the purser.”
Ferreira nodded, and Topham disappeared. In a few minutes he was back. A slight bulge above his right breast showed the presence of a packet of some kind and an occasional slight lift of his coat in the fresh breeze, showed that it consisted of a big official-looking envelope.
But if either Ferreira or his sister noticed it they did not let the fact appear.