"Early this morning," he said, "I escorted a young lady to Tilbury. We went there on the strength of a bogus telegram, which informed us that her brother, who is a Belgian officer, was leaving there at midday on a munition ship bound for Havre. We found a ship's boat waiting for us at the dock mentioned in the telegram, but they refused to take me on board with her. I thought this reasonable, as it was supposed to be a Government vessel, and I stayed behind to wait for her. She was no sooner safely on board than the steamer hoisted the Norwegian flag and steamed off."
The Commander stared for a moment. Then he looked away.
"Sounds a queer story," he observed.
"It's a true one," Aaron assured him. "Of course, there's a reason for this abduction. The young lady some months ago——"
"I don't want the whole story," the Commander interrupted. "I want to know how you got into the North Sea?"
"I was coming to that," Aaron Rodd proceeded. "My companion can bear me out as to the rest. I hired his tug, meaning to follow the steamer into whatever port it might go if they refused to take me on board. We caught her up and signalled her to stop. She manoeuvred a little, disclosed a gun, and blew us to pieces. The captain here and I are the only two who ever came up again."
The Commander glanced at the lieutenant, who had remained in the room. Not a word passed between them.
"Who are you?" he enquired.
"My name is Aaron Rodd," was the prompt reply. "I am an American, but I have practised law in England for a good many years. I know my story sounds fanciful, but there's no getting away from the sequel. The tug-master here can confirm every word of it."
The tug-master proceeded to do so, and the two officers listened for a time as though fascinated. The Commander interrupted him at last.