“Mr. Quest,” he said, “can you spare me a moment? You can all come, if you like.”
They moved up towards him. The Captain closed the door of his cabin. He pointed to a carpet-sweeper which lay against the wall.
“Look at that,” he invited.
They lifted the top. Inside were several sandwiches and a small can of tea.
“What on earth is this?” Quest demanded.
The Captain, without a word, led them into his inner room. A huge lounge stood in one corner. He lifted the valance. Underneath were some crumbs.
“You see,” he pointed out, “there’s room there for a man to have hidden, especially if he could crawl out on deck at night. I couldn’t make out why the dickens Brown was always sweeping out my room, and I took up this thing a little time ago and looked at it. This is what I found.”
“Where’s Brown?” Quest asked quickly.
“I rang down for the chief steward,” the Captain continued, “and ordered Brown to be sent up at once. The chief steward came himself instead. It seems Brown went off without his wages but with a huge parcel of bedding, on the first barge this morning, before any one was about.”
Quest groaned as he turned away.