“You are right; it looks as if they did not care for a closer acquaintance.”
Mate Horton joined them. He had noticed the same thing.
“What do you make of it, Major?”
He glanced at Miss Starland and then at his friend without speaking. She caught the by-play.
“Don’t be afraid to speak before me; you do not seem to have noticed something else about the boat yonder.”
“What is that?”
“It has a good many more men on board than when we parted company with it.”