"Well, what about it?"
"Nothin'," said Ben. "We knows what we knows. I've done the same on a smaller scale in me time."
Pierre said nothing for a moment or two, but eyed them thoughtfully, as though once more in doubt as to the best way to handle the situation.
"This makes a difference," he said at last; "but I've no time to talk to you now. There's work for me on deck."
Then, with the same swift movements which had characterized his entrance, he let himself out of the room, once more locking the door behind him.
"Now you've gone and done it!" declared Dare ruefully.
"How so?" asked Ben.
"Why, do you think he's going to be as easy with us now that we've as good as told him we know he's a smuggler?"
"Why not? He must have known we guessed there was something funny in the wind or he wouldn't have asked us to keep our mouths shut."
"Nevertheless, I don't see why you wanted to make him certain we knew."