"Well, what is it?" demanded the commander. "You have a letter, and as far as I have been led to understand, you have some information to give me. Now, get along with the business, and do stop that kow-towing."
At the words a half-hidden smile wreathed the features of the man who had stood up in the craft, and who had had possession of the letter. But in a moment it was suppressed, and, at once ceasing the bows with which he had favoured the white man, he drew the document out of an inner pocket and handed it to the captain.
"Dat am de plan of de river Sarebus," he said. "Fo Sing knowee de water velly well, and Li Sung been dere many a time. De news in de town am dat de Englishmen am to go to de river to fight de pirate, and Fo Sing and Li Sung comee here to say dat dey willee go dere too, and take de news to de pirates. If we not go, den de news reach dem all de same. But s'posing we am dere, den we makee friends, we laugh and we eat wid de pirate, and one velly fine day we come away again, and tell de Englishmen allee dat we see."
"Why, the man is proposing exactly what we had arranged!" gasped Captain Keppel. "But I must keep that to myself. What do you think of this offer, Horton? It seems uncanny that these fellows should have come at such a time. One really begins to think that they have guessed our plans."
"They can hardly have done that, sir," was the answer. "But would not a second party be advisable? Then if one failed—you understand?"
"Quite so, exactly, though I trust that there will be no mishap. But this fellow says that he has been to the Sarebus before. Probably one of the pirates, if one could only get at the truth."
"Yes, that may be the case," replied the chief officer, with elevated eyebrows, "but a Chinaman will do anything for gold. Here, what are you asking for this work?"
He turned to the spokesman of the two who had come aboard, and demanded his price, while he stared closely at him, watching him narrowly.
"For me, nothing, sir. I shall do my utmost for the navy. For Li Sung, the Chinaman who accompanied me through a part of Borneo, and then down the Sarebus, he asks merely that a passage shall be paid for him so that he may sail for Singapore, there to rejoin his wife and family."
In a moment the tones of the Chinaman's voice had changed, and the captain of the Dido and his chief officer found themselves listening to the young fellow who had so recently joined them. In utter amazement they stared at him, only to find that he returned their glances gravely, and with never a smile, for Tyler was in desperate earnest, and had come aboard in this manner, not to make fun of those who were his superiors, but to test the effectiveness of his disguise. Seeing that matters had gone far enough already, and that, in spite of the brilliant light, and of the fact that Captain Keppel and Mr. Horton were so close to him, they had failed to recognize him, he at once spoke in his natural tones, so that it might become clear who he was.