"Oh, Joe!" shrieked the cook, "wot a turn you give me! an' sich news as we've 'ad!"
"News!" said Joe uneasily, his eyes still on Cicero.
"Mrs. Warrender's lost her husband, and the Quiet Gentleman's disappeared mysterious!"
"Rubbish! Get to your work, all of you!"
So saying, Joe drove the frightened crowd hither and thither to their respective duties, and Cicero, somewhat to his dismay, found himself alone with the buccaneer, as he had inwardly dubbed the newcomer.
"Who the devil are you?" asked Joe, advancing.
"Fellow," replied Cicero, getting into the doorway, "I am a friend of your late master. Cicero Gramp is my name. I came here to see Dick Marlow, but I find he's gone aloft."
Joe turned pale, even through his tan.
"A friend of Mr. Marlow," he repeated hoarsely. "That's a lie! I've been with him these thirty years, and I never saw you!"
"Not in Jamaica?" inquired Cicero sweetly.