He tossed off the water without hesitation, gave one of the men the tin to take back, and then altered the course of the boat a little, so as to hug the shore.
“We must not let the pirates suspect that we are following,” he said.
“What are we going to do, Mr Brooke?” I said.
“You should never question your commanding-officer about his strategy,” he replied, with a smile; and I was about to apologise, but he went on, “There’s only one thing to do, my lad, keep them in sight, and I hope that at any time the Teaser may appear. When she does, she will in all probability run by those junks without suspecting their nature, then we come in and let them know the truth.”
“But suppose the Teaser does not come into sight?”
“Then our task is clear enough. We must hang on to the track of the junks till we see where they go. Depend upon it, they have two or three rendezvous.”
“Think they have telescopes on board?” I said.
“It is extremely doubtful; and if we keep Ching always well in sight, I don’t suppose they will notice us. They will take us for a fishing-boat, that’s all.”
By this time the sun was pouring down his beams with scorching violence, and we were glad to give up the tiller to one of the men, and get into the shelter of the cabin, just beyond which we found that Ching was busy at work plucking one of the geese.
“Why are you doing that?” I asked.