“Won’t it make the captain storm a bit, sir, and ask sharply why we didn’t make haste and join?”
“Most likely, Mr Murray,” said the lieutenant quietly; “but if he does we have two answers.”
“The lugger, sir.”
“Yes, Mr Murray, and the discovery of the schooner.”
“Waiting to be boarded, sir,” said the midshipman.
“Exactly, Mr Murray. Any one make out the second cutter?”
“Ay, ay, sir!” cried Tom May. “There she is, sir—miles astarn of the Seafowl, sir.”
“I wish we could signal to her to lay off and on where she is.”
“What for, sir?”
“There may be one of the narrow entrances to the great river thereabouts, and the wider the space we can cover, the greater chance we shall have of preventing the slaver from stealing away.”