Lane whistled. "Poor beggar!" he observed. "But Jackson must stay here. This is our magazine, my boy—where the grub is. If we've got to stand a siege we've got to seize the grub-chest. The storage chamber's along here."
The advice seemed excellent. "Yes," I answered, "that is true. Well, let Jackson wait here and lie low. He won't be discovered here."
"I dare say the cook's somewhere hidden about here, sir," observed Jackson.
"All the better. Find him if you can. And remember that, if we pull through, this means a big business for you, Jackson, and cook, too."
"Yes, sir," he assented mildly.
"Now, then, Lane," I went on, and the purser followed me into the saloon. We mounted the staircase, and I took the chance of closing the doors at the head that gave access to the deck. Then I rapped on the door that gave on the Prince's corridor. It was opened by the Princess eagerly.
"We are two more, Miss Morland," I said cheerfully, "and here is one of them."
"But my brother!" she cried out.
"I've not discovered his whereabouts yet," I said evasively.
"Do you think that he's——" She did not finish.