Cardon handed the glass up again to Floyd, who took another long look; then the two men came down on deck.
"That's Luckman!" said Floyd.
"'Pears so," said Cardon, "unless it's some vessel blown in by chance."
"No, it's no chance. I feel convinced of that. He started ahead of us, and maybe laid over us in sailing. Let's go down below and have a talk over this."
They went down to the cabin, and Floyd took his seat at the table while Cardon took the couch.
"You see, it explains everything," said Floyd. "Explains why Luckman did not sail with us, and why Hakluyt looked so cheerful, which he wouldn't have done had his plans fallen through."
"If what you say is right," said Cardon, "it makes everything a lot worse, for why should these scoundrels employ two ships unless they are determined to lose one of them? You may bet the Southern Cross is insured to the hilt and over. You say Hakluyt had her into dry dock and spent money having her scraped when she did not want it. That was all part of the plan to allay suspicion, for what would the ordinary fool say but that a man wouldn't spend money like that on a ship he was going to lose."
"Besides," said Floyd, "if Hakluyt had sent Luckman with me, what reason could he have given me for sending him? We don't want another white man in this business—well, what excuse could Hakluyt have given me for shoving Luckman in?"
"None," said Cardon, "that I can see; but that's not saying a clever rascal like Hakluyt couldn't have found some excuse."
Floyd suddenly struck the table with his fist.