Both men left their chairs and leaned on the rail watching her.
Said Candon, after a moment’s silence, “D’y’ know what I’ve been thinking? I’ve been thinking we’ve played it pretty low-down on T. C.”
“How?”
“Well, it’s this way. McGinnis will be after us, sure, as soon as he can get his hoofs under him. He’ll know we’re making for the Bay of Whales and he’ll be after us. Question is, can he get the Heart tinkered up in time, or would he take another boat. If he does and catches us, there’s sure to be a fight. We should have told T. C. that. I thought of it this morning at breakfast.”
“Well, why didn’t you tell her?”
“Well, I didn’t, somehow. There’s another thing, we’ve never told her who I am. That’s worried me.”
“Well, it’s easy enough to tell her.”
“No, sir, it isn’t, not by a long chalk. I almost came to it yesterday. It was when you two were down below and I had her here on deck showing her how to make a fisherman’s bend. It came to me to tell her and I opened out about Vanderdecken, saying he wasn’t maybe as bad as some folk painted him, then she closed me up and put the lid on.”
“What did she say?”
“Said stealing was stealing and taking women’s jewelry was a dirty trick.”