“I imagine so. You guessed the captain’s plan from what you heard outside the room?”
“Not altogether, but it gave me a hint. It looks as if you recognized me when I was standing near the lifeboat.”
“I did,” said Don Sebastian meaningly. “I think I showed my confidence in you.”
Dick nodded, because it was plain that the other had enabled him to go away without being questioned.
“Very well; I’ll tell you what I know,” he said, and related how he had found the man with the flute loitering about the purser’s door. As he finished, Don Sebastian got up.
“You made one mistake; you should have given your note to an Englishman and not a young Creole lad. However, we must see if the steamer can be stopped.”
He led the way up a staircase to the flat roof, where Dick ran to the parapet. Looking across the town, he saw in the distance a dim white light and a long smear of smoke that trailed across the glittering sea. He frowned as he watched it, for the ship was English and he felt himself responsible for the safety of all on board her. He had done his best, when there was no time to pause and think, but perhaps he had blundered. Suppose the Creole boy had lost his note or sent it to somebody ashore?
“We are too late again,” Don Sebastian remarked as he sat down on the parapet. “Well, one must be philosophical. Things do not always go as one would wish.”
“Why didn’t you warn the captain that his plan was found out, instead of jumping into the launch?” Dick asked angrily.
Don Sebastian smiled. “Because I did not know. I saw a man steal down the ladder and thought he might be a spy, but could not tell how much he had learned. If he had learned nothing, it would have been dangerous for the captain to change his plan again and keep to the sailing list.”