Don Sebastian agreed, and they went back to the hotel, and stayed there until word was sent that the last boat was ready to leave the mole. They took their places with one or two more passengers, and as they drew near the steamer Dick looked carefully about. Several shore boats were hanging on to the warp alongside and a cargo barge lay beside her quarter. It was obvious that she would not sail immediately, and if Kenwardine saw them come on board, he would have no trouble in leaving the vessel. If he landed, he would be in neutral territory, and their hold on him would be gone. To make things worse, a big electric lamp had been hung over the gangway so as to light the ladder.
Dick could not see Kenwardine among the passengers on deck, and getting on board as quietly as possible, they went down the nearest companion stairs and along an alleyway to the purser’s office. A number of rooms opened on to the passage, and Dick had an uncomfortable feeling that chance might bring him face to face with Kenwardine. Nobody met them, however, and they found the purser disengaged.
“If you have a passenger list handy, you might let me see it,” Dick said as he took the tickets.
The purser gave him a list, and he noted Kenwardine’s name near the bottom.
“We may as well be comfortable, although we’re not going far,” he resumed. “What berths have you left?”
“You can pick your place,” said the purser. “We haven’t many passengers this trip, and there’s nobody on the starboard alleyway. However, if you want a hot bath in the morning, you had better sleep to port. They’ve broken a pipe on the other side.”
A bath is a luxury in the Caribbean, but white men who have lived any time in the tropics prefer it warm, and Dick saw why the passengers had chosen the port alleyway. He decided to take the other, since Kenwardine would then be on the opposite side of the ship.
“We’ll have the starboard rooms,” he said. “One can go without a bath for once, and you’ll no doubt reach Kingston to-morrow night.”
“I expect so,” agreed the purser. “Still, we mayn’t be allowed to steam in until the next morning. They’re taking rather troublesome precautions in the British ports since the commerce-raider got to work.”
Dick signed to the others and crossed the after well towards the poop in a curiously grim mood. He hated the subterfuge he had practised, and there was something very repugnant in this stealthy tracking down of his man, but the chase was nearly over and he meant to finish it. Defenseless merchant seamen could not be allowed to suffer for his squeamishness.