He smiled reassuringly. “Buck up, Saidee!� he said. “Think of poor Dutch Gus. Watch, when he jumps.�
Wonder broke through the beauty of her eyes. She turned and stood erect. The dingy freighter was on the verge of its last plunge. The starboard rails were under the sea. A single figure climbed for the highest places. It appeared on the top of the pilot-house. Fog wrapped the standing rigging. Wind and mist blotted out the view.
The view returned. The figure was now close by the funnel. Hands were raised impotently toward the heavens. The German in Dutch Gus had caved. He cried, and the sea mocked him.
Fay loosened a pair of oars, sat down, and swung the bow of the small boat toward the ship. He sensed his position and bent his back. The ship went down in a geyser of white foam. The upper deck-cabins and ventilators were sheered from their holding-bolts. The sea churned with white wreckage.
Out of this wreckage there appeared a bobbing head. Fay swung the boat and rowed in the direction of this head. He waited, inboarded his oars and rose with the tiny revolver clutched tightly in his hand. Saidee Isaacs leaned over the bow. She pointed toward Dutch Gus.
The German crook was going down for the second time when Fay leaped forward and reached out his right hand.
He caught a firm grip upon the swimmer’s neckband. He jerked backward and lifted Dutch Gus out of the sucking sea. The girl stumbled to the stern of the boat as the bow went under and water cascaded over the seats. She stood erect and watched Fay.
Taking no chances, he laid the form over a gunwale and searched the pockets. He found a pasty mass of Bank of England notes and some gold. A knife, cartridges, papers and a notebook followed.
He deposited these on a seat and rose. He glanced over the sea. There was no sign of the other boats of the ship. Wreckage and floating crates lifted and fell with the waves. Fog swirled and wreathed about the spot where the freighter had gone down.
Stooping swiftly, Fay unbuttoned the German’s clothes and removed a money-belt. There was a bulge near the buckle of this. The buckle was hard to open. Fay turned, steadied himself, and snatched up the knife. He opened a blade with his strong teeth. He slit the chamois of the belt and drew out the cipher-key. It was sealed. It had not been tampered with. The paper with which it was bound was wet.