"In a quarter of an hour you will breakfast," he said.
"Merci, monsieur," I answered; "I am hungry."
"This boat is my coffin," he suddenly ejaculated, looking me straight in the face. "That is why I will sell it to no one."
I nodded, and tried to smile in spite of my terror at this sudden change in his manner and the fierceness with which he gripped my wrist.
"When I am tired of life I shall drive into the midst of the Atlantic, sink Le Diable to the lowest ocean depths, and die."
"Yes, when you are tired of life," I answered.
"And who knows when that may be!" he cried. "Perhaps to-day, perhaps to-morrow," and he chuckled in a mirthless fashion.
I gazed at him and shivered, but in a few moments his frenzy passed, and, taking my hand, he led me towards the mechanism that controlled the boat, and pointed to the clock. "In ten minutes more we shall be there," he cried.
"How do these handles work the boat?" I asked, gently, with my mind upon my mission. "Where is the actual machinery?"
"That is my secret!" he shouted. "Pull." And he placed my fingers on another handle. Obedient to the touch the vessel slowed, and then stopped.