'Hard a'port it is,' she answered and we swung away. I wanted to get well clear of the catcher. The rage of the man was obvious even though the distance between us was rapidly widening. I wondered what he would do if we succeeded in picking up Schreuder.
But we didn't succeed. And nor did Lovaas. The two of us cruised back and forth over that little area of sea a hundred times.
But we saw no sign of Schreuder — only his discarded jacket floating half submerged with the sleeves held out like a man drowned. There was not a breath of wind. The sea was like glass. And the mist was so thick we were often out of sight of the catcher. I had a bucket of sea water brought up and dipped my hand in. It was as cold as ice. No man could live for long in water that cold. After half an hour I gave up and followed the catcher as it made off slowly through the mist to Bovaagen Hval.
As we left the spot I saw Jill gazing over the stern. 'If only we could have saved him,' she said. 'He could have told us so much. I'm sure he could.' She turned suddenly to me.
'What do you think happened up there on the Jostedal?'
'I don't know,' I said. The less she thought about it the better.
'But something must have happened,' she murmured. 'He was there with George. And then after — the accident — he tries to make for England. He's afraid to stay in Norway. So afraid that he's willing to take a chance in that icy water. And those samples of ore. He must have taken them from George's body. Bill!' She caught at my arm and her voice was tense. 'Do you think — do you think he killed George?'
'I d6n't know what to think,' I replied. I didn't look at her. I didn't want to see that hurt expression in her eyes.
'Well, whatever he did,' Curtis said, 'the poor devil's dead now. And we'll never know the truth of what happened.' He turned and gazed aft. 'Hallo! Mist's lifting a bit. I wonder what happened to those two boats?'
'What two boats?' I asked.