I pricked up my ears, but all I said was—
"Why is that?"
"On account of the currents. The old passage hasn't been quite satisfactory. They are going to experiment with a new passage."
This certainly sounded all right, for I knew how diabolical the tideways can be round these islands.
"Do you know the new course at all accurately?" I inquired.
Captain Ashington smiled for the first time, and somehow or other the sight of a smile on his face gave me a strongly increased distaste for the man.
"I know it exactly," he said.
He took out of his pocket a folded chart and laid it on the table. The three of us bent over it, and at a glance I could see that this was business indeed. All the alterations in the mine-fields were shown and the course precisely laid down.
"Well," said Tiel, "I think this suggests something, Belke."
By this time I was inwardly burning with excitement.