"They were lost?"
"They were."
"You know of no reason why they should have changed their course so as to throw your ship squarely in front of the 'Wanderer'?"
"No earthly reason."
"They were thoroughly capable and experienced men?"
"Yes, so far as my observation went."
"You admit that the course of your ship was changed, do you not?"
"If what the young man and Captain Simms say is true, our course must have been changed. I cannot but think the mate must have lost his head, or else failed to note the position of the compass while he was busy peering ahead. That is probably the explanation, the wheelman forgetting himself in looking ahead also. He knew there was a ship under their bows; both knew it and they were naturally anxious."
"You would not have mentioned this had not the young seaman Rush brought it out?"
"I might not have, because I did not know it. It puts the matter in an entirely new light."