“That’s it.”
“And some men were taken prisoners from a schooner called the Centurion?” demanded Jack.
“Yes, but see here Ready, how in the world——?”
“Never mind that. What became of those prisoners?”
“He locked them up in cabins. He said that they were bad men and pearl robbers and that he was bringing them to justice.”
“Did you ever talk with them?”
“No; except one, and I never got a chance to say much to him. Broom watched me very closely. He’d have murdered me if he’d thought that I was trying to pry into his affairs.”
“What was the name of the man you talked to?”
“He was a kind of a leader of the party, I guess,” was the reply. “I used to take him his meals and there were precious few of those too, for we were on short rations ourselves.”
“But his name—his name?” demanded Jack.