Dancing down the stairs of the old house into the street he made for the end of the stone pier, and sitting down at the head of the steps he took a long survey of the yacht, wondering whether it equalled in point of swiftness and beauty the famous Long Serpent of Olaf, built by that master-shipwright, Thorberg.
A boat was rapidly making its way from the vessel to the harbour. Idris recognized it as the revenue-cutter, at the tiller of which sat Old Pol himself.
"Ha! Master Idris," he said, as soon as he had mounted the stairs, "what a pity you were not out an hour earlier! You could then have gone with us to yon vessel." And then, turning to those who had accompanied him, he remarked: "So Captain Rochefort is the owner of that yacht. Well, everybody has heard of him: one of the bravest in the Emperor's service, and an officer of the Legion of Honour. Nothing wrong with that craft, eh, Baptiste?"
"Humph!" growled the man addressed, a grizzled old coastguard with a saturnine cast of countenance. "So they have put Captain Rochefort ashore at Port St. Remé, and he is coming on foot to Quilaix. But if the Captain wants to visit Quilaix, why does he not come with the yacht, instead of walking over the moorland?"
"Why, Baptiste, you talk like one who is suspicious," remarked Pol in surprise.
"And I am suspicious. There's something wrong in the wind. Harbour-master, listen to me. As everybody in Quilaix is going to the Pardon to-day the town will be deserted until a late hour. The night will be dark, as this is the time of no moon. Captain Rochefort has been put ashore in order to signal the favourable moment. They are going to run a cargo."
This statement was received by Pol with a burst of laughter.
"Baptiste, you talk like a fool. What cargo can such a small craft carry? Besides, they have no cargo. Did we not overhaul her thoroughly? Captain Rochefort a contrabandist! A military officer hazard his reputation in a smuggling venture! Impossible! He would have everything to lose and nothing to gain by such a course."
Baptiste, by a shake of his head, implied that he was not to be moved from his opinion.
"Very well, Baptiste, since you are so suspicious, we had better put you on the watch for the next twenty-four hours."