It is just possible. At any rate, the case was hardly one for a death penalty.
So Godfrey had good reason to interfere in favour of the intruder, and Captain Turcott, who pretended to be angrier than he really was, gave up the idea of sending Seng Vou overboard to battle with the waves of the Pacific.
Seng Vou, however, did not return to his hiding-place in the hold, though he was rather an incubus on board. Phlegmatic, methodic, and by no means communicative, he carefully avoided the seamen, who had always some prank to play off on him, and he kept to his own provisions. He was thin enough in all conscience, and his additional weight but imperceptibly added to the cost of navigating the Dream. If Seng Vou got a free passage it was obvious that his carriage did not cost William W. Kolderup very much.
His presence on board put into Captain Turcott's head an idea which his mate probably was the only one to understand thoroughly.
"He will bother us a bit—this confounded Chinee!—after all, so much the worse for him."
"What ever made him stow himself away on board the Dream?" answered the mate.
"To get to Shanghai!" replied Captain Turcott. "Bless John and all John's sons too!"