"Everything but that! I admit that the captain, or one of his men, has profited by the darkness, the fog, or anything you like, in order to slip on board; we are not very far from land; there are Esquimaux kaïaks that pass unperceived between the icebergs; someone may have come on board and left the letter; the fog was intense enough to favour their design."
"And to hinder them from seeing the brig," replied the doctor; "if we were not able to perceive an intruder slip on board, how could he have discovered the Forward in the midst of a fog?"
"That is evident," exclaimed Johnson.
"I come back, then," said the doctor, "to my first hypothesis. What do you think about it, Shandon?"
"I think what you please," replied Shandon fiercely, "with the exception of supposing that this man is on board my vessel."
"Perhaps," added Wall, "there may be amongst the crew a man of his who has received instructions from him."
"That's very likely," added the doctor.
"But which man?" asked Shandon. "I tell you I have known all my men a long time."
"Anyhow," replied Johnson, "if this captain shows himself, let him be man or devil, we'll receive him; but we have another piece of information to draw from this letter."
"What's that?" asked Shandon.