OVERBOARD
Alice was so impressed with what she had heard sailor Jack say, that, in spite of the desire to give all her attention to the start of the voyage, destined to be so momentous, she looked first at Jepson and then at the new arrival. The latter appeared to be an ordinary sailor, but there was a commanding air about him, as though he were used to having his own way. But he was sufficiently subservient to Captain Brisco, saluting the commander in formal fashion.
"You're late!" growled Captain Brisco.
"Yes—couldn't help it," was the almost cheerful answer. "You knew I wouldn't be left though, didn't you?"
"Well, I wasn't sure of it," Alice heard the captain answer. "Get below, and then we'll talk later."
Alice turned to see how Jack Jepson was taking this. The old salt seemed to be listening intently, but he had his back turned.
"He knows that man who just came aboard," decided Alice, "and there is something queer about it all. In fact there is something queer about this vessel and Captain Brisco. I feel as though I were in the midst of a mystery. I'm going to see if I can't solve it."
That was Alice's way. She always did like to solve puzzles, from the time when she was a small child, and she went at this one in much the same way as had been her habit in the case of the simple ones in the juvenile papers she took when a little girl.
"There's something between Captain Brisco, Jack Jepson and this new man," Alice decided. "Jack is afraid of being recognized, and yet he wants to make sure who this new man is. Can it have anything to do with the mutiny, I wonder?"
It was a question she could not answer just then. She resolved to be on the watch, to look and listen, without saying much, until she had in her mental grasp some of the loose ends of the puzzle.