“Then we shall join you at once.”
Notwithstanding the serious demeanor of the men, Elsie was far from guessing what had happened. But she was soon enlightened.
“In which bunker was the coal placed which we shipped at Valparaiso?” Courtenay asked Boyle.
“In the forrard cross bunker,” was the instant answer.
“And that was the first coal used in the furnaces?”
“Yes, sir.”
The captain’s tone was official, exceedingly so, and the chief officer took the cue from his superior in rank.
“Did we get up steam with it?”
“There might have been a hundred-weight or two lying loose in the stoke-hold, but, for all practical purposes, we have used nothing but the Valparaiso bunker since we left port.”
“The rest of our coal was shipped at Coronel?”