“Hallo, aboard!” she called out.
There was no answer. “You see,” the boatman muttered. “No one aboard. We go back.”
“Not yet, we don’t,” Madge corrected. “There must be someone here.” She glanced at her wrist watch and saw that it was twelve-fifteen. “Probably everyone is eating luncheon in the cabin.”
She shouted again but as there was no reply, indicated to her boatman that she wanted him to row around the yacht until they came to a rope ladder which hung down over the side.
“Do you mind climbing up to see if anyone is aboard?” she asked.
The boatman rewarded her with another blank stare.
“He understands perfectly,” Madge thought irritably. “Oh, well, I see I either must argue until I’m black in the face or do it myself.”
Instructing the boatman to wait for her, she grasped the rope and began the ascent. The ladder weaved back and forth as the vessel rolled gently in the waves but Madge was not afraid of falling.
“I feel like a monkey in the zoo,” she chuckled. “Such a dignified way to arrive!”
She reached the deck and looked about. Everything was in order but there was no sign of activity. It struck her as peculiar that no sailors were on duty, although she knew that Mr. Burnett employed only a few men. Everything was strangely quiet.