It was agreed to follow Major Colbrook’s advice in the main, but our friends preferred to go on to Port Said without much more delay.
“Hugh Stavanger probably saw us,” said Annie. “If so, he will not come back to Malta.”
“Perhaps not, but you have no guarantee that your supposition as to his having seen you is correct. And you will surely not leave here till news of some sort respecting the balloonists arrives.”
“No; it will be better to wait a little while.”
That a little patience was advisable, was proved when the particulars of the rescue of the balloonists came to hand. When, however, the Corys learned that Hugh Stavanger was not returning to Malta, they left the island for Port Said as soon as it could be managed. But here they were baffled again, as by the time they landed, the man whom they sought was already on his way to Bombay, and no efforts of theirs could discover a trace of him.
“We must remain here now until the ‘Merry Maid’ arrives,” said Annie. “Meanwhile, it strikes me that we have been acting very clumsily. To give a different name to ship captains and hotel proprietors is not enough. We must disguise ourselves effectually. It is quite possible that Hugh Stavanger recognised me at Valetta, and that but for that misfortune he would have been brought to book by this time. Such a blunder must not be made again. We have a great stake to play for, and we intend to win.”
“You are right, Annie. If the fellow suspects us, he will look out for us, so we must circumvent him by losing ourselves, as it were.”
The result of the conversation that now ensued between father and daughter was a complete change in the appearance of both of them, and those who could recognise Mr. Cory or his daughter in the elderly clergyman who was supposed to be the tutor and travelling guide of the rather delicate-looking young Englishman who accompanied him would have to be extremely wide-awake. There was no cessation of watchfulness on the part of the so-called Rev. Alexander Bootle and Mr. Ernest Fraser. But very little that was of special interest to them occurred during their stay in Port Said, and they were very glad when at last the “Merry Maid” appeared in the port. Duly armed with the necessary authority, the Rev. Mr. Bootle, accompanied by an officer of the law, went on board the steamer the moment it was possible to do so, his object being the arrest of Captain Cochrane, on the charge of being accessory after the fact to the great diamond robbery in Hatton Garden.
Picture his dismay on discovering that Captain Cochrane had not come out with his ship this time. According to the account of Mr. Gerard, the new master of the “Merry Maid,” Mr. Cochrane had had a legacy of a thousand pounds left him lately, and he had resolved to take a holiday for the space of a voyage. On the return of the ship to England, he meant to join it, and Captain Gerard would then have to subside into his former position of chief mate.
That evening, conceiving that nothing was to be done there towards the object they had at heart, Mr. Fraser and his companion were arranging their luggage, preparatory to returning to England on the morrow. Both were downcast—the former particularly so.