“Well, until that moment, I myself had no idea how he had accomplished it. I am not positive, even, that I had asked myself the question. So many things had happened in such a short time, and my mind had been kept so employed in thinking about the absurdity of the whole occurrence, that the mere incident of how the pirate came aboard my yacht, or how he intended to take his departure, when the moment arrived to do so, did not present itself.”
“I can readily understand that.”
“But I was soon to discover.
“He returned the keys, and thanked us for our courtesy with the air of a Chesterfield. Then, with a bow, which would have made Beau Brummel stare with envy, he turned his back and walked to the bow of the yacht.
“Mind you, there had not been a sound during the entire proceeding which would have called a single member of my crew to the deck, even had they all been awake and listening, and to this moment, with the exception of the one man who was captured by the pirates and bound and gagged near the forecastle-hatch, not a man of my crew is aware of what happened.”
“Do you mean that you have managed to keep it a secret from all of them?”
“Yes, I do mean that. It is bad enough to have the members of my own family know about it—it is bad enough to be compelled to tell you about it—without living to the end of my days knowing that my men are quietly laughing in their sleeves at me.”
“I am afraid that you are oversensitive about it, Kane.”
“Humph! Perhaps so; but I don’t like to be laughed at. And, more, I am not one who is supposed to submit to such a proceeding without offering the slightest resistance.”