Nick took in all these things at a glance, and with one step he approached the dresser.
The opening of the top drawer revealed an assorted collection of a gentleman’s collars, cuffs, ties, handkerchiefs, et cetera. The second drawer was filled with shirts; the third and last, with an assortment of underclothing.
He took all this into account in one rapid survey, but it was a handkerchief on top of its fellows which chiefly attracted his attention, and which nearly caused him to utter an exclamation of surprise as well as satisfaction. The handkerchief had been folded so that the marked corner was uppermost, and the detective saw at a glance that it bore a crest, and that underneath it were the initials “J. de C.”
That was a discovery worth while, he thought, but he closed the drawers quickly and crossed the stateroom to the writing-desk. In an instant he had opened that, and in another he was holding a sheet of writing-paper in his hand upon which was embossed the same crest, and the words “Château de Cadillac, Anjou, France.”
“So,” he mused, as he returned it to its place and closed the desk, “I have here a full and complete explanation of the mystery. My theory about the family characteristics and traits was the correct one, after all, for there is no doubt now in my mind that the chief of these pirates, the master of the Shadow, Captain Sparkle by name, is closely related to Jean, the Count of Cadillac—probably a brother.”
He was in the act of reclosing the desk, when he heard the sound of an opening door proceeding from the cabin, and he hastily extinguished the electric light and resorted again to the aperture he had left in closing the door, so that he might see all that took place in the apartment beyond.
And then, as he gazed past the portières, he saw the erect figure of the pirate chief as he entered the cabin, arrayed in his Hamletesque costume of red; and he saw him raise his right hand, and with one gesture remove the hat and wig of blond hair from his head; and the detective could scarcely refrain from uttering an exclamation, for the pirate chieftain stood revealed, a perfect counterpart of Count Cadillac!