One of the twain was a fat, good-natured man whom nothing seemed to trouble. The other was thin and dyspeptic looking, who seemed suspicious of his own shadow.
"He'll never be fool enough to sit quiet under the thousands we are sending over," the latter remarked.
"Oh, he'll never trouble. Look at Consul —— at ——. Ever since the war broke out he has been sending hundreds of thousands of barrels of herrings to Germany. He is shipping them off now, as fast as he can get them. And, the devil burn me, he's the English Consul. The Minister has never stopped him. Why should he trouble us?"
"But has he not power to remove him?" asked the thin man.
"Of course he has," replied fatty. "Ministers appoint and remove Consuls as they please. And when an English Consul is allowed to rake in a fortune in a few months, supplying the Germans with food, how can you argue he will stop us dealing in horses to go to Denmark?"
"Anyhow, the sooner we can get ours through the more relieved I shall be," grunted the other. "It will take them two days to reach ——, and once they are shipped it's all right."
Their conversation drifted to other topics, and although I waited patiently on the sofa for another hour nothing further of importance was divulged. Some time after this an exceptionally heavy sea struck the vessel, causing her to roll so heavily that everything on the tables was spilt, whilst I was pitched, nolens volens, amongst the spittoons on the floor. This foretaste of further rocking to come sent all three of us to our respective berths.
On landing at the port of —— I lost no time in searching for my unknown Commanding Officer. The hotel which had been named to me was a good one, its guests included many nationalities. At dinner I spotted three men of military aspect, each of whom might well be the gentleman in question. Coffee and a cigar in the lounge failed to procure any sign of the expectant one; I therefore strolled out into the town to make a few small purchases.
An hour later I returned. Only three people now occupied the lounge. One of them undoubtedly was an army officer belonging to a smart regiment, but it would have been difficult to guess to what country he belonged. A first venture would probably have elicited German as the answer. All the more reason for double caution, thought I to myself.
In nonchalant fashion I overhauled the mass of periodicals upon the tables, and having selected a local one, settled myself down at ease in a long deck-chair under a potted palm to watch and wait for possible developments.