"We have kept you in sight, Captain Ringgold; and if the dirty brute had given you any further trouble, we were ready to throw him overboard," said one of the officers.
"I thank you, gentlemen; I feel able to defend myself; but I appreciate your kindness and sympathy as much as though you had manifested it in the way you have suggested," answered the captain, as he took the hand of the speaker.
While they were waiting for Dr. Hawkes and Professor Giroud, the party were presented to the four ladies in the barge, each giving his name and rank. They were all struck with the beauty of Miss Blanche; and as they retired from the boat, the captain told them that for her sake he had run away from the Fatimé three times. They declared that Gib would soon become too hot for His Highness.
The missing members arrived, and the boat shoved off, the military gentlemen raising their caps, and bowing very politely, while they cried "Bon Voyage!"
It was noon when they reached the deck of the ship, for the affair with the Pacha had delayed them a full hour. The steam was up and the steamer immediately tripped her anchor, for it had been "hove short" before, and she began her voyage. In a few minutes she had rounded Europa Point, and the course east by south had been given to the quartermaster at the wheel. The Viking had sailed for Malaga the day before.
"Where do you suppose the Maud is just now, Captain Ringgold?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, the party being seated on the officers' promenade.
"She is just fifteen miles north-west of Alboran Light," replied the commander with a smile.
"I am just as wise now as I was before, and no more so!" added the lady. "I have not the least idea where Alboran is."
"I did not suppose you had. It is a little island half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, belonging to Spain, inhabited only by a few fishermen, for there is not room for a great many of them. It is about half-way between Europe and Africa, and one hundred and thirty nautical miles from Europa Point, according to Captain Scott's figures."
"Why do you say nautical miles, Captain?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, who had given no attention whatever to navigation.