"I will see you, Captain, as soon as I have looked the steamer over," replied Christy, as he left the commander of the Reindeer at the door of his cabin, and went forward to examine the vessel.
He found the steam up; and the engineer bowed to him as he looked into his room. There was nothing to be seen but cotton, piled high on the deck, and stuffed into the hold; and he returned to the cabin.
[CHAPTER XXIX]
BRINGING OUT THE PRIZE
It seemed to Christy, after he had completed his examination of the Reindeer, that she carried an enormous deck-load for a steamer of her size, and that the bales were piled altogether too high for a vessel that was liable to encounter a heavy sea. But the cotton was where it could be readily thrown overboard if the safety of the steamer was threatened by its presence. He found only the six men mentioned by Stopfoot, though he had looked in every part of the vessel, even to the fire-room and the quarters of the crew and firemen.
"I find everything as you stated, Captain Stopfoot; but I should say that you were proposing to go to sea short-handed. I did not even see a person whom I took for the mate. Is it possible that you could get along without one?" said Christy, when he met the commander at the door of the cabin.
"The truth is, that my men deserted me when they saw the two men-of-war come into the bay, for they knew I had no adequate means of making a defence. In fact, the Reindeer was as good as captured as soon as your two steamers came into the bay, for you were morally sure to find her," replied the captain.
"But where are your men? How could they get away?" asked Christy.
"They have not got away a great distance. You could see the gangway to the shore; and all they had to do was to land, without even the trouble of taking to a boat. They are all on the long key; and without some sort of a craft they will not be able to leave it. If you desire to spend your time in hunting them down, I have no doubt you could find them all."
"How many of them are there on the island, Captain Stopfoot?"