"I haven't had time even to come into it on this trip, though I intend to go through it every day, to see that everything is in order. I have had all I could do the last week to look out for the vessel, with two heavy gales and plenty of fog," replied the captain. "I had to make a harbor at Matanzas Inlet, and again at Tavernier's, for I was afraid this little craft would roll her engine out of her."
"We kept on through the whole of it Friday night," I added.
"You were outside of the reef, and you could not make a harbor," retorted Captain Blastblow. "But I got to Key West two hours before you did."
"You did not go to the assistance of a wrecked bark as I did, and land her ship's company in Key West," I replied.
The captain of the Islander wanted to know about the wreck; and at another time I told him all about it. We were too much concerned in verifying our theory in relation to the robbery in Jacksonville to agree to any long digression.
"Is the steward the only person who has been a constant visitor to the cabin?" I asked.
"Gibbs, the waiter, did all the work in the cabin; and he must have seen more of the passengers than even the steward," replied the captain.
"Where is Gibbs?"
"Probably on deck, or asleep in some corner."
"Perhaps we had better call the steward and waiter," suggested Colonel Shepard.