"On shore!" replied a voice from the forward deck.
"Come up to the shore, and take me on board, will you?" continued Christy, disguising his voice to some extent the better to answer his purpose.
"Who is it?" demanded the person on board who acted as speaker; and Christy could see his form very distinctly, as he stood at an open gangway, and was the only person in sight on the lower deck.
"Brigster," replied Christy, chewing up the word he coined so that the man could not possibly make it out.
"Are you alone, Brewster?" demanded the speaker from the steamer.
This was a hard question, and with less information than he had obtained while in his cabin on board of the Florence, he would not have dared to reply to it. But he knew something of the plan of the conspirators, and he felt competent to answer.
"Three more back in the road," replied Christy, promptly; and he said three so as to give the idea that the force on board might be increased by this number. "Is Captain Carboneer on board of that steamer?" asked the midshipman, coming to his main point.
"Steamer, Ahoy!" shouted Christy.—Page 107.
"He is, and we are all here but four," replied the speaker on the deck; and Christy was satisfied that the captain was the person by this time, for his language and his voice indicated that he was an educated man.