Tallow being a delicacy to which rats are particularly addicted, it was not so very surprising to learn that the rodent, who had taken up his temporary abode on board the Olivette, had been attracted by Flemming's sock. Not only had the tallow disappeared but four square inches of wool had gone the same way.
Then Hayes discovered a gnawed hole in his haversack, and Woodleigh noted with considerable misgivings that one of his shoes looked a bit ragged. Mr. Rat had been quite impartial in his attentions, and had he not nibbled Desmond's toe he might have taken toll from every Sea Scout on board.
While breakfast was being prepared Findlay engaged upon a tracking stunt in the fo'c'sle. It did not take him long to find the rat's mode of entering. There was a hole through the side of one of the lockers, the ragged edges bearing testimony to the sharpness of the animal's teeth. From the for'ard partition of the locker another hole communicated with the chain-locker. Here the trail ended. It was impossible for the rat to have got into the chain-locker through the narrow metal-bound aperture that allowed the "ranged" cable to run out. The only explanation of the rat's method of getting into the locker was that at some recent time the lid must have been left open.
The next step was to find out the rodent's hiding-place. There was no other hole between the fo'c'sle and the engine-room. All the lockers were examined. The floor fitted too well to allow the animal to find a refuge in the bilges.
"I don't think we need try smoking the rat out," decided Mr. Armitage. "The only feasible conclusion we can come to is that the brute made its escape through the open scuttle. In all probability the rat has rejoined his brothers and sisters in a hole under the piles of the quay, and is regaling them with a story of wondrous adventures with the Sea Scouts of the Olivette."
CHAPTER IX
Adrift in West Bay
At the first streak of dawn the Olivette slipped her moorings and made for the open sea. It was an ideal daybreak. Not a ripple disturbed the slate-grey surface of the water, save the even wake caused by the steadily moving boat. The sky was grey; the dawn was grey. Even the verdant hills of the Isle of Wight looked grey where they were faintly visible through the light mist.
"It's going to be a scorching hot day," declared Woodleigh.