Aubyn listened interestedly. His junior officer's scheme seemed practicable, while the sub was quite capable of being entrusted with its execution.
"Very good, Mr. Farrar," exclaimed the "owner" of the "Zenodorus." "I'll submit the matter to the Commander-in-Chief, and no doubt he will concur. I don't see why you shouldn't go on a roving commission for the next three weeks; it will be preferable to cooling your heels in Valetta. By Jove! I wish I could go with you."
CHAPTER XXI
THE LAST VOYAGE OF S.S. "ANDROMEDA"
FOR nearly half a minute silence followed von Loringhoven's dramatic assertion. Only the ticking of a clock over the oak mantelpiece broke the stillness.
Then the commercial who had been reading the newspaper coughed deprecatingly.
"We are too tough old birds to be caught with chaff, sir," he remarked. "If you want cheap notoriety try the nearest constable."
His companions laughed at the apparent discomfiture of a man who had attempted a hoax and had been detected.
"I was once in the company of a man who declared that he was Clutterbung, the fraudulent lawyer for whose arrest a thousand pounds reward was offered," observed one of the company. "On that instance the fellow was a bit wrong under the thatch. Not that I wish to insinuate anything, sir, but really your assertion is so palpably improbable that I—or rather we—decline to be imposed upon."