At an aggregate speed of eleven knots, the Alerte and the strange vessel rapidly closed. Soon it was apparent that the latter was a collier; more, she was well down to Plimsoll mark. From the data Captain Cain drew the following conclusions:
She was bound foreign. Evidently she hailed from the Tyne, and since the Welsh coalfields supply the iron furnaces around Swansea with as much coal as they want, it was as futile for a Tyneside collier to carry coals to the Bristol Channel ports as it would be for her to carry that commodity to Newcastle. She was standing too far out to be shaping a course for Plymouth, while her size and draught indicated that she was not an ordinary coasting collier.
"Make our number, Mr. Barnard!" sung out the skipper.
The "number," consisting of four flags of the International Code, was already toggled ready for instant use. The first letter was H, but the combination did not appear in the pages of the list of shipping. Captain Cain had seen to that.
The four-flag hoist had hardly reached the halyard block when the stranger replied with her number.
"KJVT, sir," sung out Mr. Barnard.
Reference to the list revealed the stranger to be the s.s. Pickfast of Newcastle, a subsequent signal, AXSR, indicating that she was bound for Kingston, Jamaica.
The Alerte's next move was to hoist her Code flag over the letter "H," signifying "Bring-to, I have something important to communicate." To which the collier replied by the single flag "C" indicating "Yes," and at the same time altering helm and stopping her engines.
"Lower away a boat, Mr. Pengelly," ordered Captain Cain. "A couple of hands below there and bring Jones on deck."
In two minutes the boat, steered by Pengelly and with Jasper Chamfer in the stern-sheets, was bounding towards the collier Pickfast.