The mate nodded, and the watchman pushed his cap back and rubbed his head in a perplexed fashion.
“Blest if I know, exactly,” he said. “The sloop’s all right. I went on board and examined her again this morning, and not a thing had been touched.”
“Examined her again! But what happened in the night?” Jack was now becoming concerned, in spite of the fact that the sloop lay basking in the bright sunshine at his feet.
“’Twas about midnight, as near as I can remember,” said the Cap’n. “I’d been having a little doze in my cubby, and I walked out here to take a squint ’round. I’d no idea anything was wrong, mind you. It was mighty dark, ’cause the moon hadn’t got up yet, and it was cloudy. I was standing right here, lighting my pipe, when I heard something down yonder at the far side of the Sea-Lark. It wasn’t much of a noise, more like the soft bumping of a dory up against her side than anything. P’r’aps I wouldn’t have taken any special notice of it, only there was no wind, and as far as I could remember nobody had left any dory near.”
“‘Hello, there!’ I calls out, not thinking anything special about it. If I’d known then what I knew a minute later I’d ha’ been down aboard the sloop afore you could ha’ said your own name. But I didn’t.
“There was somebody there, right on the deck of your ferry-boat, but he didn’t say a word. I heard the bumping sound again, as though he’d drawn a dory to the side with a jerk, and he jumped into it. Then he rowed off quick as lightning. I hollered after him, but he took no notice, so I got my lantern and went aboard the sloop. The cabin door was locked, just as you always leave it. Come to think of it, there’s nothing special any one could steal. Anyway, that’s all that happened, but you may be sure I didn’t take no more dozes till daybreak.”
“How queer!” commented Jack, uneasily.
“Rowed clean away, he did. Mind you, it might ha’ been some one who’d landed there while I was dozing, and he was just putting off again, but why did he land against the side o’ the Sea-Lark when he could pretty near have walked onto the wharf ten yards further on?”
“And what was he doing there, anyway, at midnight?” asked Jack. “You don’t get people prowling around the wharf very often at that time of night, do you?”
“If I catch ’em at it you may be sure I want to know what they’re after,” replied the watchman. “The queer thing about it was his sliding off without saying a word when I hailed him.”