Davidge, hearing his name bruited, rose and called into the mob, “What’s that?”
“Neecky is here.”
When Davidge understood he was staggered. For a moment he stood in a stupor. Then he apologized to the speaker. “An emergency call. Please forgive me and go right on!”
He bowed to the other distinguished guests and left the platform. Pafflow found him and explained.
“Moll, the passer-boy, my gang, she say find you, life and death, and say Neecky is here! I doan’ know what she means, but now I find you.”
“Which way––where––did you––have you an idea where she went?”
“She go over by new ship Mamise––weeth gentleman all dressy up.”
Davidge ran toward the scaffolding surrounding the almost finished hull. He recognized one or two of his plain-clothes guards and stopped just long enough to tell them to get together and search every ship at once, and to make no excitement about it.
The scaffolding was like a jungle, and he prowled through it with caution and desperate speed, up and down the swaying, cleated planks and in and out of the hull.