'We are dull, but what we have is good. Our views are magnificent, and although Ada would like to live in London and dwell within musket-shot of St. James's Palace, I am satisfied, and therefore happy.' He added suddenly, 'Jackman! The name recurs to me. I think I saw a paragraph in a little sheet that makes its way hereabouts, stating that a Captain Jackman of the ship Lovelace had been knocked down in London, and robbed of fifteen hundred pounds.'
'I am that man, sir,' said the captain, without any emotion in his face.
'Was the money recovered?' said the commander.
'Not a dollar.'
'Have you any suspicions as to the thief?' inquired Miss Conway.
'I believe he is a dirty little forecastle hand, who got scent that I was carrying the money ashore, and followed me,' answered Captain Jackman. 'I saw such a figure disappear as it threw my bag down an area.'
'Fifteen hundred pounds is a considerable slice for a merchant vessel to lose in these times, sir,' said the commander.
'And a merchant vessel is a considerable slice for a master to lose at all times, sir,' answered Captain Jackman.
'Have they dismissed you?' inquired Ada.
'Yes,' said the captain with a careless laugh, 'and so I came down here to enjoy myself by getting locked down in a cave, and making for one of the ugliest of deaths. How can I thank you—how can I thank you, madam?' he said, languishing towards Ada.