"Yes," answered the old man. "We've had greasy luck, and got a couple of nice whales. When did you leave Sydney?"
"The same day that you did, in the afternoon. Have you got a strange man on board, captain?"
"I don't see any," said our conscientious skipper, glancing innocently forward among the groups of men. "Your harbor police overhauled me pretty severely before I tripped my anchor, and they didn't see any, either."
"Yes, I noticed they spent some time on board of you. But there was a mighty stir among them within two hours after you left. The keeper of that public near the landing was arrested for having harbored and concealed him. Some one informed against him, and it was proved that this Galway Mike had been seen near the house the evening before, and so, instead of putting back into the bush, it was thought he had gone on board some vessel."
"The Jolly Tar is fallen into melancholy, then, I suppose."
"Yes," replied Pickering; "the landlord had his 'ticket' revoked, for he was a lag himself. He was lugged up to Hyde Park Barracks and put into uniform. He will have to serve out his time in the stone quarry."
"But don't you think," asked the old man, "that if that convict had been on board the ship, he would have shown himself before this time?"
"Yes, he would," said the Englishman, "unless some of your men are parties to his concealment, and furnish him with food. In that case he might be concealed for some time."
"So he might," said our captain, dryly. "That's true."
"He may be hid somewhere on board at this moment," observed Pickering, in a low and mysterious tone.