"Never mind them. There are the boats, and no doubt they'll all take care of themselves. Fools if they don't."
"I should feel that I'd murdered them all," the old man responded.
"In this affair we must save ourselves," declared the unseen man, very firmly. "There has been a—well, we'll call it an ugly occurrence to-night, and it behoves us to get clear out of it. If the Vispera goes down, the body will go down with it, and the sea will hide our secret."
"But I cannot imperil the lives of all in that manner. Besides, by what means do you suggest destroying the ship?"
"Perfectly simple. Just give orders to Davis in the morning to put in at Leghorn with all possible speed, and leave the rest to me. I'll guarantee that the Vispera will never reach Naples." Then he added: "But just shut that infernal ventilator. I don't like it being open."
Old Keppel, staggering, reached the cord, and in obedience to his companion's wish closed the narrow opening with a sudden bang. The woodwork narrowly escaped coming into contact with my face, and for some moments I remained there clutching at my unstable supports, and rudely buffeted by the gale.
As at any moment I might be discovered, I made haste to lower myself again to the deck, though not without difficulty, and then cautiously returned to my own cabin.
I had been soaked to the skin by the rain and spray, but though still in my wet things, I sat pondering over the mysterious crime I had discovered.
Who was that unseen man? Whoever he was, he held old Benjamin Keppel in his power, and to his diabolical plot would be due the destruction of the Vispera, and the loss of perhaps every soul on board.
He had suggested an explosion. He no doubt intended to place on board some infernal contrivance which, after the lapse of a certain number of hours, would explode, and blow the bottom out of the yacht. Whoever that man was, he was a crafty villain. Providentially, however, I had been led to the discovery of the scheme, and I did not mean that the lives of my fellow-guests, or of the crew, should be sacrificed in order to conceal a crime.