Phil would have broken in, but O’Neil would be heard.
“I knew how you’d act about it, sir, but I need the uniform.”
Sydney dragged the uniform out from a locker and gave it to the sailor.
“Here you are,” he cried, “don’t listen to Mr. Perry. He seems to want to be convicted. I’ll go with you if you need me.”
“No, sir,” O’Neil replied decidedly. “You are better here cheering up Mr. Perry, but before that court meets you’ll see me bringing Craig back, ready to give his evidence.”
“What’s your plan?” Sydney asked, following the sailor from the room.
“It’s this, sir,” he answered. “I am going to watch every vessel that leaves port, and if I find Craig, I’ll get him to come back with me, whether he wants to or not. Trust me, sir, if I clap eyes on him back he’ll come.”
“That’s a good idea,” Sydney agreed; “our last hope is in you, O’Neil,” he added, as he returned to join Phil.
“O’Neil seems confident that he can locate him, Phil,” Sydney said in a cheering voice as he reëntered their stateroom. “He only told me half of his plan,” he said to himself. “I believe he knows what he is doing.”
Phil was reading over the fatal paper given him by the captain. The wording of the charges against him seemed written in fire on his brain.