"Ah!" said Stuyvesant. "I think the understanding was that Fuller bought
all your time."
"He did. I'm sorry, but----"
"But if I insist on your going down the coast, you'll break your
agreement."
"Yes," said Dick with embarrassment. "It comes to that."
Stuyvesant looked hard at him. "You must recognize that this is a pretty
good job, and you're not likely to get another without Fuller's
recommendation. Then I understand you were up against it badly when he
first got hold of you. You're young and ought to be ambitious, and you
have your chance to make your mark right here."
"It's all true," Dick answered doggedly. "Still, I can't go."
"Then it must be something very important that makes you willing to throw
up your job."
Dick did not answer and, to his surprise, Stuyvesant smiled as he
resumed: "It's England first, with you?"
"How did you guess? How much do you know?" Dick asked sharply.
"I don't know very much. Your throwing out the wine gave me a hint,
because it was obvious that somebody had been getting after you before,
and there were other matters. But you're rather young and I suspect
you're up against a big thing."
"I'm afraid I can't tell you about it yet, if that is what you mean."
"Very well. Stay here, as usual, if you like, or if you want a week off,
take it. I'll find a suitable reason for not sending you in the launch."
"Thanks!" said Dick, with keen gratitude, and Stuyvesant, who nodded
pleasantly, went away.
Dick sent a note to Don Sebastian by a messenger he could trust, and soon
after dark met him, as he appointed, at a wine-shop on the outskirts of
the town, where they were shown into a small back room.
"I imagine you are now satisfied," the Spaniard said. "The liner has been
chased and people on board her have been killed."
"I'm ready to do anything that will prevent another raid. To some extent,
perhaps, I'm responsible for what has happened; I might have stopped and
seen the mate or captain, but then I'd have lost the man I was after.
What do you think became of my note?"
Don Sebastian looked thoughtful. "The boy may have lost it or shown it to
his comrades; they carry a few Spanish stewards for the sake of the
foreign passengers, and we both carelessly took too much for granted. We
followed the spy we saw without reflecting that there might be another on
board. However, this is not important now."
"It isn't. But what do you mean to do with Kenwardine?"
"You have no cause for troubling yourself on his account."
"That's true, in a way," Dick answered, coloring, though his tone was
resolute. "He once did me a serious injury, but I don't want him hurt. I
mean to stop his plotting if I can, but I'm going no further, whether
it's my duty or not."