Brandon of the Engineers

By and by he thought he would speak to the purser, whom he knew, and went

down the alleyway that led to his office. The door was hooked back, but

the passage was narrow and a fat Spanish lady blocked the entrance. She

was talking to the purser and Dick saw that he must wait until she had

finished. A man stood a few yards behind her, unscrewing a flute, and as

a folded paper that looked like music stuck out of his pocket he appeared

to belong to the band.

"But it is Tuesday you arrive at Palomas!" the lady exclaimed.

"About then," the purser answered in awkward Castilian. "We may be a

little late."

"But how much late?"

"I cannot tell. Perhaps a day or two."

"At dinner the captain said----"

"Just so. But he was speaking generally without knowing all the

arrangements."

Dick could not see into the office, but heard the purser open a drawer

and shuffle some papers, as if he wanted to get rid of his questioner.

"It is necessary that I know when we arrive," the lady resumed. "If it is

not Tuesday, I must send a telegram."

The purser shut the drawer noisily, but just then a bell rang overhead

and the whistle blew to warn the visitors that they must go ashore.

"Then you must be quick," said the purser. "Write your message here and

give it to me. You need not be disturbed. We will land you at Palomas."

The lady entered the office, but Dick thought her telegram would not be

sent, and a moment later the captain's plan dawned on him. The ship would

call at the ports named, but not in the order stated, and this was why

she needed so much coal. She would probably steam first to the port

farthest off and then work backward, and the sailing list was meant to

put the raider off the track. The latter's commander, warned by spies who

would send him the list, would think he knew where to find the vessel at

any particular date, when, however, she would be somewhere else. Then

Dick wondered why the musician was hanging about, and went up to him.

"The sobrecargo's busy," he said in English. "You'll be taken to sea

unless you get up on deck."

"I no wanta el sobrecargo," the man replied in a thick, stupid voice.

"The music is thirsty; I wanta drink."

The second-class bar was farther down the alleyway, and Dick, indicating

it, turned back and made his way to the poop as fast as he could, for he

did not think the man was as drunk as he looked. He found the musicians

collecting their stands, and went up to the bandmaster.

"There's one of your men below who has been drinking too much caña," he

said. "You had better look after him."