There was, however, no suspicious movement on the saloon-deck, and Jake,
walking to the rail, saw the peons putting the last of the barge's cargo
into the sling. It came up with a rattle of chain, and the barge sheered
off. Somebody gave an order, and there was a bustle on deck. In another
few minutes Kenwardine's last chance of escape would be gone, because a
British ship is British territory, and her captain can enforce his
country's laws.
Jake threw away his cigarette and took out another when the whistle blew
and the windlass began to clank. Although the anchor was coming up, two
boats hung on to the foot of the ladder, and he could not be expected to
see what was going on while he lighted his cigarette. Kenwardine was
clever, and might have waited until the last moment before making his
escape, with the object of leaving his pursuers on board, but if he did
not go now it would be too late. The clank of the windlass stopped, and
Jake, dropping the match when the flame touched his fingers, looked up. A
group of dark figures were busy on the forecastle, and he saw the captain
on the bridge.
"All clear forward, sir!" a hoarse voice cried, and somebody shouted:
"Cast off the boats!"
Then there was a rattle of blocks as the ladder was hoisted in, and the
deck quivered as the engines began to throb. Jake heard the screw slowly
flounder round and the wash beneath the poop as the steamer moved out to
sea, but there was nobody except their colored crews on board the boats
that dropped astern. Kenwardine had had his chance and lost it. He had
been too bold and now must confront his enemies.
Jake went down the ladder and found Dick waiting at the door of the
second-class saloon.
"He's on board," he said. "I'm sorry he is. In fact, I'm not sure I'd
have told you if he'd tried to light out at the last moment."
Dick gave him a dry smile. "I suspect that Don Sebastian didn't trust you
altogether. He left me, and I shouldn't be surprised to learn that he had
found a place where he could watch the gangway without being seen."
A few minutes later, the Spaniard crossed the after well. "Now," he said,
"we must decide when we ought to have our interview with Señor
Kenwardine, and I think we should put it off until just before we land."
"Why?" Jake asked. "It would be much pleasanter to get it over and have
done with it."
"I think not," Don Sebastian answered quietly. "We do not know how Señor
Kenwardine will meet the situation. He is a bold man, and it is possible
that he will defy us."