\"Isupposeyouthinkit’smydoing？\"heasked，sharply，withoutlookingup。
Cartersurveyedhimwithacandidlycuriousgaze。\"Well，Captain，Mrs。Traversdidletonabittomeaboutourchief—officer’sboat。You’vestoppedit，haven’tyou？HowshegottoknowGodonlyknows。Shewassorryshespoke，too，butitwasn’tsomuchofnewstomeasshethought。Icanputtwoandtwotogether，sometimes。Thoserockets，lastnight，eh？IwishedIhadbittenmytongueoutbeforeItoldyouaboutourfirstgig。ButIwastakenunawares。Wasn’tI？Iputittoyou：wasn’tI？AndsoI
toldherwhensheaskedmewhatpassedbetweenyouandmeonboardthisbrig，nottwenty—fourhoursago。Thingslookdifferentnow，allofasudden。Enoughtoscareawoman，butsheisthebestmanofthemallonboard。Theothersarefairlyoffthechumpbecauseit’sabitdarkandsomethinghashappenedtheyain’tusedto。Butshehassomethingonhermind。Ican’tmakeherout！\"Hepaused，wriggledhisshouldersslightly——\"NomorethanIcanmakeyouout，\"headded。
\"That’syourtrouble，isit？\"saidLingard，slowly。
\"Aye，Captain。Isitallcleartoyou？Stoppingboats，kidnappinggentlemen。That’sfuninaway，only——Iamayoungstertoyou——butisitallcleartoyou？OldRobinsonwasn’tparticular，youknow，andhe——\"