Having pricked the chart and written the log, Stump bit
the end off a cigar. He was ready for a gossip with Royson.
"You won't find life quite so lively at Aden as at Massowah," he said.
"We are bound for Aden, then?"
"Where did you think we was headin' for? Melbourne?"
"Well, sir, if I gave any thought to it I inclined more to the belief
that we were making for our original destination."
"An' where was that?"
"A bay somewhere south of us, not far from Perin."
"Have you heard anything fresh?" asked Stamp quickly.
"Not a word. But, if we reach Aden, I suppose the expedition will be
abandoned."
"They're chewin' about it now in the saloon," said the skipper,
glancing over his shoulder to make sure there was no one within
earshot. His sailor's eye swept the horizon at the same instant, and he
saw a smoke-blur some miles astern. Breaking off the conversation
abruptly, he Weal into the chart-house, and returned with a telescope,
which, he balanced against a stay.
"There's a steamer comin' after us in a desprit hurry," he announced,
when a prolonged examination had enabled him to form an opinion.
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