صفحة 263 من 416

"And the Petrel--that's our steamer, you know--well, sir, maybe

he didn't make a fool of her. Payson, on the Petrel, is the

ugliest man in the service, and when this fellow Schofield led

him a chase of a hundred and fifty miles, and then got away among

the islands of Placentia Bay, they say Payson nearly had

apoplexy. So your getting him ought to be quite a feather in your

cap."

"I consider that I did my duty. But would you mind telling me

what you have signaled me for?" Burns resented the gossip of this

young whipper-snapper of the service who seemed, despite his

frankness, to have something of a patronizing air.

"Certainly. Captain Foraker desires me to tell you that he wished

the prisoner transferred to the Albatross. We know that you are

not provided with an absolutely secure place to keep the

prisoner, and, as we are on our way to St. Andrews on another

matter, the skipper thinks he might just as well take the fellow

in and hand him over to the authorities."