She thought that the men should be made aware of her presence, so she
leaned over and said: "May I ask what you four are plotting?"
They looked at her in surprise. They were so engrossed in their
discovery that they had eyes for nothing else. Walker straightway
plunged the sausage-shaped gray stick into the water again.
"What are you doing with that dynamite?" she demanded. "Do you intend
to visit the Valley of the Golden Sands? If so, please take me. I am
very poor."
It was Courtenay who answered.
"Are you alone?" he asked.
"Mr. Boyle is in the chart-house."
"I know; but is any one else up there?"
"No."
"Then we shall join you at once."
Notwithstanding the serious demeanor of the men, Elsie was far from
guessing what had happened. But she was soon enlightened.
"In which bunker was the coal placed which we shipped at Valparaiso?"
Courtenay asked Boyle.
"In the forrard cross bunker," was the instant answer.
"And that was the first coal used in the furnaces?"
"Yes, sir."
The captain's tone was official, exceedingly so, and the chief officer
took the cue from his superior in rank.
"Did we get up steam with it?"
"There might have been a hundred-weight or two lying loose in the
stoke-hold, but, for all practical purposes, we have used nothing but
the Valparaiso bunker since we left port."
"The rest of our coal was shipped at Coronel?"
"Yes, sir."
"You hear? It is exactly as I have told you," said Courtenay, glancing
at the others. "I must explain to you, Mr. Boyle, that I wished you to
state the facts in front of witnesses before I gave you my reasons for
cross-examining you on the matter. Mr. Walker and I have been certain,
all along, that the furnaces were blown up wilfully. Now our
suspicions are proved. This morning, after a careful scrutiny, we came
across a number of lumps of coal cleverly constructed out of small
pieces glued together. In the center of each lump was a stick of
dynamite, protected by an asbestos wrapper. It was undoubtedly the
intent of some miscreant that a number of these lumps should be fed
into the furnaces. This actually occurred, as we know, but, by the
mercy of Providence, the ship did not experience the full power of the
explosion, or she must have sunk like a stone."
"Huh," grunted Boyle. "Who holds the insurance?"
"The shippers of the cargo, of course--Messrs. Baring, Thompson &
Miguel."
"Worth a quarter of a million sterling, ain't it?"
"Yes."
"Huh, it's a lot of money."
There was a momentary silence. Elsie's eyes grew larger, and she
became rather pale. As was her habit when puzzled, she placed a finger
on her lips. Christobal noted her action. Indeed, he missed few of
her characteristic habits or expressions. He laughed quietly.