"I think you are quite right, Miss Maxwell," he said. "This is one of
the many instances in which silence is golden."
Taken by surprise, she blushed and dropped her hand. But Courtenay
said promptly: "There are some instances in which silence may be misinterpreted. Let
me state at once that the shippers of the valuable cargo on board the
Kansas will suffer a serious financial reverse if the ship is lost.
Two thousand tons of copper may be worth a considerable fixed sum, but
the lack of the metal on the London market at the end of January will
have far-reaching consequences in a fight against the bull clique in
Paris, and that is why Mr. Baring made this heavy shipment."
"Those consequences could be foreseen and discounted," put in
Tollemache, dryly.
"Exactly. But by whom? By the man who sent his only daughter as a
passenger on this vessel?"
Every one scouted that notion. But Tollemache, though disavowing any
thought of Mr. Baring as a party to the scheme, stuck to his guns.
"Somebody will make a pile when the Kansas is reported missing," he
said.
"The insurance money would not be paid for a long time," Courtenay
explained.
"No, but the copper market will respond instantly."
"Then the process has commenced already. The Kansas should have been
reported yesterday from Sandy Point. The news that she has not arrived
will soon reach the nearest cable station. There will be terrific
excitement at Lloyd's when that becomes known."
"It is distinctly odd that Suarez should turn up last night, and tell
us how gold slipped through his fingers five years ago. Let us hope
the parallel will hold good for the gentleman who so amiably endeavored
to send the Kansas to the bottom of the Pacific," said Christobal.
"It is rather a rotten trick," broke in Tollemache, "just a bit of
Spanish roguery-- Well, I'm sorry, Christobal, but I can't regard you
as quite a Spaniard, you see."
"Nevertheless, I am one," and the doctor stiffened visibly.
"What Tollemache means is that he would expect you to take the English
and straightforward view of a piece of rascality, doctor." Then
Courtenay paused in his turn. "By the way," he continued, with the
frowning dubiety of one whose thoughts outstrip his words, "does any
one here know a man named Ventana?"
"It is a name common enough in Chile," said Christobal.
"If you mean Señor Pedro Ventana, who is associated with Mr. Baring in
mining matters, I am acquainted with him," said Elsie. The men seemed
to have forgotten her presence. They were wrapped up in the remarkable
discovery which Courtenay himself had made by diligent search among the
coal ready for use in the furnaces when the explosion took place.
For no reason in particular, save the unexpectedness of it, Elsie's
statement was received with surprise. They all looked at her, and some
of them wondered, perhaps, why her smiling eyes had lost their mirth.
Yet there was nothing unreasonable in the mere fact that a certain
Chilean named Ventana, who had business relations with Mr. Baring,
should make the acquaintance of Isobel Baring's friend. As quickly as
it had arisen, the feeling of strangeness passed.