“ But who is he, then?”
“ He’s the chief engineer of her. See that , Harry?”
“ I see,” Captain Whalley said thoughtfully. “The engineer. I see.”
How the fellow came to be a shipowner at the same time was quite a tale. He came out third in a home ship nearly fifteen years ago, Captain Eliott remembered, and got paid off after a bad sort of row both with his skipper and his chief. Anyway, they seemed jolly glad to get rid of him at all costs. Clearly a mutinous sort of chap. Well, he remained out here, a perfect nuisance, everlastingly shipped and unshipped, unable to keep a berth very long; pretty nigh went through every engine-room afloat belonging to the colony. Then suddenly, “What do you think happened, Harry?”
Captain Whalley, who seemed lost in a mental effort as of doin
