IV. The EavesdropperMme. Storey’s first task was to acquaint herself with every part of the yacht and to make friends with everybody on board. We wandered around in the guise of an innocent curiosity.
Captain Grober was an enigma. A fine-looking, sailor-like German of the bristly-haired type, he was most polite. But we could never get him to unbend; his gray-blue eyes held no more expression than those of a fish. One had to admit that his position on board was a difficult one. He had always commanded big liners where his word was law at sea, but now he was under the shadow of the owner.
The under-officers, all young Germans, took their cue from the captain. Polite and wooden, it was impossible to make friends with them. On the other hand, the engine-room staff were mostly Scotch. The chi
