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Updated: June 16, 2025
If I have any doubts about one or two, we can ship 'em home on a P. an' O. But, from the cut of their jibs, most of 'em are deserters from the Royal Navy, an' the remainder are army reserve men. That sort of crowd is pretty tough, eh, Tagg?" "Tough!" echoed Tagg.
He tried to clear up this vital point with Tagg. "Did you ever give a young lady an engagement ring?" he asked, after judiciously leading his chief to discourse on the frailties of the sex. "Well," said Tagg reflectively, "it all depen's on the way you take' it. I once gev' a girl a Mizpah ring, which fancied, when she saw'r it in a pawnshop window.
"She's inside," ses the boy, and the next moment Jack Bates followed 'im into the room, and then fell back with a start as 'e saw Charlie Tagg. "Ho, 'ere you are, are you?" he ses, looking at 'im very black. "Wot's the matter?" ses Mrs. Cook, very sharp.
But Stump's slow-moving wits, given full time to get under weigh, were working freely; punctuating each pause with a flourish of his pipe, he continued: "Lord love a duck, I can see Tagg blowin' in to a snug in the West Injia Dock Road, an' startin' ev'ry yarn with, 'W'en I sailed down the Red Sea with Sir Richard or, 'We was goin' through the Gut on a dirty night, an' Sir Richard sez to me Well, there, I on'y hope 'e survives the fust shock.
You said nothin' much about it, which was right an' proper, but Tagg is sharper'n he looks, an' he tole me that a paper was nicked out of von Kerber's pocket. That paper put the sharks on the scent. They got ahead of the Aphrodite by catchin' the Indian mail at Brindisi, an' had everything cut an' dried for us when we dropped anchor here.
"A straight punch!" he repeated, gazing with a species of solemn joy at the men leaning against the rails forward. "They're a hard-bitten lot from wot I've seen of 'em, an' they'll have to have it before they're at sea with me very long. Won't they, Tagg?" "They will," said. Tagg, eying the unconscious watch with equal fixity.
Aren't you consumed with curiosity? Who is in charge of the bridge?" "Mr. Tagg. His stock of information is limited. 'Cleared the islands at four bells; course South-40-East' is practically all he has to say." "It may be, then, that you are good at guessing? Have you not heard that the Baron is with us?" "Yes, Miss Fenshawe, I knew that last night. Indeed, I heard his boat hail the watch.
P'haps that chap in the next caboose, in a fur coat an' top hat, is the steward. An' wot'll Tagg say?" "I don't know," said Dick, half inclined to resent this open scorn. "Who is Tagg, anyhow?" Stump instantly became silent. He seemed to remember his "sailing orders." He muttered something about "playin' me for a sucker," and shut his lips obstinately.
"How did they come to suspect him?" asked Dick, ignoring the rest of his commander's outburst. "Mrs. Haxton put 'em on his track. You see, it was this way. I sent the jolly-boat's crew back to the yacht with, orders that Tagg was to arm every mother's son on board, an' be ready for action when Mr. Fenshawe gev the word. The old man wasn't half mad, I can tell you.
"Please tell me what you have heard, Miss Fenshawe." "Nothing beyond the fact that our Austrian friend was set upon by some highway robbers while driving from the station to the ship at a late hour, and that you and Mr. Tagg happened to be near, with disastrous results to the Marseillais. Does your bond permit you to carry the story further? What did really happen?"
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