deck did not permit him to obtain as good a view of her as could be had from the bridge, and especially from aloft. 154 "Do you make out what that vessel is, Captain Passford?" asked Lillyworth, as Christy passed near him. 154 "Not yet, Mr. Lillyworth," replied the captain, not caring to converse with the conspirator. "The fog does not seem to be very dense, and I should think the vessel might be made out from aloft," added the second lieutenant, evidently very anxious to know more about the sail ahead. "Not very clearly," replied Christy, as he went forward to the engine hatch. He descended to the engine room, and while he was listening to the roar of the flames in the furnaces, so different from the action of anthracite coal, Sampson came up from the fire room. "We shall have a sufficient head of steam in a few minutes to justify you in going ahead, Captain Passford," said the engineer without waiting to be questioned. "I am glad to hear it, though we are in no special hurry at present, in spite of our impatience to know what is before us," replied the captain. "Do you know the man who passes under the name of Mulgrum, Mr. Sampson?" "You mean Pink, the deaf mute? Mr. Nawood 155 pointed him out to me, and I have seen him about the deck or in the steerage several times." 155 "Has he been in the engine room at any time since we sailed?" asked Christy. "He may have been; but I have not noticed him anywhere in my department," replied Sampson. "You will not allow him in the engine or fire room," continued the captain. "Send him out, drive him out, if necessary, at once." "Being deaf and dumb, I should suppose he were harmless wherever he happened to be. Is he—" "Never mind what he is just now, Mr. Sampson," interposed Christy. "Be very particular to obey my order in regard to him to the letter; that's all now. Inform me at once when you are ready to go ahead, and I shall be on the bridge." The order which Christy had just given to the engineer was the result of his reflection since he came
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