He used his influence in the wardroom
to keep the tongues of the young officers in order, so
that Carthew's identification was kept out of the
papers. And he rendered another service yet more
important. He had a friend in San Francisco, a
millionaire; to this man he privately presented Carthew
as a young gentleman come newly into a huge estate, but
troubled with Jew debts which he was trying to settle
on the quiet. The millionaire came readily to help;
and it was with his money that the wrecker gang was to
be fought. What was his name, out of a thousand
guesses? It was Douglas Longhurst.
As long as the Currency Lasses could all disappear
under fresh names, it did not greatly matter if the
brig were bought, or any small discrepancies should be
discovered in the wrecking. The identification of one
of their number had changed all that. The smallest
scandal must now direct attention to the movements of
Norris. It would be asked how he who had sailed in a
schooner from Sydney had turned up so shortly after in
a brig out of Hong Kong; and from one question to
another all his original shipmates were pretty sure to
be involved.
Pages:
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678