"Mean?" repeated Oliver. "I reckon it means robbery. Just look and see what you have lost."
At once all of us began a rapid examination of the goods strewn over the floor, the washstand, and the berths.
"My wallet is gone!" groaned Dan.
"So is mine gone," I burst out.
"Everything I had seems to be here," said Oliver. "How much did you lose?"
"I had fifty dollars," came from Dan.
"And I had sixty," I added. "This is a clear case of robbery and nothing less. We must report to the captain at once—before anybody has a chance to leave the steamer."
I ran off to find the captain. He was in the pilot house, conversing with the man at the wheel, and he listened in open-mouthed astonishment to what I had to say.
"This is extraordinary!" he cried. "I've never had such a thing happen for eight years. Yes, you are quite right; we must find the guilty party by all means, even if I have to search every man, woman, and child on the ship, and every nook and corner in the bargain."
He ran to the stateroom with me. When we got there we found Oliver walking up and down nervously, while Dan looked the picture of despair.
