broker. "Or Pacific, either. Go tens o' thousands o' miles in a craft of that soundness, as long as you'd got provisions on board!
"Did they buy her?" asked Scarterfield.
"They did—at once," replied Jallanby. "And paid the money for her—in cash, there and then."
"Cheque?" inquired Scarterfield, laconically.
"No, sir—good Bank of England notes," answered Jallanby. "Oh, they were all right as regards money—in my case, anyway. And you'll find the same as regards the tradesmen they dealt with here—cash on the spot. They fitted her out with provisions as soon as they'd got her—that, of course, took a few days."
"And then went off—to Norway?" asked Scarterfield.
"So I understand," assented Jallanby. "That's what they said. They were going, first of all, to Stavanger—then to Bergen—then further north."
"Just the two of them?" asked Scarterfield.
"Why, no," replied Jallanby. "They were joined, a day or two before they sailed, by a friend of theirs—a Chinaman. Queer combination—Englishman, Frenchman, Chinaman. But this Chinaman, he was a swell—what we should call a gentleman, you know—Mr. Belford told me, in private, that he belonged to the Chinese Ambassador's suite in London."
"Oh!" said Scarterfield. "Just so! A diplomat. And where did he stop—here?"
"Oh, he joined them at the hotel," answered Jallanby. "He'd come there that night I dined with
