t could be," added Captain
Chantor.

"While I am absent you will be attending to your duty as commander of
the Chateaugay, for you will still be on the lookout for your prize,"
continued the versatile Frenchman. "You can run up twenty or thirty
miles to the northward, on the east side of the islands, where all large
vessels have to go in."

"How long will it take you to carry out this enterprise, Mr. Gilfleur?"

"Not more than two days; perhaps less time. Do you consent?"

"I will consider it, and give you an answer to-morrow morning," replied
Captain Chantor.

"Won't you take me with you, Mr. Gilfleur?" asked Christy, who was much
pleased with the idea of such an excursion.

"I should be very happy to have your company, Mr. Passford," replied the
detective very promptly, and with a smile on his face which revealed his
own satisfaction.

"Are you in earnest, Lieutenant Passford?" demanded the commander,
looking with astonishment at his passenger.

"Of course I am: I see no difficulty in the enterprise," replied
Christy. "I have had a good deal of experience in sailboats myself, and
I do not believe I should be an encumbrance to Mr. Gilfleur; and I may
be of some service to him."

"You would be of very great service to me, for you know all about ships,
and I do not," the detective added.

"Just as you please, Mr. Passford. You are not under my orders, for you
are not attached to the ship," said the captain.

The commander went on deck, and the two passengers retired to Christy's
stateroom, where they discussed the enterprise for a couple of hours.
In the mean time the Chateaugay was making her best speed, for Captain
Chantor did not wish to lose any of his chances by being too late; and
he believed that the Dornoch must be fully due at the Bermudas. Before
he turned in that night he had altered the course of the ship half a
point more to the southward, for he had decided to accept the offer of
Mr. Gilfleur; and he wished to go to the west of the islands instead of
the east, as he had given out the course at noon.

For two days more the Chateaugay continued on her voyage. At noon the
second day he found his ship was directly west of the southern part of
the Bermudas, and but fifty miles from them. He shaped his course so as
to be at the south of them that night.

CHAPTER VIII

A NOTABLE EXPEDITION

The position of the Chateaugay was accurately laid down on the chart
fifty miles to the westward