alongside; and he immediately ran up on to the bridge, so as to be ready
to carry out any orders that Drake might have for him. But it appeared
that the skipper intended to work his ship out of dock entirely with his
own hands, so Frobisher had a few minutes in which to look round him and
take in, for the last time for several months at any rate, the intimate
sights around him.

The _Quernmore_ was now slowly passing out between the pierheads, and
Frobisher was keeping a sharp look-out to see that none of the crew
attempted a "pierhead jump", when he happened to catch sight of his late
acquaintance of the collision. The man was standing at the extreme end
of the pier, leaning against a bollard, and observing the _Quernmore_
and her crew with a scrutiny so close as to be a little suspicious; and
Murray half-turned to point him out to Drake.

He need not have troubled to do so, however, for he at once perceived
that the skipper was already aware of the man's presence. If looks went
for anything, too, Drake was intensely annoyed; and the thought at once
occurred to Frobisher that the presence of this yellow man might
possibly have had something to do with Drake's sudden resolution to
leave during the early afternoon. He said nothing, however, at the
moment, but continued to stare at the Easterner as long as he could see
him clearly, in order to impress the man's appearance and features
indelibly on his memory. For a presentiment had just seized him that
this man was in some strange way bound up with his own fate, and that
they were destined to meet again under far different circumstances from
those under which they had come together, shortly before, at the dock
gates.

He had not much time or opportunity, however, to dwell at length upon
such matters; for a quarter of an hour later the tug had cast off, the
pilot had taken charge, and the _Quernmore_, under her own steam, was
proceeding rapidly down the winding, traffic-laden river.

They were passing Gravesend when Drake suddenly turned to Frobisher and
remarked:

"I say, Mr Frobisher, did you happen to notice a yellow-skinned chap
standing on the pierhead as we left the dock?"

"Why, yes," replied Frobisher. "That was the second time I'd seen him.
The first time I cannoned into him at the dock gates as I was coming
aboard, and sent him spinning. You should have heard the remarks he
made--though I didn't understand a word he said, but guessed what they
mean