rminations.)

The commander smiled broadly at me, and I inclined an uncombed head,
while, for a moment, the quest was a dream, and I myself felt
unutterably squalid and foolish. I ducked down, heard them parting,
and Davies came aboard.

'We're to meet him at the inn for a talk at twelve,' he said.

His news was that the Blitz's steam-cutter had come in on the morning
tide, and he had met von Bruening when marketing at the inn. Secondly,
the 'Kormoran' had also come in, and was moored close by. It was as
clear as possible, therefore, that the latter had watched us, and was
in touch with the Blitz, and that both had seized the opportunity of
our being cooped up in Bensersiel to take further stock of us. What
had passed hitherto? Nothing much. Von Bruening had greeted Davies
with cordial surprise, and said he had wondered yesterday if it was
the 'Dulcibella' that he had seen anchored behind Langeoog. Davies had
explained that we had left the Baltic and were on our way home;
taking the shelter of the islands.

'Supposing he comes on board and asks to see our log?' I said.

'Pull it out,' said Davies, 'It's rot, this hiding, after all. I say.
I rather funk this interview; what are we to say? It's not in my
line.'

We resolved abruptly on an important change of plan, replaced the log
and charts in the rack as the first logical step. They contained
nothing but bearings, courses, and the bare data of navigation. To
Davies they were hard-won secrets of vital import, to be lied for,
however hard and distasteful lying was. I was cooler as to their
value, but in any case the same thing was now in both our minds.
There would be great difficulties in the coming interview if we tried
to be too clever and conceal the fact that we had been exploring. We
did not know how much von Bruening knew. When had our surveillance by
the 'Kormoran' begun? Apparently at Wangeroog, but possibly in the
estuaries, where we had not fired a shot at duck. Perhaps he knew
even more--Dollmann's treachery, Davies's escape, and our subsequent
movements--we could not tell. On the other hand, exploration was
known to be a fad of Davies's, and in September he had made no secret
of it.

It was safer to be consistent now. After breakfast we determined to
find out something about the 'Kormoran', which lay on the mud at the
other side of the harbour, and accordingly addressed ourselves to two
mighty sailors, whose jerseys bore the legend 'Post', and who to