le of hands on
the schooner, and the two officers, followed by eight of their men,
climbed on deck.

They found the crew of the _Ebba_ drawn up in line on the forecastle.

The officer in command of the boarding-party--a first
lieutenant--advanced towards the owner of the schooner, and the
following questions and answers were exchanged:

"This schooner belongs to the Count d'Artigas, to whom, I presume, I
have the honor of speaking?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is her name?"

"The _Ebba_."

"She is commanded by?--"

"Captain Spade."

"What is his nationality?"

"Hindo-Malay."

The officer scrutinized the schooner's flag, while the Count d'Artigas
added:

"Will you be good enough to tell me, sir, to what circumstance I owe
the pleasure of your visit on board my vessel?"

"Orders have been received," replied the officer, "to search every
vessel now anchored in Pamlico Sound, or which attempts to leave it."

He did not deem it necessary to insist upon this point since the
_Ebba_, above every other, was to be subjected to the bother of a
rigorous examination.

"You, of course, sir, have no intention of refusing me permission to
go over your schooner?"

"Assuredly not, sir. My vessel is at your disposal from peaks to
bilges. Only I should like to know why all the vessels which happen to
be in Pamlico Sound to-day are being subjected to this formality."

"I see no reason why you should not be informed, Monsieur the Count,"
replied the officer. "The governor of North Carolina has been apprised
that Healthful House has been broken into and two persons kidnapped,
and the authorities merely wish to satisfy themselves that the persons
carried off have not been embarked during the night."

"Is it possible?" exclaimed the Count, feigning surprise. "And who are
the persons who have thus disappeared from Healthful House?"

"An inventor--a madman--and his keeper."

"A madman, sir? Do you, may I ask, refer to the Frenchman, Thomas
Roch?"

"The same."

"The Thomas Roch whom I saw yesterday during my visit to the
establishment--whom I questioned in presence of the director--who
was seized with a violent paroxysm just as Captain Spade and I were
leaving?"

The officer observed the stranger with the keenest attention, in an
effort to surprise anything suspicious in his attitude or remarks.

"It is incredible!" added the Count, as though he had just heard about
the outrage for the first time.

"I can easily unders