The news which Captain Beven communicated almost in a whisper to Roderic had as startling an effect upon that gentleman as though the guns of the battery that frowned upon their anchorage had suddenly and without the least warning opened full upon their jaunty craft. He sprang to his feet as though urged by a shock from a concealed galvanic battery. Instantly he remembered that Cleo had been close by a short time before, and his first act was to turn his head and look for her. The ladies had however quietly withdrawn, doubtless finding Roderic very unsociable, and leaving him to the solace of his old pipe. Which was a very sensible thing for them to do, considering his rudeness, he concluded. At any rate it left the coast clear, and all minor things had to give way when this major passion that filled his heart, was concerned. "That is what I have been waiting to hear, Captain. Show me the boat you mean?" he said, as quietly as the bounding of blood through his veins would allow. "Step this way, sir." Captain Beven knew _why_ Roderic was so deeply interested in the Sterling Castle, and as a man who had a family at home in some quiet little English cathedral town he could respect these feelings of the ardent lover. All the world feels an interest in the course of true love, and every decent man stands ready to lend a hand if by so doing he may assist in the anticipated happy outcome. In another minute they were leaning over the port quarter. "Yonder she lies, riding at anchor. The light is very dim, for the moon you see sir, is just about going down, and presently we will be in the dark," said the man of navigation. Roderic glued his eyes on the indistinct form of what appeared to be a steamer, but beyond this fact he was unable to hazard a guess. "I see her plainly enough, but what makes you imagine or believe she may be the vessel I am so anxious about?" he asked. Captain Beven was not at all offended. He knew Roderic had no idea of questioning his ability to determine such matters, but was only curious to hear the clinching of the argument by such means as he might advance. Hence, he made answer in the way Roderic most desired, laying down the logic of events in quick succession. Beven, if he had any peculiarity, was rather inclined to speaking rapidly, and without any useless flow of language. Like Grant and other great men of like calibre, of whom history is full, he believed in getting at the kernel of matters in the least possible stretch of time.