"Do you know anything in regard to the speed of the Vixen, for that may
be a very important matter with us?" asked the commander.
"I do not know very much yet, sir, but I think she is a fast steamer.
Mr. Vapoor told me that the Bellevite made twenty-two knots in chasing
her, and that no other vessel in the navy could have overhauled her.
He gave me the figures," added Mr. Caulbolt, taking a paper from his
pocket. "I think she is good for eighteen knots when driven hard."
"I dare say that will do," replied Christy, finishing his examination
and retiring to his cabin.
He found Mr. Pembroke and his daughter there. The young lady presented
him to her father, who appeared to be about fifty years of age. He was
very gentlemanly in his manners, and thanked the captain heartily for
the courtesy and kindness with which he had been treated. Later in the
voyage he learned that Mr. Pembroke's wife and son had been killed some
years before in a railroad accident, and that the money recovered from
the corporation was about his only fortune. Miss Bertha, as her father
called her, had been educated to become a teacher, but when his health
failed, she had devoted herself wholly to him.
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