Latimer looked at me for a moment straight in the eyes.

“We’ve treated you beautifully as a nation,” he said slowly.  “It’s an impertinence on my part to expect you to help us.”

I laughed.  “Go on,” I said.  “Let’s get it straightened out anyhow.”

“Well, the straightening out must be largely done by you.  As far as I’m concerned the rest of the story can be told very quickly.  For various reasons I got to the conclusion that in some way or other the two gentlemen on Sheppey had a good deal to do with the matter.  My men had been making a few inquiries about them, and from what we’d learned I was strongly inclined to think they were a couple of German naval officers over here on leave.  If that was so, the fact that they were in communication with Hoffman made it pretty plain where McMurtrie was finding his market.  My men had told me they were generally away on the mainland in the evening, and I made up my mind I’d have a look at the place the first chance I got.  I asked Morrison to come down and pick me up in his boat for two reasons—­partly because I wanted to keep in touch with you both, and partly because I thought it might come in handy to have a second line of retreat.”

“It was rather convenient, as things turned out,” interposed Tommy.

“Very,” admitted Latimer drily.  “They got back to the garden just as I had opened one of the windows, and shot at me from behind the hedge.  If it hadn’t been for the light they must have picked me off.”

He stopped, and standing up in the well, looked round.  By this time we were again just off the entrance to Queenborough, and the thick haze that had obscured everything earlier in the evening was rapidly thinning away.  A watery moon showed up the various warships at anchor—­dim grey formless shapes, marked by blurred lights.

“What do you say?” he asked, turning to Tommy.  “Shall we run in here and pick up some moorings?  Before we go any further I want to hear Lyndon’s part of the story, and then we all three shall know exactly where we are.  After that you can throw me in the sea, or—­or—­well, I think there are several possible alternatives.”

“We’ll find out anyhow,” said Tommy.

He turned the Betty towards the shore, and we worked our way carefully into the harbour.  We ran on past the anchored vessels, until we were right opposite the Queenborough jetty, where we discovered some unoccupied moorings which we promptly adopted.  It was a snug berth, and a fairly isolated one—­a rakish-looking little gunboat being our nearest neighbour.

In this pleasant atmosphere of law and order I proceeded to narrate as briefly and quickly as possible the main facts about my escape and its results.  I felt that we had gone too far now to keep anything back.  Latimer had boldly placed his own cards face upwards on the table, and short of sending him to the fishes, there seemed to be nothing else to do except to follow his example.  As he himself had said, we should then at least know exactly how we stood with regard to each other.