"You are sure of that?" cried I, for it seemed that my daring theory had gone to wreck. "You are quite sure."
"Quite. I have all the names and have examined all the men. They were all off the ship by eleven o'clock last night. I hadn't one of my own men among them, but, to make sure, I sent Petty Officer Trehayne on board at eight o'clock to keep a sharp look-out and to see all the harbour party off the vessel. He reported a little after eleven that they were all gone and the ship taken over by her own crew. The damage was discovered at four bells in the morning watch."
"It looks now as if there might be a traitor among her own crew, which is her officers' job, not mine. I wash my hands of the _Antigone_, but it is very much up to me to see that nothing hurtful happens to the _Malplaquet_. The Admiral has orders to support me with all the force under his command; the General of the District has the same orders. But it isn't force we want so much as brains--Dawson's brains. I have been beaten twice, but not the third time. I've told the Yard that if the _Malplaquet_ is touched I shall resign, and if they send any one to help me I shall resign. Between to-day, Thursday, and Saturday I am going to catch the wily josser who has a fancy for cutting gun cables or Dawson will say good-bye to the Force. That's a fair stake."
The man swelled with determination and pride. He had no thought of failure, and drew inspiration and joy from the heaviness of the bet which he had made with Fortune. He took the born gambler's delight in a big risk.
"Then you think that the _Antinous_ and the _Antigone_ were both damaged by the same man, and that he may have designs upon the _Malplaquet_?" said I.
"I don't propose to tell you what I think," replied Dawson stiffly.
"Still," I persisted, passing over the snub, "you have a theory?"
"No, thanks," said Dawson contemptuously. "I have no use for theories. When they are wrong they mislead you, and when they are right they are no help. I believe in facts--facts brought out by constant vigilance. Unsleeping watchfulness and universal suspicion, those are the principles I work on. The theory business makes pretty story books, but the Force does not waste good time over them."