Page:Kéraban the Inflexible Part 1 (Jules Verne).djvu/23

Rh day before yesterday. He should now be here on this spot at this café at this hour, for which I gave him rendezvous."

As he finished his half-articulate speech, a Maltese sailor appeared at the angle of the quay. This man was Yarhud. He glanced right and left, and perceived Scarpante, who immediately rose and advanced to meet the captain of the Guidare in the midst of the increasing numbers of the passers-by.

"I am not accustomed to be kept waiting, Yarhud," was Scarpante's address, in a tone the Maltese could not fail to understand.

"You must forgive me," said the captain; "I made all possible haste."

"You have only this moment arrived?"

"This instant by the Janboli and Adrianople Railway, and had not the train been late—"

"When did you leave Odessa?"

"Two days ago."

"Where is your vessel?"

"Waiting for me there,—in Odessa Harbour."

"Are you certain of your crew?"

"Absolutely. They are all Maltese like myself; and devoted—to generous paymasters!"

"They will obey your orders, then?"

"Certainly; in everything."

"Good. What news have you, Yarhud?"

"Well, both good and bad news," replied the captain, lowering his voice.

"Let us have the bad news first, then," said Scarpante.

"Very well. The bad news is that the girl Amasia—Selim's, the Odessa banker's daughter—is about to be married, soon. So her kidnapping will be a more difficult matter, and will have to be accomplished more hurriedly than if she were not to be married so quickly."

"The marriage must not take place, Yarhud," said Scarpante, in a tone louder than was altogether prudent. "No, by the Prophet, it must not take place."

"I did not say that it would," replied Yarhud. "I said that it had been arranged to take place."