"
"It cannot have been that, sir, for we were out in quite as rough a
sea as this last week, and the bowsprit would have gone then if
this cut had been there. Besides, we should have been sure to have
noticed it when we went round her to polish up her sides."
"I don't know about that, Hawkins. You see, the cut is from below,
and it is only two or three inches above the waterline. It might
very well have been there without being noticed. Still, I agree
with you, it could not have been there last week, or it must have
gone when she put her nose into it then. In point of fact, I have
no doubt that it was done last night or the night before. It could
easily have been managed. Of course, everyone was below, both here
and in the yachts lying round us, and a man might very well have
come out in a small boat between one and two o'clock in the
morning, and done this without being noticed."
"He might have done that, sir, but we should have heard the grating
down in the forecastle."
"I don't know, Hawkins. A fine steel saw, such as burglars use,
will work its way through an iron bar almost noiselessly, and I
should say that it would go through copper almost as easily as it
would through hard wood.
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