"Well, 'pon my word, Mr Delamere, I don't know," answered Pearce, scratching his head with a puzzled air.  "The way you puts it there don't seem to be no sense at all in doin' of it.  And yet, I don't know, sir.  The fact is, I'm a bit puzzled about that there ship.  Here are we, regularly boxin' the compass, our jibboom pointin' first this way, then that, and then t'other, while that ship haven't veered nothin' to speak of all the time that I've been on deck; she've pointed steady to the south'ard ever since I first set eyes on her, and it seems to me that she've altered her bearin's a bit.  I suppose it ain't likely that she've got her boats into the water, towin' on t'other side of her, have she?"