Captain Shannon by Coulson Kernahan

We often read of a novelist "taking the reader into his confidence," but at this point of my narrative I should like to reverse the process, and ask my readers to take me into theirs. Were I telling my story by word of mouth instead of by pen, I should lay a respectful hand, my dear madam, upon your arm, or hook a detaining forefinger, my dear sir, into your button-hole, and, leading you aside for a few minutes, should put the matter to you somewhat in this way: "From the fact of your following my record thus far, you are presumably interested in detective stories, and have no doubt read many narratives of the sort. You know the detectives who have been drawn -- or rather created -- by Edgar Allan Poe, and in more recent times by Dr. Conan Doyle and Mr. Arthur Morrison -- detectives who unravel for us, link by link, in the most astounding and convincing manner, and by some original method of reasoning, an otherwise inexplicable mystery or crime.

"And you know too the familiar bungler who is always boasting about his astuteness, unless, as occasionally happens (but only in the pages of a detective novel, for in real life our friends are more ready to record our failures than our successes), he has some applauding Boswell -- a human note of exclamation -- who passes his life in ecstasies of admiring wonder at his friend's marvellous penetration. And as it is not unlikely that you have your own opinion as to what a detective should or should not do under certain circumstances, I ask you at this point of my narrative to take me into your confidence and let me put to you the following question. Suppose it had been you, and not I, who, in the hope of getting sight of James Mullen -- as we will for convenience' sake call the person passing as Mrs. Hughes -- had kept a watch upon the ‘Cuban Queen,' as described in Chapter IX. And suppose it had been you and not I who had been in the company of Muir and Quickly that evening, and had seen Mullen come from the hulk in a boat, under cover of twilight, and proceed in the direction of Benfleet, whence he could take train either to London or to Southend. Would you in that case have acted as I did, and instructed Quickly to shadow him, so that you might get an opportunity of paying a surprise visit to the ‘Cuban Queen' in Mullen's absence? or would you have abandoned your proposed visit to the hulk and decided to follow him yourself?"