"No."
"Promise me that, because if they do twig you, they'll ask you all sorts of questions, and it will do you no good to give me away. There are more in the thing than myself, and you'll have a present given you."
"I promise," replied Tommy.
He remained below, showing himself as little as possible, until the steamer was boarded by the custom house officers.
It did not then occur to him that his friend, Wild Charley, was as heartless as he was full of scheming.
Yet it was a fact that he had only made up his mind to befriend him because he thought he would be of great assistance in his smuggling venture, in which some of the steward's assistants were mixed up.
The revenue men had been all over the ship, and Wild Charley had looked in upon Tommy, whispering that he guessed it was all right now.
Tommy accordingly went into the saloon to see if he could not pick up a dollar by making himself of use to some of the passengers, who were getting their smaller articles of baggage together preparatory to quitting the vessel.
The first party he encountered was Mr. and Mrs. Nathan D. Stocker, of Chicago.
"Anything I can do, ma'am?" he asked.