"You will take one of us with you, I hope."
"No; if anything happens to me the Agile must have a captain, and you would want at least one officer."
He returned to the mulatto.
"Shall I give you a message in writing, or will you take it by word of mouth?"
"I do not want writing, sir; if I were searched, and it were found that I was an agent of Toussaint, I should be hung at once. You give me a message, and I will repeat it."
"Tell Toussaint that the commander of this ship is Mr. Glover, whom he will remember to have seen at Monsieur Duchesne's plantation and elsewhere, and who knows him to be an honourable man, and will therefore trust himself in the mountains relying upon his promise of protection. You understand that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Please repeat my words."
The man did so.
"How far is Toussaint from here?"