"Are you thinking of going across to Malaga, senor?"
"Well, I have a little business there. I want to see how the new wines are selling; and whether it will be better for me to sell mine, now, or to keep them in my cellars for a few months. I am in no hurry. Tomorrow is as good as today. If there had been a boat going across, I might have taken a passage that way, instead of riding."
"I don't know, senor. There was a man asking, an hour ago, if anyone was going. He was wanting to take a few boxes of fruit across, but he did not care about hiring my boat for himself. That, you see, was reasonable enough; but if the senor wished to go, too, it might be managed if you took the boat between you. I would carry you cheaply, if you would be willing to wait for an hour or two; so that I could go round to the other fishermen, and get a few dozen fish from one and a few dozen from another, to sell for them over there. That is the way we manage."
"I could not very well go until the afternoon," Bob said.
"If you do not go until the afternoon, senor, it would be as well not to start until evening. The wind is very light, and we should have to row. If you start in the afternoon, we should get to Malaga at two or three o'clock in the morning, when everyone was asleep; but if you were to start in the evening, we should be in in reasonable time, just as the people were coming into the markets. That would suit us for the sale of our fish, and the man with his fruit. The nights are warm and, with a cloak and an old sail to keep off the night dew, the voyage would be more pleasant than in the heat of the day."
"That would do for me, very well," Bob said. "Nothing could be better. What charge would you make, for taking me across and bringing me back, tomorrow?"
"At what time would you want to return, senor?"
"It would matter little. I should be done with my business by noon, but I should be in no hurry. I could wait until evening, if that would suit you better."
"And we might bring other passengers back, and any cargo we might pick up?"
"Yes, so that you do not fill the boat so full that there would be no room for me to stretch my legs."