“Let drop to you!” cried Roberts pettishly. “He never lets things drop to me.”
“Well, what does that matter? I always tell you anything that I hear.”
“Never mind that. What did Anderson let drop?”
“That the skipper has learned that there is an English gentleman here who farms a plantation with a number of slaves.”
“Well, lots do,” said Roberts sharply.
“And on the other side of the island there is a very large sugar plantation belonging to an American who is suspected of having dealings with slaving skippers who trade with the West Coast. What do you say to that?”
“That sounds likely; but what then?”
“Well, according to what Mr Anderson told me, the skipper will, if he waits for a chance, be able to catch one if not more of the slavers who come here to land their cargoes, for this American planter to ship off by degrees to other planters who require slaves.”
“Ah, yes, I see,” cried Roberts. “This Yankee, then, keeps a sort of slave store?”
“Something of the kind,” replied Murray, “and if we are careful I suppose that the skipper will have his chance at last; only he says that he is not going to trust any stranger again.”