"You are aware, my dear captain," he said, "that in half an hour I must leave you and be off."
"Excuse me," cried Pierre Durand, starting, "if I believe a single word of such a mad assertion."
"Yes, I am truly sorry to say, it is the exact fact. Doubtless you know as well as I do, business before all."
"I have not the remotest idea of interfering with your affairs," cried the sea captain, glumly.
"Then what do you mean?"
"That you are not going to leave me in the lurch."
"Still, when I tell you I must go," said the outlaw.
"All I mean is this, that if you go I go," cried Pierre.
"What! A night journey like this?" asked Tom.
"Night journey, day journey, it is all the same to me. I am an old sailor," growled Pierre Durand; "and every kind of locomotion is equally indifferent to me. Besides, I have known you a very long time, haven't I? And I know what sort of trade you carry on," he added.