"You will have Mountain Joe," replied Schumer. "I have given special attention to that gentleman's education on the voyage to Sydney and back. You remember he could work out a dead reckoning even when I took him in hand. He was absolutely useless by himself, but under guidance he could be quite useful. Well, he knows a lot more now, and if I could get to Sydney with him as he was then, you can surely get back from Sydney with him as he is now."
"Oh, I suppose that will be all right," said Floyd. "And what am I to do in Sydney besides dumping Hakluyt there?"
"You will unlade the shell which I am sending and take in some more provisions. The Southern Cross wants an overhaul—that will take a week or ten days—she wants some new spars and a few barnacles scraped off her. We want a big lot of canned stuff, vegetables, and bully beef. I'll talk to you to-night about that. Hakluyt is in the way of getting it cheaper than we could if we were working alone."
"How long do you think we will have to stay in Sydney?"
"Oh, about three weeks or so."
"It will be over two months before I can get back."
"About that."
"And when exactly do you want me to start?"
"Oh, in a couple of days. It will take us that to get the shell aboard. I am going to start on the work this morning. I'll get all the hands on it, crew and fishermen both. We can get the stuff on board on the raft and with the help of the whaleboat."
"Very well," said Floyd, "I'll go."