"Our fortune!" echoed the fisher-boy.
"Don't talk so loud! Yes, sir, our fortune—yours and mine. I came down here to-night to see if I could engage you to ship as first mate of the Storm King."
"The Storm King!" repeated Bob. "What boat is that? I have never heard of her before."
"I know you haven't," said Tom, mysteriously, "but you'll hear a great deal about her before you are many weeks older: you'll hear that she is the prettiest little vessel that ever sailed out of Newport harbor, and that she can beat any thing in the shape of a sloop that was ever put together. It is the name of a vessel I am going to build in less than a month. She is to be exactly the size and model of the Swallow, only I shall have her cabin fitted up more expensively. Can I engage you, Bob? I'll give you a dollar a day."
The fisher-boy hardly knew what reply to make to this proposition, for he was, at first, inclined to believe that Tom had got another wild scheme into his head, which would end in smoke, like all the rest of his bright ideas. But the latter seemed to understand his subject so well, and spoke with such confidence, that, after reflecting a little, Bob began to think that perhaps Mr. Newcombe had promised to assist his son in carrying out his new plan.
"Are you sure that you are going to get this boat?" inquired the fisher-boy.
"I am just as certain of it as I am that I am now standing on this beach," replied Tom, emphatically. "I know as well as you do, Bob, that a good many of my calculations have been knocked in the head, but this one can't fail. I know I have hit the right thing at last; all I ask is a little assistance from you."
"Is your father going to give you the vessel?"
"Ah, that's the best part of the whole business! No, sir! he's not going to give me the boat. I'm not going to him for a red cent. I know right where I can get more money than I would dare ask him for. Just look here!"
As Tom said this, he pulled out his pocket-book, and after glancing up and down the beach, to make sure that no one was observing his movements, he produced a piece of paper and handed it to the fisher-boy. It proved to be a newspaper advertisement, and read as follows: