“I don’t doubt it!” Clay said with a laugh.
It was the work of only a moment to land the unwilling boy on the freight deck of the Hawk. He was at once surrounded by a group of men who seemed to represent all grades of society. There was the well-dressed man wearing diamonds and the man who was garbed like a river rat!
The captain was a hatchet-faced man with rat eyes and a perfect bill of a nose. His manner was offensive as he approached Clay familiarly and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“So you’re going down the river on a little trip of your own, eh?” he asked. “Nice boat you’ve got.”
“Yes,” Clay answered, “it’s not expensive, but it’s pretty well rigged out. She’s a bit fast, too, when in good shape.”
“Looks like she could go some,” agreed the captain.
“What are you trading in?” asked a handsomely-dressed man who looked enough like the captain to be his brother.
“Oh,” Clay replied, “we’re just out for amusement; taking our vacation on the river.”
“That’s a good bluff, too,” the other sneered. “People don’t trail along the Ohio just for the fun of the thing.”
“If you’ve got whiskey aboard,” another called out, “you want to keep off our beat. We’re doing a little in that line ourselves.”