XXXVIII
They were astir early in the morning and had their breakfast. The brig was still in sight, but some distance to the northeast, as Christopher reported after a look through one of the windows. And as they ate Anthony nodded toward the pistol, which still hung upon the wall.
"I have not had occasion to use it," said he. "But, with those gentlemen in the offing, there is no telling what might have come about in the long run."
Tom Horn looked from the weapon to Anthony.
"No man's life is safe if he places it between these villains and their will," he said.
"They are spending a deal of time loitering along the coast," said Christopher. "Of what service would it be to them to find the ruins of a ship piled upon a bar?"
"They would then know that ship's fate," said Tom Horn. "It would be shown to them that they need seek no further."
Christopher looked at the odd clerk with round eyes.
"This, then," said he, "is only a beginning of their search?"
"The prize is a rich one," said Tom Horn. "They'd hunt the seas of the world if they thought they might come upon it."