"I can be ready at any time. I have very few arrangements to make."
"I should like to show you some views of Niagara, which I have here, Mr. Cromwell," said Paul Morton. "Will you step to the table?"
The clerk left his seat, and advanced to the side of the merchant's chair.
"There," said Paul Morton, looking over the views, and selecting one, "is a view of Goat Island. You will no doubt visit that?"
"Yes, sir; we will try to see all that is worth seeing."
"I think," said Paul Morton, slowly, "I have heard of a man—or a boy—who was standing here one day, and chanced to lose his footing, and fell over the cataract. Horrible, was it not?"
He looked significantly in the face of his companion. James Cromwell's face grew pale, as he comprehended the infernal meaning of this speech, and he echoed the word "Horrible."
"I just mentioned it," said the merchant, "for boys are apt to be careless, and it occurred to me that perhaps Robert might be in danger of a similar accident."