“You seem to have considered your request granted in advance,” I remarked, with some asperity.
“Not that, sir; I am not impertinent, believe me. But I enquired about Captain Steele and was told that he is a good man and kind. So, that I might lose no time if I obtained your consent, I had the machine loaded on the flat-boat.”
Mr. Harlan laughed outright. Acting upon a sudden impulse I turned to him and said:
“May I decide as I please in this matter?”
“Of course, Sam,” he replied. “It is your affair, not mine.”
I looked at the stranger again. He was actually trembling with anxious uncertainty.
“Very well,” I announced, “I will take you.”
“For the two hundred dollars?”
“No; I’ll carry you for nothing. You may need that extra money at your journey’s end.”
He took out his handkerchief and wiped his brow, upon which beads of perspiration were standing.