This frank and friendly explanation led me to regard the flashy little man more kindly than before. I had been busy thinking, knowing that Uncle Naboth had set his heart on making some money on the return voyage. So, during the pause that followed the speech of Señor de Jiminez, I turned the matter over in my mind and said:
“Tell me, sir, what you propose doing with the ship after you get to Colombia with it?”
He stared at me a moment.
“It is of little use then,” said he, “unless I could put some cannon on board and use him for gunboat.”
“Have you ever been aboard the Seagull?” I continued.
He shook his head.
“I have inquire about every ship now in Port Phillip,” he said. “Not one is available but yours that is big enough to carry my cargo—all others are owned in foreign lands and cannot be bought. But I see your ship, and it look like a good ship; I inquire and am told by my friends here it is famous for speed and safety.”
“It is all that,” agreed my uncle heartily.
“We have a couple of guns on board already,” I continued; “for sometimes we sail in seas where it is necessary for us to protect ourselves. But as a matter of fact the Seagull would make a poor gunboat, because she has no protective armor. So it seems all you could use her for would be to carry your revolutionary supplies to Colombia and land them secretly.”
“That is all that I require!” he said quickly, giving me a keen look.