"I suppose you haven't money enough to buy the boat, if you escaped from a Confederate prison; but I will help you out on that by lending you forty or fifty dollars."
"Thank you, Percy, you are behaving like a true friend, and I shall remember you with gratitude," replied Christy, as earnestly as the occasion seemed to require. "Do you think you can trust Captain Flanger to put me in the way to get to Key West?"
"I am sure I can!" exclaimed the schemer warmly. "He would do anything for me."
"But perhaps he would not do anything for me."
"I hope you don't mistrust my sincerity in this matter, my dear fellow," continued Percy, with an aggrieved expression on his face.
"Oh, no! Certainly not. I only suggested that your friend the captain might not be as willing as you are to let me escape at Key West."
"I will guarantee his fidelity. I am as sure of him as I am of myself."
"All right, Percy, I will hold myself subject to your orders. But I think you had better buy the boat, and put it on board of the Snapper, for I could not do so without exposing myself," suggested Christy. "I have some money that I concealed about me, and I will pay the bills before I go on board of the steamer."
"I will do everything that is necessary to be done with the greatest pleasure. Perhaps you had better go on board of the Snapper on our return to the town. Then you will not be seen by any person," suggested Percy with as much indifference as he could assume.
"What time will the steamer sail?"