“It’s only a moment for another question. Could you by any possibility take a couple of passengers along with you?”
“The steamer is not a passenger-vessel,” answered the captain.
“I am well aware of that; but it would be a great accommodation to us; for you see we lost the last steamer to Funchal by a delay caused by a railway accident.”
“I do not feel at liberty to take passengers; and I shall be obliged to refer you to the agent of the principal, Mr. Frisbone,” added O’Hara.
“This gentleman is Sir Philip Grayner, baronet,” said the young man with the applicant for a passage.
O’Hara thought he was rather young to be a baronet, but it was possible to succeed to the title at an early age. But he was not particularly impressed by the fact. The information had been imparted to him as though it was confidential, and he made no use of it.
“Where can I find Mr. Frisbone?” asked the baronet, renewing the attack.
“He is on board of the steamer.”
“And how soon do you sail?”
“In the course of an hour.”