As soon as they were gone we thought it was time to attend to the disposition of the prisoners. My father had taken the money with him, but the hotel was not more than a quarter of a mile from the wharf. I sent Buck Lingley to assist Captain Cayo, and he was assigned to the care of Nick Boomsby.
"Here we are," said Captain Blastblow, after everything had been put in order on both vessels. "Do you expect to get away from here this summer?"
"This summer! I expect to get away from here in two or three days," I replied, rather startled by the remark of the captain.
"I think not," he added, shaking his head ominously.
"Why not?"
"Are you a lawyer, Captain Alick?" demanded Captain Blastblow, with a very comical expression on his face.
"I am no lawyer, not even a sea-lawyer," I answered, wondering what he was driving at.
"Neither am I; but it has occurred to me that we might be kept here longer than we wanted to stay."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I was thinking just now that if we had let Cornwood and Boomsby escape from the steamer last night it would have saved us a world of trouble," added Captain Blastblow, with a cunning leer and a wink.