"Certainly, sir; I understand. With your permission I'll think the matter over to-night, and come to you to-morrow with my plans. I suppose I am to get the powder, guns, and all other things necessary for equipment and stores, and the firm will pay for them?"
"Certainly; but our name must be kept out of sight, or it will be a hint to our rivals in business to follow our example, and that's what we want to avoid."
Then he meditated a moment, and I remained silent, waiting for him to speak. When his meditations were concluded, he said,—
"You will have command of the Baltimore clipper Marguerite; she is lying at Jones's wharf on the East River, and right alongside of her is the Hyacinth, which we shall give to Captain Taylor. Before you leave the office I will give you the builder's plans of both vessels, so that you will hardly need to make any measurements when you go to look at them. Just stroll around carelessly and look at the two vessels as closely as you can, but don't use any measuring lines or rods when anybody is in sight, or do anything to show that you have been drawn there except by idle curiosity. If you want to measure anything, you and Taylor can pretend to get into a dispute about it, and then measure to decide the difference between you. I will look for you here some time in the forenoon to-morrow."
This ended our conversation, and I hurried away to find David and tell him of his new prospects in life. I was lucky in finding him at once, and asked him to take a stroll with me while we had a friendly chat.
Soon as we were out of earshot of everybody I told him what the reader already knows. There was still time before sunset for visiting Jones's wharf, and so we walked in that direction.
We found the two clippers tied up as the owner had indicated. We sauntered carelessly around, visiting two or three other embargoed craft before we stepped on board the Marguerite. I'm sure we displayed no more interest in them than in other vessels in the vicinity, and our actions could not arouse anybody's suspicions. Several sailors and longshore-men were idling about; some of them were known to us, and we greeted them after the customary manner, making no effort to avoid them. While we were there we met a young captain of our acquaintance; at first he manifested a disposition to join us just for the sake of passing away the time, and we feared that he would not be easily shaken off. Happily, he inquired for another captain who was known to all of us, and whom we had just left at our boarding-house.
"You'll find him down at the Neptune," said David; "when we left he was wishing a friend would happen in, as he felt lonesome."
"I guess I'll go down and see him;" responded our friend. He suited the action to the word and went away, greatly to our satisfaction.