The fellows fell in with Dan's plan. Truth to tell, they had seen a little of the sinister side of Basil's character, and had a pretty wholesome dread of him. Their new friend, who knew his man so well, was best fitted for the dangerous enterprise. They wished him joy of it, and would be content to share its fruits. To Dan's astonishment, they told him that Basil was hiding across the Sound in his own ancestral village.
"Heart o' me!" he exclaimed, "he is mine! Yon place is filled with my own kith and kin. The fox is in a very ring of dogs."
"Get not too many helpers, friend," said Nick cunningly, "else will the spoil be split into too many portions."
"Well argued!" exclaimed Basil's dupes. "Too many hands in the meal-tub means small share apiece."
"Never fear, comrades. A buss on the cheek or a handshake will be payment enough. I shall not tell them that they are helping me to lay fingers on the wealth of the Indies. Will ye take another flagon to wish me success? I must be going. The afternoon wears on, and night must be my time for work. Where shall we meet to-morrow?"
"Here, at noon," suggested Ned Johnson.
"Here, at noon," agreed Dan. He got up and went to the street door, and Nick went with him.
"Cunningly managed, Dan," he murmured. "'Tis better than putting sword to their throats and pricking out the information. Art going alone?"
"No; meet me at Ian Davey's boathouse at sunset. Let Ned keep an eye on yon two."