“Well,” he said reflectively, “oddly enough, I purchased Number Three from the American Barge Company for the very purpose for which you wish to use it.”
“What?” shouted Caleb.
“Not to go in search of the Silver Swan?” cried Brandon, in wonder.
“No, not exactly that; but to go in quest of derelicts in general.”
“Another of your crazy ideas, ’Doniram!” Caleb declared finally.
“Perhaps; but I notice that most of my ‘crazy ideas’ turn out pretty successfully, old Timbertoes,” said the little merchant jovially. “If you’ll give me a chance, though, I’ll explain how I came to think of this ‘crazy idea.’”
CHAPTER XXI
IN WHICH MR. PEPPER MAKES A PROPOSITION TO CALEB AND DON
“You see,” the ship owner began, as soon as he was assured of the attention of his audience, “I have had my eye on these whaleback steamers from the start. Three years ago, you know, nobody but Captain Alexander MacDougall, the inventor, knew anything about them.
“We are altogether too conservative here in the East,” continued Adoniram warmly. “It takes the Westerners to get hold of new things, and practically test them. These whalebacks are a Western idea and were first used and tested on the Great Lakes.
“You don’t seem to realize, Caleb, that the boat was never built which could sail as easily as those whalebacks. In the heaviest gales they only roll slightly, as a log would at sea. The waves can beat against the curved steel sides of the craft as much as they like, or wash clean over her; but the boat is not affected by them in the least.”