service."

 

"A great advantage," the captain agreed. "Most of us speak a little

Spanish, but I have often thought that it would pay the company to send a

man who could talk the lingo well in each ship. They could call him

supercargo, and I am sure he would pay his wages three or four times over

by being able to bargain and arrange with the Chilians and Peruvians. In

ports like Callao, where there is a British consul, things are all right,

but in the little ports we are fleeced right and left. Boatmen and

shopkeepers charge us two or three times as much as they do their own

countrymen, and I am sure that we could get better bargains in hides and

other produce if we had someone who could knock down their prices."

 

"When do you sail, Captain?"

 

"This day week. It will be high tide about eight, and we shall start to

warp out of dock a good half-hour earlier, so you can either come on board

the night before or about seven in the morning."

 

"Very well, sir; we shall be here in good time. I shall bring my things on

board with me; it is of no use sending them on before, as they will not be

bulky and can be stored away in my cabin."

 

"This will be your state-room," the captain said, opening a door. "I have

the one aft, and the first mate has the one opposite to you. The others

are empty, so you can stow any baggage that you have in one of them; the

second and third officers and the apprentices are in the deck-house

cabins."

 

"In that case, Captain, I will send the wine and spirits on board the day

before. Of course I shall get them out of bond; I might have difficulty in

doing that so early in the morning. You will perhaps be good enough to

order them to be stowed in one of the empty cabins."

 

"That will be the best plan," the captain said.

 

"When do the apprentices come on board?"

 

"The morning before we sail. There is always plenty to be done in getting

the last stores on board."

 

"All right! my brother will be here. Good-morning, Captain, and thank

you!"

 

The following morning at eleven Harry Prendergast was standing in front of

the entrance to the British Museum. A young lady came up. "It is very

imprudent of you, Harry," she said, after the first greeting, "to ask me

to meet you."