Page:Dick Hamilton's Steam Yacht.djvu/67

Rh "Very well," said Dick, with a jolly laugh.

"And I hope we'll have many voyages together."

"By Neptune's whiskers, sir, so do I!" retorted Widdy, and he blew out a great cloud of smoke.

Mr. Blake and his youthful client returned to shore in the motor craft, and the lawyer promised to at once start negotiations looking to the purchase of the yacht. As a measure of precaution, however, he insisted that a competent expert be hired to examine the hull, engines and boilers, and, though this meant a little delay, Dick felt obliged to consent to it.

There was nothing more to be done that day, and, after having sent a telegram to his father, describing the Albatross in brief, and stating that he had made up his mind to purchase her, Dick went back to his hotel.

As he was turning down a quiet street leading to it, he became aware that two men were regarding him rather closely. They were coming from the opposite direction, and as they passed him they gave Dick sharp glances.

"Humph! They'll know me again, at any rate," thought the lad. Then he dismissed the incident from his mind. He was used to a certain sort of publicity and attention, for, on a previous visit to New York, his trip had been made much of by the sensational papers, and he had been credited with doing many eccentric things of which he never even dreamed. His picture had been frequently published, and he was more or less stared