Page:Frank Stockton--Adventures of Captain Horn.djvu/328

ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN With such a cargo, I am sure she would make for the Straits. That Captain Horn is said to be a good sailor, aud the fact that he is in command of such a tub as the Miranda is a proof that there is something underhand about his business."

"And if we should overhaul her?" said the other.

"Well," was the reply, "we might take along a dozen good fellows, and as the Miranda has only three men on board,—I don't count negroes worth anything,—I don't see why we couldn't induce the captain to talk reasonably to us. As for a vessel, there's the Arato."

"Your vessel?" said the other.

"Yes, I own a small share in her, and she's here in port now, waiting for a cargo."

"I forget what sort of a craft she is," said Nunez.

"She s a schooner," said the other, "and she can sail two miles to the Miranda's one in any kind of weather. If I had money enough, I could get the Arato, put a good crew on board, and be at sea and on the wake of that brig in twenty-four hours."

"And how much money would be needed?" asked the other.

"That remains to be calculated," replied Cardatas. Then the two went to work to calculate, and spent an hour or two at it.

When they parted, Nunez had not made up his mind that the plan of Cardatas was a good one, but he told him to go ahead and see what could be done about getting the Arato and a reliable crew, and that he would talk further to him about the matter.

That night Nunez took a train for Santiago, and on his arrival there, the next morning, he went straight 314