Page:On to Pekin.djvu/52

34 Casey and Stummer went off, leaving Gilbert and the Russells to themselves. From one thing the talk drifted to another, and finally came around to Mr. Amos Bartlett and the fortune Jefferson Pennington had sunk in the Richmond Importing Company.

"The Richmond Importing Company!" cried Larry. "Why, I know a party who is now working for that concern."

"You do!" exclaimed Gilbert. "And who is it?"

"Captain Ponsberry, of the three-masted schooner Columbia, the vessel I shipped in from Honolulu, with Luke Striker."

"You mean the ship you were serving on at the time you went overboard and was picked up by Admiral Dewey's flagship just before the battle of Manila?"

"The same. Captain Ponsberry wasn't carrying for the Richmond Importing Company then, but he is now. He told me so himself yesterday."

"Yesterday? Then his ship must be here."

"She is."

"I should like to see this Captain Ponsberry, to find out how the company stands at present."