d the
matter over together, the manager came to the conclusion that not only
was the proposal much too advantageous for Dick to refuse, but that his
acceptance of it would not very materially affect his maritime career,
should he determine to resume it upon the termination of the adventure,
ending up with the assurance that Dick might always count upon his (the
manager's) influence and help.

For the rest, Dick arranged with Earle that the former's salary should
be paid in monthly to Grace's credit, in a Liverpool bank, so that his
sister might be effectively protected against any unforeseen reverse of
fortune; while Grace made it clear that she was so happy in her present
position that she would continue in it so long as the Mcgregors had any
need of her; thus, when at length the inquiry was over and Dick was once
more free, he was able to bid his sister farewell with the pleasant
consciousness that her future was as secure as human foresight could
make it.

The first week of August witnessed the arrival of Dick and Earle in New
York, where the pair took up their abode in the latter's comfortable
home in Fifth Avenue during the progress of their preparations for the
great adventure. The precise nature of these preparations need not be
revealed at this point of the story, since the details will appear as
the narrative proceeds; the only fact that need now be mentioned being
that, after long and anxious consideration of the question, Earle had
finally determined that the starting point of the expedition should be
the junction of the river Tecuachy with the Javari, a tributary of the
Amazon, to which point he and Dick would proceed in the former's steam
yacht _Mohawk_, a comfortable little craft of two hundred and fifty tons
register. At this point, on the left, or northern, bank of the
tributary, stands, on Peruvian soil, a small town called Conceicao, and
abreast of this town the _Mohawk_ came to an anchor about mid-afternoon
of a certain day in the month of November, not so very many years ago.

At the moment when the yacht came to an anchor, her deck was encumbered
with two long canoe-shaped craft, each measuring six feet beam by thirty
feet in length. They were practically flat-bottomed, to ensure light
draught, and were built in sections, to provide the maximum of
portability, which quality was further ensured by the fact that the
material of which they were constructed was an amalgam largely composed
of alumi