w flasks
of good wine, is a right merry business; but farther than that I
wish not to see a passenger, on board any ship which I command."

The others laughed.

"Well, Master Diggory, we must be going," Nicholas Turnbull said;
"it is getting late. Tomorrow I will come over in the forenoon, as
you suggest; and we will go through these lists more carefully, and
talk over prices and see what bulk they will occupy, and discuss
many other matters with the aid and advice of Master Hawkshaw.
There is no occasion for undue haste; and yet, if the thing is to
be done, the sooner it be done the better."

As the party went out, Reuben found his son waiting outside the
door.

"Well, father?" he asked anxiously, when the three merchants had
walked briskly off towards their homes.

"It is all settled, Roger. As soon as everything is prepared, the
Swan will sail for the Spanish main."

Roger threw his cap high in the air, with a lusty shout that
startled the better passers-by, hurrying towards their homes; for
it was now long after dark, and although the town watch patrolled
the streets regularly, prudent citizens did not care to be abroad
after nightfall.

"You silly boy;" Reuben said; "you have lost your cap."

"Nay, I heard it fall somewhere here," Roger said, searching;
"besides, a cap is a small matter, one way or other.

"Ah! Here it is, floating in a pool of mud; however, a bucket of
water will set it all right, in the morning.

"O father! I feel wild with joy, only to think that all we have
talked over together is going to be true, and that we are to be the
first Englishmen who ever saw the beautiful islands they talk
about, and the natives with their feathers and strange attire.
And--"

"And the Spaniards with their loaded guns, and their dungeons and
gibbets," Reuben Hawkshaw put in.

"Not for us, father. The bottom of the sea maybe, but not a Spanish
dungeon."

"I hope not, my lad. Still, no man can see the future. However, I
am right glad that we are to try this adventure. It is a glorious
one, and will bring us honor in the eyes of all Englishmen if we
succeed, to say nothing of wealth.

"But mind that you let not your spirits run away with your tongue.
No word of this must be spoken to a soul, nor must any mention be
made of it in the hearing of my Cousin Mercy, or the girls. The
four partners in the adventure have all taken a solemn promise to
each other, that they will not breathe a word of it even