nd
introduction bore. While in Rio we went by day in the parks or cafes,
and spent our evenings together, having a most enjoyable time.

This was our first experience of the tropics, and life under the Equator
proved as novel and as fascinating as it ever does to the inhabitant of
a cold climate. The show of tropical fruits in the markets was
magnificent, and, although strangers are warned not to partake of it,
yet our health was so good and our digestion so perfect that we
disregarded all warnings and gratified our palates without stint, with
no bad results following.

However, we felt after all that we were there on business; we wanted
plunder, in fact, and not pleasure, in Rio. Our pleasure lay in Europe
or America, there in the good time just ahead, when, as moneyed men, we
returned, and, surrounded by those nearest and dearest, we would enjoy
life to the full.

Mac was the grand swell of our party, and, wanting to excel us all in
his financial successes, was eager to go to the front. Accordingly, we
fixed everything so that he could everywhere strike the first and the
heaviest blow.

Of course, on our twenty-two days' voyage we had ample time for
discussion, and before we passed the Equator had settled on our plan.
First of all, it was agreed that one of the party should keep his neck
out of the noose, to stand by if either of the others came to grief.
Very much to my satisfaction, it was again decided that I was the man to
stand from under.

[Illustration: "AT 5 O'CLOCK ALL HANDS UP AND BREAKFAST READY."--Page
290.]

The firm of Maua in Rio was the most considerable in all South America,
and Mac's introductions were to this firm. The plan was for Mac to
present himself to Maua & Co., and to draw within twenty-four hours, at
least L10,000, so as to make sure of our expenses, and a day or two
before steamer day to arrange for a very large sum, twenty or thirty
thousand pounds. As soon as that was obtained, George was to go to the
Bank of London and Rio de Janeiro, and secure as much as he thought it
safe to ask for, five or ten thousand pounds. This would be paid in
Brazilian paper money, which I was to exchange for sovereigns. Then I
was to buy a ticket for myself on the steamer going south, take the gold
off and stow it away in my stateroom. At the last moment, in the bustle
and confusion of sailing, Mac and George were to slip into my stateroom,
conceal themselves and sail with the steamer, and when once