But then you will be dealt
honestly with, if that's what you mean by _bottom_. Of course, you
must take the risk with the rest of us. You put in ten thousand: and,
if you want me to do so, I will be on the lookout for your interests;
tell you when to sell, you know; and, in case there should be like to
come a crash, I'll tip you a wink when to stand from under."

"Then you advise us to invest in this?" queried Raed.

"Well, I should say that it was as well as you can do."

"What say, fellows?" Raed inquired, turning to us.

"Perhaps we could not do better," said Kit. "I suppose this property
comes under the head of real estate; and real estate is generally
considered safe property. You call it real estate, don't you, Mr.
H----?"

"Yes, yes; as near real estate as anything. It's kind of amphibious;
half real estate certainly,--more'n half when the tide is out."

So we purchased that afternoon, through Mr. H----, ten thousand
dollars' worth of Back-bay _land_. Of our remaining five thousand
dollars, we put three thousand dollars into 5-20 bonds, and deposited
the remaining two thousand dollars ready for immediate use. That was
about all we did that day.

In the evening we went to hear Parepa, who was then in town; and the
next morning met at nine, at Raed's again, to pow-wow further
concerning the yacht.

"It is too late," said Kit after we were again snug in the back
parlor, "to get a yacht built and launched so as to make a voyage this
summer. Such a vessel as we want can't be built and got off the
stocks in much, if any, less than a year. What are we to do
meanwhile?--wait for it?"

"No," said Wade.

"No," said Raed.

"What then?" asked Kit.

"Hire a vessel," I suggested.

"Can we do that?" asked Wade.

It seemed likely that we could.

"Has it ever occurred to any of you that we none of us know anything
about sailing a vessel?--anything to speak of, I mean?" Kit inquired.

We had all been vaguely aware of such a state of things; but not till
now had we been brought face to face with it.

"It would be the worst kind of folly for us to go out of port alone,"
I couldn't help saying.

"Of course it would," replied Kit.

"I'm well aware of that," said Raed. "We shall have to learn
seamanship somehow."

"Besides," remarked Wade, "sailing a vessel wouldn't be very light nor
very pleasant work for us, I'm thinking. If we could afford to hire a
good skipper, it would be better."

"We shall have to