atlas I kept in my room; and I had
decided to make a landing as near as I could to the foot of Canal
Street. I had read that this street had a green, with trees extending
through it.

I had no difficulty in identifying it when I came to it. At the foot of
it was the customhouse, said to be one of the largest public buildings
in the United States; and I had no difficulty in believing the
statement. In front of it was the broad levee where steamers landed,
and such a forest of them I never saw before. They were packed in like
sardines, and I could find no opening by which I could get to the
shore.

I found that the decks of the steamers were common ground, and most of
them could only be reached by passing over others. But near the levee I
found a wharf, the lower end of which was under water, at which I
concluded we could lie by paying wharfage. I ran the Sylvania in as far
as I could and made fast. The Islander came up alongside of her, and
was secured to the bow and stern. My father and the Tiffanys concluded
to take up their quarters at the St. Charles Hotel, so that they could
see more of the city. I called a carriage for them; and then the
Shepards decided to follow their example, as they were tired of being
on the water for over a week.

As soon as they were gone we thought it was time to attend to the
disposition of the prisoners. My father had taken the money with him,
but the hotel was not more than a quarter of a mile from the wharf. I
sent Buck Lingley to assist Captain Cayo, and he was assigned to the
care of Nick Boomsby.

"Here we are," said Captain Blastblow, after everything had been put in
order on both vessels. "Do you expect to get away from here this
summer?"

"This summer! I expect to get away from here in two or three days," I
replied, rather startled by the remark of the captain.

"I think not," he added, shaking his head ominously.

"Why not?"

"Are you a lawyer, Captain Alick?" demanded Captain Blastblow, with a
very comical expression on his face.

"I am no lawyer, not even a sea-lawyer," I answered, wondering what he
was driving at.

"Neither am I; but it has occurred to me that we might be kept here
longer than we wanted to stay."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I was thinking just now that if we had let Cornwood and Boomsby escape
from the steamer last night it would have saved us a world of trouble,"
added Captain Blastblow, with a cunning leer and a wink.

"I don't underst