l right. I won't be long."

"But mind this," I said, "you are doing it for your own amusement, for I
shall advise my uncle not to go by your vessel."

"Riled, mister? Jest a little bit, eh? All right. You'll cool down by
the time I've got the custom-house chap here, and then we can settle
terms."

He went off laughing, and for the moment I felt as if we were in his
power.

"All my labour will have been thrown away, Tom," I cried, "and we shall
be called upon for explanations that I cannot give."

I called my uncle into the consultation, and we agreed that the best
line to take was the defiant one.

"We are under no engagement to this fellow, Harry," said my uncle; "and
we need not enter into one, as he would fleece you--perhaps rob you.
For, once at sea on the vessel of such a man, he can play tyrant and do
as he pleases."

"You are right, uncle; we will not go. But if he returns with one of
the Spanish officials, what then?"

"Set him at defiance; and if you are driven to extremities, appeal to
the British vice-consul for aid."

CHAPTER FIFTY TWO.

HELP AT A PINCH.

Captain Obadiah P. Perks came back at the end of an hour, when I had
pretty well ripened my plans, and, retiring within the house, I left Tom
to deal with him.

A tall, dark Spaniard was the captain's companion, and he might have
been an official or an impostor in the skipper's pay. It was impossible
to judge, though he wore something purporting to be a uniform.

"Wal, mister," the skipper said to Tom, "where's your young boss?"

"Busy," said Tom, blocking the doorway and coolly smoking his pipe.

"Then just you go and tell him that Kyaptin 'Badiah P. Perks is here
with a gentleman who'll overhaul that stack o' chesties, and say whether
I can take 'em board o' my schooner without getting into trouble."

"Oh! Mas'r Harry won't get you into no trouble, cap'en," said Tom, "nor
he won't give you no trouble. He's altered his mind and won't go."

"Oh, no, he haven't," said the skipper. "Just you go and say Kyaptin
'Badiah P. Perks is here and wants to see him tew wunst."

For answer Tom drew a long breath and puffed out a cloud of smoke at the
skipper.

"Air yew a-going?" said the latter.

"No," said Tom, "I air not. My young master don't want you, nor your
ship, nor anything else. You wouldn't take the job when you could get
it, so now it's gone."

The Yankee skipper turned of a warmer yellow, and there was a malignant