"Shall we take him aboard, Cora?" he asked his sister. Jack was very
willing to defer to Cora's opinion, for he had, more than once, found
her judgment sound. And, in a great measure, this was her affair,
since she had been invited first by the Robinsons, and Jack himself
was only a sort accidental after-thought.
"I think it would he better to take him to the Tartar," Cora said.
"We can question him there, and, if necessary, we can--"
She hesitated, and Jack asked:
"Well, what? Go on!"
"No, I want to think about it first," she made reply. "Wait until we
girls hear his story."
"Will you come to our motor boat?" asked Jack of the sailor, who said
he was known by the name of Slim Jim, which indeed, as far as his
physical characteristics were concerned, fitted him perfectly. He
was indeed slim, though of rather a pleasant cast of features.
"Sure, boss, I'll go," he answered. "Of course I might git a job by
hangin' around here, but--"
"Oh, we'll pay you for your time--you won't lose anything." Jack
interrupted. Indeed the man had, from the first, it seemed, accosted
him with the idea of getting a little "spare-change" for, like most
of the negro population of the Antilles, he was very poor.
"But what's it all about?" asked Bess, who had not heard all the
talk, and who, in consequence, had not followed the significance of
the encounter.
"Zey have found a man, who says a sailor on some island near here,
wore a cap with ze name of your mozer's steamer," put in Inez, who,
with the quickness of her race, had gathered those important facts.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156