Skinner, who caught the hint and
murmured loud enough for Matt Peasley to hear:
"Eighteen thousand dollars to-morrow!"
Cappy extended a hand, which Matt grasped heartily.
"You're looking fit as a fiddle," Cappy continued. "Doesn't look a
bit worried--does he, Skinner?"
"I must admit he appears to carry it off very well, Mr. Ricks. We had
thought, captain," Skinner continued, turning to Matt Peasley, "that,
when Mr. Ricks agreed to permit you to assume command of the Tillicum
when she reached Panama, we might have been treated to an exhibition
of speed; but the fact of the matter is that instead of economizing on
time you are about ten days in excess of the period it would have
taken for Captain Grant to have discharged his cargo and gotten back
to San Francisco." He winked at Cappy Ricks, who returned the wink.
"You mean in ballast," Matt suggested. Skinner nodded. "Oh, well,
that accounts for it," Matt continued serenely. "I came home with a
cargo of steel rails."
Cappy Ricks slid out to the extreme edge of his swivel chair; and,
with a hand on each knee, he gazed at Matt Peasley over the rims of
his spectacles. Mr. Skinner started violently.
"You came home with a cargo of steel rails?" Cappy demanded
incredulously.
"Certainly! Do you suppose I would go to the expense of hiring
somebody else to skipper the Tillicum while I was there with my
license? Not by a jugful! I was saving every dollar I could.
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