"May I ask you for a few minutes in private, Captain Passford?"
continued Percy.
"Certainly;" and the owner retired with him to the weather-rail.
"I have seen this vessel, and I have heard what you say of her. Now I am
better informed in regard to her than my father is. I am not authorized
to name a price, but I am very sure that he will buy her."
"So he said to me himself, Mr. Percy," added the owner with a smile.
"He said so to you, sir!" exclaimed the young man, starting back; for he
believed that he had accomplished all that had been done towards buying
the vessel.
"I had an interview with him, and stated most explicitly that the
Bellevite could not be purchased by any person at any price; and when
I hinted very guardedly to him, as I do to you, in the strictest
confidence, that I am hound for Mobile Bay, he did not urge the matter.
He was satisfied that the steamer was to be used in a good cause; and I
can give you the same assurance, Mr. Percy."
The young man looked positively humble after he had listened to the
remark of the owner, for he felt that his father had "taken all the wind
out of his sails." He looked in the direction of the receding island of
Nassau, and realized that he had been wasting his time, to say nothing
of the wasted strategy he had bestowed on his enterprise.
"You have stated that you are bound for Mobile Bay, sir," said he.
"That is a long distance from New Providence, as I have learned from
experience.
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