"There, I see he is ready. Goodbye, Master Holliday. Goodbye, my
good Hugh. All fortune attend you, and God keep you both from
harm."
Maria added her affectionate adieux to those of her father, and in
a few minutes the boat was moving down the river under full sail.
"Hugh, you may as well overhaul the cabin at once," Rupert said;
"we have paid for its sole use during the voyage. Cast your eye
carefully round, and see if there is anything that strikes you as
being suspicious. I see no arms on deck; see that none are hidden
below."
Hugh returned on deck in a few minutes.
"It seems all right, Master Rupert. There are some provisions in a
locker, and in another are a cutlass, a couple of old pistols, and
a keg half full of powder; I should say by its weight there are ten
pounds in it. The arms are rusted, and have been there some time, I
should say. There is also a bag of heavy shot, and there is a long
duck gun fastened to the beam; but all these things are natural
enough in a boat like this. No doubt they fire a charge or two of
shot into a passing flight of wildfowl when they get the chance."
"That's all right then, Hugh, especially as they evidently could
not go down into the cabin without our seeing them; and as with our
pistols and swords we could make short work of them even if they
did mean mischief, we need not trouble ourselves any further in the
matter. It's going to be a wet night, I am afraid; not that it
makes much difference, but one would rather have stayed on deck as
long as one could keep awake, for the smells of the cabin of a
Dutch fishing boat are not of the sweetest.
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