each other. There is a chance, just a chance, that we can prove
this Loo Barebone to be the man we think him, but we must all stand
together. We must be of one mind and one purpose. We four,
Monsieur de Gemosac, you, Barebone, and my humble self. I fancy--
well, I fancy it may prove to be worth our while."

"I am willing to do the best I can for Loo," was the reply.

"And I am willing to do the best I can for Monsieur de Gemosac,
whose heart is set on this affair. And," Colville added, with his
frank laugh, "let us hope that we may have our reward; for I am a
poor man myself, and do not like the prospect of a careful old age.
I suppose, Captain, that if a man were overburdened with wealth he
would scarcely follow a seafaring life, eh?"

"Then there is money in it?" inquired Clubbe, guardedly.

"Money," laughed the other. "Yes--there is money for all concerned,
and to spare."

Captain Clubbe had been born and bred among a people possessing
little wealth and leading a hard life, only to come to want in old
age. It was natural that this consideration should carry weight.
He was anxious to do his best for the boy who had been brought up as
his own son. He could think of nothing better than to secure him
from want for the rest of his days. There were many qualities in
Loo Barebone which he did not understand, for they were quite
foreign to the qualities held to be virtues in Farlingford; such as
perseverance and method, a careful economy, and a rigid common
sense. Frenchman had brought these strange ways into Farlingford