well might be true. And if they were true, why then there was no great
cause for my sudden fit of alarm. However, I was so rattled by my
fright, and still so uncertain as to how things were coming out for
me, that the thought of waiting until the next afternoon to know
certainly whether I had or had not been cheated was more than I could
bear. The only way that I could see to settle the matter was to go
right away down to the anchorage, and so satisfy myself that the
_Golden Hind_ was a real brig and really was lying there; and it
occurred to me that I might kill two birds with one stone, and also
have a reason to give for a visit which otherwise might seem
unreasonable, if I were to take down my luggage and put it aboard that
very afternoon.





II

HOW I BOARDED THE BRIG _GOLDEN HIND_


Having come to this conclusion, I acted on it. I kept the cab at the
door while I finished my packing with a rush, and then piled my
luggage on it and in it--and what with my two trunks, and my kit of
fine tools, and all my bundles, this made tight stowing--and then away
I went down-town again as fast as the man could drive with such
a load.

We got to the Battery in a little more than an hour, and there I