s he seemed--I
desired above all else to see and speak with this man whom Tom Anderly
called "Carver" and Captain Tugg knew as "Professor Vose." If my father,
Dr. Webb, was alive _he_ would be a man with a mysterious past! I wanted
to come face to face with this man whom Tugg said was so much like me.

"Where are you going from here when your Sea Spell sails, Captain Tugg?"
I asked the Yankee animal collector.

"Goin' to make the Straits," drawled he. "Goin' right back to
headquarters for a bit. Mebbe we'll keep the old schooner in
commission--I'm taking down light cargo for headquarters now. But I
leave most of the actual snarin' and trappin' of the critters to the
Injuns--and to the Professor. I got some black fellers down there that
would take a prize in a circus sideshow themselves. One of 'em's over
seven foot tall. And strong as wolves," declared Captain Tugg.

"If I went with you, what would you give me a month?"

"Sixteen dollars--in silver," he said, promptly. "I see you've got
eddication--you'd be handy. I could trust you with the schooner after a
v'yge or two. I got a good navigator, Pedro, my mate; but he can't talk
or write English worth a cent."

"But suppose I shouldn't want to remain with you?" I suggested.

"You kin come back here, then. Plenty of steamers comin' through the
straits that touch at Buenos Ayres. My headquarters is at the head of
navigable water about a hundred miles north of the Straits. An inlet and
river makes in there. It's a wild country, but I've made out to live
thereabout for nigh onto fifteen year--and the Professor's stood it for
better than twelve. I can put you in the way of makin' better money in
time."

But I was not listening to all he said. I suddenly put in:

"Your schooner is going right to your headquarters now?"

"Yes, sir!"

"And that is where this Professor stays?"

"When he ain't up country trapping critters."

If you have read thus far in my story you will have discovered one thing
about me, if nothing else. I was impulsive--ridiculously impulsive. My
bump of imagination was big, too. Otherwise the idea that my father was
roaming about the world instead of being peacefully asleep somewhere at
the bottom of the sea off Bolderhead, would never have gained such a
strong hold upon me.

And my impulsiveness urged me to accept the story of this Professor
Vose--as related by Captain Tugg--as something of vital importance to
myself. Here I was at Buenos Ayre