; but I have heard, before now, of
headwinds springing up, and boats not being able to make their
passage, and being blown off land; and I am not fond of fasting. I
daresay you won't mind eating, tomorrow, anything that is not
consumed by the time we reach port."

"We will undertake that, senor," the man said, laughing, highly
satisfied at the liberality of their employer.

"Is there wind enough for the sail?" Bob asked, as he stepped into
the stern of the boat.

"It is very light, senor, but I daresay it will help us a bit. We
shall get out the oars."

"I will take the helm, if you sail," Bob said. "You can tell me
which side to push it. It will be an amusement, and keep me awake."

The sun was just setting, as they started. There was scarcely a
breath of wind. The light breeze that had been blowing, during the
day, had dropped with the sun; and the evening breeze had not yet
sprung up. The two fishermen rowed, and the boat went slowly
through the water; for the men knew that they had a long row before
them, and were by no means inclined to exert themselves--especially
as they hoped that, in a short time, they would get wind enough to
take them on their way, without the oars.

Bob chatted with them until it became dark. As soon as he was
perfectly sure that the boat could not be seen from the land, he
quietly opened his bag, and changed the conversation.

"My men," he said, "I wonder that you are content with earning
small wages, here, when you could get a lot of money by making a
trip, occasionally, round to Gibraltar with fruit. It would be
quite easy; for you could keep well out from the coast till it
became dark, and then row in close under the Rock; and keep along
round the Point, and into the town, without the least risk of being
seen by any of our cruisers. You talked about making money by
smuggling in tobacco from there, but that is nothing to what you
could get by taking fruit into Gibraltar. These oranges cost a
dollar and a half, a box; and they would fetch ten dollars a box,
easily, there. Indeed, I think they would fetch twenty dollars a
box. Why, that would give a profit, on the thirty boxes, of six or
seven hundred dollars. Just think of that!"

"Would they give such a price as that?" the men said, in surprise.

"They would. They are suffering from want of fresh meat, and there
is illness among them; and oranges and lemons are the things to
cure them. It is all very well for men to suffer, bu