Читать книгу Seibert of the Island онлайн

38 страница из 85

"Bah! You think in a swindle he would give me proofs, that fellow? No, not that fellow. That money he owed me twelve years, then he died!"

"Tell your story."

"You I will tell, though I have told nobody. He come to me and he said, 'Seibert, you have been looking for a schooner.' 'Yes, that is everybody's business. They all know it.' 'Seibert, there is one young trader over in town, and this fellow needs money bad. His schooner—she is over a hundred tons and five years old—is in the bay. I have here the option on her. You need a schooner to carry all your copra to Apia.'

"So I do need a schooner."

"Waller he says, 'I paid him one thousand dollars for the option. The price is fixed at four, and that is cheap. He is a fine young fellow, and needs the money quick. I don't need a boat, so you I will let have the option for just what I have paid.'

"Waller he showed me that option, and I know that four is cheap for a schooner like that. I need that schooner, so I pay him one thousand dollars. With the option made over to my name I go to the bay to find my schooner. In the bay it is all right—in the bottom of the bay. That trader fellow is gone to Apia. She had bumped herself on the reef. To that rascal Waller I take myself.