The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-11-22
TABLEHED 1855

sAS AOhui, anu was @tlOut 10 inquire lntC
the nature of the busneas, when The
0 manager went on:
e s'You have now been wits, us uome
years, and we feel that we can pl~eS;ip
plicit confidenes. inu uye-----iz1s au.as, u .''s
requested to pick out conhdentia
man, and one / could depend upon, ano
l have chosen YOU
3 / bowed and murmured my thanks.
! esThe nature of the business you would
be employed upon is this: In this town
I is firm of ship-owners, who are in the
: habit of insuring their ships and cargoes
E for extremely large sums, and lately they
have been very unfortunate, or, rather,
/ should say, fortunate. Do you COM
5 prehend me?"
: Not quite, SIR
t a Why, within the last year they have
lost, in mid-ocean, two ships and a brig,
and have received the insurance money
on them. We have lately received an
intimation that, in the first place, the
cargoes are not what they ,purport to be,
and that the craft they have lost sre not
only old and worn out tubs that have
been sold for breaking up, but also that
in two cases, at least, these ships have
been scuttIed for the sake of the insu-
rance upon them"
The last words the manager spoke in
nearly whisper, and paused as if to
give me time to take in the enormity OF
the ofense. Then he continued
q Now we wish TO discover them, if
possible, in the very act-as may say,
in Eagrante deIictO," and he pafed out
his cheeks and looked very managerial
indeed. Consequently, we have de-
cided to send an agent in their next
craft, in order to discover whether these
reports are true or not, and that agent,
sir, will be you."
1 was fully aware of the dangerous
nature of the job offered me, but at the
same time I had SO little TO care for that
| without hesitation 1 Immediately ac-
cepted the duty.
Very good, Deuglas-yery good r'
remarked the manager, evidently very
much pleased. g am glad to. see that
/ have not been disappointed or mistaken
in my estimate of your character. You
can now return to your work, and Later
on 1 will ace you again, and explain
what the nature of your duty viii be.
In the meantime" he added, as I was
leaving the room, 'be careful not to
hint word of what have mentioned
to you"
OF course promised to be silent. and
it would have been better for me ifevery
one else had been as silent as myself on
the subject.
A day or two passed, aud then the
msnager informed me that the time had
come.
The firm previously alluded to had
insured brig named the Falcon, bound
to Mauritius with an assorted cargo.
He then went on to tell me that
must obtain passage on the Falcon
under the plea of being unable to pay
the fare in the ordinary mailNboat, and
then, once on board, was to keep my
eyes open and write a daily diary of
every thing that occurred, particularly
if at all of suspicious nature.
One of the seamen, it appears, had
also been engaged by the insurance COM
pany-the one, believe, who had first
raised their suspicions-and l was told
his m q me Uas To~k lIop
Furthermore, he entered into particu
lars respecting remuneration, increase of
pay afterward, and managers place at
a branch Office in case of my conducting
the investigation to the satisfaction of
the board.
After receiving my instructions and
check for expenses bsde the manager
good bye, for l was not to return to the
Office, for fear of arousipg suspicion, and
took my departure
Having obtained change for the check
went to my lodging, and putting on
suit of old clothes, made my way down
to the hsrbor.
1 had not much difficulty in finding
the Falcon. She was a nice-looking
brig, aud appeared quite new; st al
events she was newly painted, and that
is much the same thing to landsman.
A gangway board stretched across
from the shore to her deck, and walking
across this was soon on deck.
A boy was busily employed in doing
NOTHING, and having asked to see the
captain, that party appeared on deck.
He was not bad-looking man, but had
that loose, rollicking, shifty expression
generally to be found with lack of. con-
scienteusness.
" Good-day, Captain" I observed. q
hear you are bound for Port Louis, Mau-
ritius. If that's so, could you manage
to give poor fellow lift on the cheap %
Oh, the cheap, eh l' replied he, tax
ing stock of me up and down. That
depends. What do you call cheap ?''
Well, Eve got little coin, . I re-
Piled /" But l can't aSord those mail.
boats-they're too much altogether; be-
side, want 10 keep a trihs in case /
don't get the work expect when I get
out there"
Well, viii FIVE and twenty pounds
hurt you 7' asked the captain.
feigned to be horri6ed, and offered
fifteen; but at length we arranged for
twenty pounds, and he was to find me
in everything, I messing with him at his
table.
Having effected this. promised 90 be
on board by Thursday evening, for she
was to leave barbor on Friday morn.
ing.
By the appointed time / was down at
the port with my modest luggage, which
was soon transferred to little cabin in
the Falcon thst / was to occupy.
The Captain was not on board when 1
Joined, SO | took possession of my little
bedroom, and, putting things to rights