Billy Dill sat down on the bench along the wall and Dave and Roger upon that next to the partition, which was not over seven feet in height. Save for the rattling of the papers at the corner desk the office was very quiet, and the boys readily heard the talk going on behind the partition.
"So you really have some goots on board?" came in a somewhat German voice. "I vos afraid you vould not bring any."
"Didn't I say I'd bring them, Baumann?" returned Jasper Van Blott. "I've got them, and the only question is, how am I to get them here, and when are you going to pay me?"
"I pay so soon as de goots is here," said the German shipping agent. "I not pay a dollar before."
"But you will send your men down to the dock?"
"Oh, yes, I do dot. Vot dime you vonts dem, hey?"
"To-morrow morning at eight o'clock, sharp. Tell them to watch me, and when I wave my handkerchief they can come forward and get the goods."
"Sixteen, all told. You want to be careful and caution your men. I don't want Captain Marshall to learn what I am----"
The boys heard no more, for at this juncture the clerk came forward, having finished his work at the corner desk.
"What can I do for you?" he asked, blandly.
"I am looking for a man who is supposed to have left Cavasa Island by steamer, or sailboat, about two months ago," said Dave. "His name is Dunston Porter. Can you tell me if he shipped from here?"
The clerk looked over a book he drew from a desk.
"I see nothing of the name," he said, after a pause.
"You would have the name, if he had taken passage from here?" questioned Roger.
The clerk nodded. Then, when he found that he could do nothing more for them, he dropped into an easy chair, lit a black-looking cigar and took up a newspaper.
"There is one more shipping office," said Billy Dill, as he led the way to the street. "We'll go there."
"Dave, did you hear that talk in the back room?" questioned the senator's son, as they were hurrying down the street.
"I think the supercargo is up to some game, and we must tell Phil and Captain Marshall."
"That's just my idea, too, Dave. Let me see, the name of the firm was Baumann & Feltmuller, wasn't it?"
They were soon at the last of the shipping offices. Here the clerk could scarcely talk English, and they had to call in the services of a gentleman who chanced to be present and who could speak the native tongue. A booking list was consulted, and it was announced that Dunston Porter had taken passage for Nanpi, on Sobago Island, just six weeks before.