"Have you never heard of him?" asked Whitaker. "He's been with the house since your grandfather's day; and, between ourselves, I don't see how your uncle could do without him. A fine, upstanding man, very fair, and with a great mind for detail. It's strange you haven't heard of him. It was Mr. Weir who commanded your grandfather's ship _Argus_, when she outran and outfought two English corvettes and a sloop-of-war. His name is written into the histories. A very capable person; it's a pleasure to work under him." Just then the girl turned and came, agitated, toward the door of the room. There she paused. "I shall repeat your words to my father," she said. "He is old and not in good health, and what you have said will be a shock to him." "He is a man, and will understand the advisability of what I say," said Mr. Weir, his eyes cold, green, and unemotional. "Assure him of my consideration, and say that I hope to see him soon." Without a word the girl came out into the counting-room. As she passed Anthony on her way to the street, her head was bent, her eyes upon the floor; for an instant the young man fancied that she raised them ever so little and saw him. He took off his hat, but she never paused. Mr. Weir opened the street door for her; Anthony heard her low voiced "Good-by," and she was gone. "Mr. Weir," said Whitaker, "may I present Mr. Anthony Stevens?" The cold, steady eyes of the man seemed to take in Anthony at a single glance; and he held out his hand. "I had heard you were in the city," said he. "Dr. King mentioned it. In the absence of your uncle, permit me to welcome you." Later Whitaker was called away, and Weir said: "After your father's death I had all but forgotten that he had a son; then one day I received a report from our correspondent at New Orleans that brought you back to me in a way that insured your not slipping me in the future." "What was that?" asked Anthony. "It was an account of your affair with Alvaro," said Weir, and again his steady eyes took in the young man from head to foot. Anthony smiled. "There was a great deal of talk about that at the time," said he, "but it was, after all, a matter of no large consequence. Montufars had suffered greatly from the toll-takers who occupy the reefs and islands below New Orleans, and was hard put to it at the time to meet his business obligations. He feared to let a vessel go out, knowing the pirates would loot it; and in the end his spirit broke completely. I saw that something must be quickly done if he was to be rescued from his embarrassments, and the quickest method was to visit Alvaro.