"So that's who my gentleman is!" he said to himself. "And with an ice-locked ship." Then he said aloud, "I suppose he was on his way to his vessel when he went by?" "Where else?" asked the host. "He never goes further south than that; and no further north than the Brig Tavern, which is off the road, some miles from here." "I have heard that is an excellent place of entertainment," said Anthony. "It was for many years," said the host, with a nod of the head, "and, as far as food and drink and such-like go, is so still. But," and here the nod turned to a shake, "in other ways it seems different now. I've heard ill reports of it." "It's a place for shipmen to stop, I've been told," said Anthony. "If that is so, there cannot be a great deal wrong with it." "There are shipmen and shipmen," said the stout tavern-keeper. "Some are honest and give their minds to bringing their ships home, all snug and trim, and carrying profitable merchandise; others again have never sailed an honest voyage and never stowed an item of cargo that was properly come by." "Pirates," smiled Anthony. "But there are none such in these waters." "Where there is gain to be had there will your villains gather," said the host. "There is a rich city up the river, and in that city there are many crafty rascals." "I'll not deny that," said Anthony. "But cunning roguery and open plunder are different things; many a man would venture one who would fear the other." "Things have altered since my grandfather's day," said the host. "Then there was Kyd and Teach and Avery, sailing into the bay when ever it pleased them, trafficking with the merchants, being friends of governors, having in their ships' companies those who were members of state assemblies, walking the streets of towns, with their heads up brazenly, and known to every man and woman who met them. To-day, of course, things are different," added the man. "They are quite different." "And better?" said Anthony, and there was an expectant look in his eye. "As to that I'll not say," answered the tavern-keeper. "For I'm not sure. We have our own officials now, if that's any gain for us. But men are the same as they've always been; they crave money still and will use dark practices and outlawed ways to get it. There's many a fine ship that passes out beyond these capes that's never heard of again." "Storms blow at sea as they've always done," said Anthony. "True; and the knowledge of that is what keeps people's minds from other things; they place all to the discredit of wind and wave. But, sir, there are ships still at sea that can't show papers; even now there are lonely headlands and reefs and sandspits that could harbor bands of ruffians. And more than that: there are merchants and traders and agents--the rascals of whom I just now spoke--who can market loot and communicate intelligence." "Is it your thought," asked Anthony, "that the Brig Tavern is being used as a means of furthering some such traffic as this?"