“Now, my lad, you’re very useful to me on board ship; you can take your trick at the wheel with any of them, and you can go aloft and hand a sail if need be, but, thanks to the Boss we’re not short-handed aboard, whereas we _are_ a trifle short for the shore work. So I’ve been wondering whether you’d care to take a spell ashore and look after the factory for a while. It would be a bit of a change for you, and you’d make something in the way of commission, besides seeing the country, which you seem anxious to do.” “Of course, I know nothing about the trade,” I objected. “Of course you don’t; but I can very soon put you up to all that you need know. You’ll have the store well stocked with Manchester goods, gin, guns, powder, knives, beads, and trash of that kind, and you’ll have a chest of cash, say a hundred pounds--all in silver and mostly in threepenny bits (for the niggers won’t touch copper money, and don’t understand anything but a dollar or a threepenny piece) to carry on with. When the bush niggers come in with their produce, you’ll buy it at a fixed rate and take all of it that you can get--palm oil, kernels, copra, rubber (especially rubber), ground nuts and any oddments, such as scrivelloes, ebony or copal, that may turn up. Then, when you have bought them out, you’ll let ’em browse about the store and look at your goods, and you’ll have to keep your weather eye lifting so that they don’t hook the toys and mizzle without paying. If you work ’em properly they’ll spend all you’ve paid ’em for the produce, and go off as pleased as Punch with their cargo of gimcracks. I know what you’re thinking,” he continued, seeing that I hung back. “You don’t consider it quite the ticket for a gentleman to sell gin to a parcel of naked niggers.” I laughed and perhaps reddened a little, for he had pretty accurately gauged my thoughts. “I expect it’s pretty awful stuff,” I said evasively. “There you are wrong,” he replied. “Cheap it is--I shouldn’t like to tell you what we gave for it at Hamburg--but it is as good gin as you could wish to drink, supposing you wished to drink any at all. The mystery is how they do it at the price. And as to serving in the factory, I am sure you needn’t mind that; every produce buyer has to do it, and there are some excellent fellows in the trade. But turn it over and let me know what you think about it, and let us go on deck and have a look round.” The scene on deck betokened the occurrence of something unusual, for the whole ship’s company was assembled, the men gathered in a little knot on the forecastle and the two mates pacing the poop in earnest conversation, all eyes being directed over the port bow where a stretch of low land was visible at a distance of some three miles. Above the lee bulwark the head of Moloney was visible as he stood in the main chains heaving the hand-lead, and his faithful companion, the cat, sat on the rail above him and gravely superintended the operation.