Matt thanked him, entered a telephone booth and on consulting the telephone directory, discovered that J. 0.  Heyfuss was a broker.

“I’ll have to step lively to beat Heyfuss to it,” he soliloquized, and forthwith hastened down to the office of the Blue Star Navigation Company.

“Well, young man!” Cappy greeted him genially.  “How about you?”

“Never mind me.  How about the Tillicum?”

“Laid up in Oakland Inner Harbor waiting for better times.”

“I think I can give her some business.  Would you charter her to the Pacific Shipping Company?”

“Well,” Cappy replied, “I might be induced to take a chance in these hard times.  How much money have you in bank to-day?”

“In a pinch I could lay my hands on thirty thousand, cash.”

“Well,” said Cappy thoughtfully, “that little roll, plus an established credit and a reputation for business experience, might carry you far with some people—­but not with me.  You’re not a safe bet—­yet; but we can make it safe.”

“How?”

“You can pay the charter money in advance,” Cappy answered smilingly.

“I have decided not to do any more gambling, Mr. Ricks.  Hereafter, as near as such a thing may be humanly possible, I’m going to play a sure thing.  Therefore, all things being equal, if I can guarantee you your price for the steamer, on a year’s charter, you do not care what I do with the vessel, provided that I do not injure her?”

“Certainly.”

“Well, then, in order to play safe and protect you, suppose I charter her from you, contingent on my ability to recharter her to some responsible shipping firm.  Under those conditions would you exact the charter money in advance?  You know very well that when I collect my money from the charterers you’ll get yours right away.”

“Without question, Matt; but sometimes a fellow cannot collect his money from the charterers, and then the owner has to wait.  I’m taking no chances to speak of on you, Matthew, my son; but for the sake of making it a sporting proposition I’ll talk business on the basis of fifty per cent. of the charter money, payable monthly in advance.”

“That’s cold-blooded, but I can stand it.  What is the Tillicum going to cost me a day?”

“What kind of charter do you want—­government form or bare boat?”

“You might give me an option with a price based on each form.  I haven’t the slightest idea what form my prospective victim prefers, though I prefer a bare-boat charter.  I will close with you on whatever basis he prefers, if that is satisfactory.”

“I’ll make many concessions to get that vessel out of the mud and to sea, and paying a reasonable rate on the money invested in her.  I hate to keep a good skipper and a good chief engineer on the beach, and I want them to begin drawing their salaries again.”