They heard strange cries in foreign
tongues, and now and then the sound of a trumpet blown at one of the forts
in the palisaded wall. Officers in brilliant uniforms appeared on the
levee.
The eyes of Long Jim Hart opened wider and wider.
"It shorely is a big town," he said. "Sol, I'd been thinkin' that you an'
Paul wuz tellin' a good deal that ain't, but I reckon it's the truth. The
world has a lot more people than I thought it had. I'm pow'ful glad I
came."
They turned "The Galleon" toward the levee, and an officer in a boat
pulled by four uniformed oarsmen hailed them in Spanish, which none of
them understood.
"Must be a harbor master or something of that kind," said Henry.
They brought "The Galleon" to a stop, and the other boat came alongside.
The officer in the bow was a Catalan, richly dressed, and small, but with
a thin, alert face. He looked at the five with as much curiosity as they
looked at him. Secretly he admired their splendid shoulders and chests,
and their obvious strength. He was acute enough, too, to guess whence
they came. Lieutenant Diego Bernal had not been two years in New Orleans
for nothing.
"You come from Kaintock?" he said in fair and not unfriendly English.
"Yes," replied Henry, "we are all the way from Kentucky, and we have an
important message for the Governor General, Bernardo Galvez.
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