"Doubtless," he said, "but you have received a great advertisement,
nevertheless. Some rumor concerning the cause of your visit has also
spread in New Orleans, and for this reason I am here to meet you at the
door of the Governor General."
The five looked at him inquiringly. He smiled, and they liked him better
than ever.
"I don't mean to make a mystery of anything," he said. "My name is
Pollock, Oliver Pollock."
"Ah," exclaimed Paul, his face alight, "you are the head of the company of
Philadelphia, New York and Boston merchants that is sending arms from New
Orleans up the Mississippi and Ohio to Pittsburg, where they are landed
and taken across the country for the use of our hard-pressed brethren in
the east!"
The shrewd merchant's eyes twinkled.
"I see, my young friend," he said to Paul, "that you are alert, even if
you have just come out of the wilderness. Yes, I am that man, and I am
proud to be the head of such a company. I tell you, too, that you have
come at the right time. The English, as you know, are forbidden for the
present to trade at New Orleans, while we are unrestricted. But England
is powerful, far more powerful than Spain, and she is pushing hard for
the privilege. If she gets it we shall he hit in a vital spot.
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