Quickly, but
eloquently, Blood expressed his thanks, where he knew that no thanks
were due.
"We will talk of this again, sir - to-morrow," he concluded. "You
have opened for me the gates of hope."
In that at least he tittered no more than the bare truth, and
expressed it very baldly. It was, indeed, as if a door had been
suddenly flung open to the sunlight for escape from a dark prison
in which a man had thought to spend his life.
He was in haste now to be alone, to straighten out his agitated
mind and plan coherently what was to be done. Also he must consult
another. Already he had hit upon that other. For such a voyage a
navigator would be necessary, and a navigator was ready to his hand
in Jeremy Pitt. The first thing was to take counsel with the young
shipmaster, who must be associated with him in this business if it
were to be undertaken. All that day his mind was in turmoil with
this new hope, and he was sick with impatience for night and a
chance to discuss the matter with his chosen partner. As a result
Blood was betimes that evening in the spacious stockade that enclosed
the huts of the slaves together with the big white house of the
overseer, and he found an opportunity of a few words with Pitt,
unobserved by the others.
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