"He hath connections with the French, and, too, with the Jacobites;
but they would be well covered, no doubt. Murray owns the Provincial
Fur Company of New York, which is the largest of all the trading
agencies. He hath set himself deliberately to drive out of existence
all the independent traders and secure the entire trade for himself.
The trade with the French in Canada likewise is in his hands.
"Before the Provincial Government passed the prohibitive law of which
I spoke, he carried on this trade openly, and the French traders,
helped by a government subsidy, more often than not underbid our
traders--using English goods, mind you, for the purpose. And then
the French traders would sell their skins in the London market at a
lower price than our own traders could afford to charge.
"After the passage of the law, in spite of efforts to enforce it,
Murray contrived to build up a clandestine means of shipping goods to
Canada, and while the French are more pressed for cheap trade-goods
than they were, nevertheless they are better off than they should be,
and our traders are put at a disadvantage. Now the time for which
the law was passed is expired, and the Provincial Government hath
enacted it again. It comes up this afternoon before the Lords
Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, when Murray will petition
for its rejection."
"But surely he will lose," I objected.
Juggins shook his head.
"I fear not. The best we can hope for is a compromise."
"Yet you say he is in alliance with the French and the Jacobites!"
"I say that, Master Harry, but I can not prove it. Remember, even
you, who have recently come from St. Germain, had never heard of him.
Moreover, he is hand in glove with the Pelhams and all the corrupt
officials in Whitehall. He hath buttered many a grasping hand, and
if he can secure his operations a few years longer he will have laid
the groundwork for England's overthrow in the New World.
"I leave to your imagination the effect upon our people at home of a
disastrous war with France at this juncture. King George is scarce
settled on his throne, and so good an excuse would pave the way for
the Stuarts' return."
"And Murray?"
"So ambitious a man as he must have his object in view. He could ask
a dukedom--whatever he willed."
"Yes, that is true," I assented. "'Tis a dangerous plot."
Juggins looked at me keenly.
"You are still desirous to join in thwarting it!"
"More so than ever. But I see not how I can be of service to you."
"If the Lords of Trade have received the orders I expect, then you
can be of great service to me and to your country. For myself, I
stand in no worse plight than the loss of some small sums of money,
which I can do without at need. My interest is impersonal, Master
Harry, and 'tis because he knows it to be so that Murray attempted my
life last night."
"Let me call him out," I urged impetuously.
Juggins laughed.
"Then would you climb Tower Hill in short order. No, lad, you are an
humble 'prentice to Master Robert Juggins."
He rose.
"Come, you shall have your first lesson. You may attend me to the
hearing before the Lords of Trade, and you shall carry me a bag of
papers rather than a sword."
"But so I shall not aid you," I demurred.
"Aye, but you shall. I wish you to observe what passes at the
hearing, and to study Murray. For if he wins his stay, as I fear he
will, then it is my purpose to send you to New York for such evidence
as will wreck his conspiracy."
"And I will go gladly," I said, a thrill of exultation in my heart at
the bare thought of a man's part to play.
"I would I might go with you," sighed Juggins. "But I am old and
fat, and granny can ill spare me. No, it calls for youth and
strength. But a truce to talk. Let us to Whitehall."
He collected some documents and maps, placed them in a green
string-bag and gave it to me to carry.
"And remember," he cautioned me at the door, "do you keep at least
two paces behind me. Speak only when I speak to you and hold your
head low and your shoulders stooped. Slouch, if you can. If any
address you look stupidly at them and mumble an answer. I will
explain that you are slow-witted."
But none of the men who stopped Master Juggins during our walk
deigned to notice the humble 'prentice lad who followed him. I
avoided all scrutiny and reached Whitehall with considerable more
self-confidence than I had started with.
The Lords of Trade sat in a lofty chamber of a dirty, gray stone
building over against the river. At one end was a dais with a long,
closed-in desk across it. Behind this nodded my lords in periwigged
majesty, five of them, two fat and pompous, one small and birdlike,
one tall and cadaverous and one who looked like nothing at all.
"That is Tom Pelham," whispered Master Juggins, pointing at the last
as we took our seats.
But I had already transferred my gaze to an extraordinary creature
who stood by a window on the opposite side of the room. It was a
black man, squat and enormously broad, whose long, powerful arms
reached almost to the floor. He had a square, woolly head, with
little, pig-eyes that were studying the people in the room with a
kind of animal cunning.
As I watched him, fascinated, his eyes found my face and he surveyed
me, apparently without any human interest whatsoever, but as a wild
beast might consider a fat stag when too full to care about a kill.
He was dressed in a bright-red livery coat with gold lace, and the
cocked hat which he held was covered with silver embroidery.