What can I do for you ?" "My name is Vincent Wingfield.

My father was an English officer, and my mother is the owner of some large estates near Richmond.

I am most anxious to get a person in whom I am interested on board ship, and I do not know how to set about it." "There's no difficulty about that," the captain said, smiling; "you have only to go to an office and pay for his passage to where he wants to go." "I can't do that," Vincent replied; "for unfortunately it is against the law for any captain to take him." "You mean he is a negro ?" the captain asked, stopping short in his walk and looking sharply at Vincent.
"Yes, that is what I mean," Vincent said.

"He is a negro who has been brutally ill-treated and has run away from his master, and I would willingly give a hundred pounds to get him safely away." "This is a very serious business in which you are meddling, young sir," the sailor said.

"Putting aside the consequences to yourself, you are asking me to break the law and to run the risk of the confiscation of my ship.