“I’m not so sure,” said my coxswain in a musing tone, “that it mightn’t be a good plan to remain in hiding till nightfall, and then steal down to the creek, and endeavour to seize a boat under cover of the darkness.”
“Too risky, man, too risky!” exclaimed the gunner, suddenly chiming in; “besides, who knows what may happen between this and nightfall? Why, the whole island may be blown up, or overwhelmed by an enormous tidal wave. I’ve heard tell of such cases.”
“There’s something in that, as the monkey said when he fell through the skylight into a tureen of soup!” observed Ned gravely.
“I should propose,” continued Mr. Triggs, not heeding this interruption, “that we make for another part of the coast of this island, and endeavour to possess ourselves of a boat. We know that there are a few negro settlers living here, and if we came across any of them it might be possible to bribe them to assist us in our escape.”
“What should we bribe them with?” I asked; “we haven’t a dollar among us.”
“Here’s a watch and chain at any rate,” said my coxswain, triumphantly drawing those articles out of his pocket, and handing them over to me.
“Thank you, Ned,” I said; “you are a trump and no mistake. All the same, I’m afraid my watch and chain are not valuable enough to be of any use as a bribe.”
“I take it those niggers we saw are the pirates’ slaves,” observed the seaman; “and they’d be afraid of getting their weasands slit if it was discovered that they had helped us to escape off this plaguy island. And if we took a boat o’ theirn, how in the name of mischief should we be able to return it to ’em? ’Tain’t as if we could pay ’em double the value of the craft and have her for our own, you see.”
“I wonder if the chief is away cruising in the brig,” I said; “because, if so, the pirates that are upon the island will find some difficulty in escaping.”
“I very much doubt if they’ll want to shape a departure course from the island altogether,” said Ned; “leastways I take it they’d hang about a bit fust, and see what the wolcano is agoin’ to do. But if they do want to clear out, bag without baggage, I reckon they’ve towed that there prize o’ theirn into the creek afore this, and could get her under way in a brace of shakes.”