“I will pay you well for it, my lad, if you can indeed do so,” I replied eagerly.
“Well, I don’t object to that, but I shall do it, not so much for love of you or your money, as to get even with Jack Robinson for the dirty trick he played me!”
“Jack Robinson! Do you know Mr. Robinson?”
“Aye do I! We were shipmates together in the old Palmetto, of Boston, three years ago. He didn’t have a handle to his name then. We were both in the forecastle. You never heard of the Palmetto getting into port, did you, captain?”
“No; it was supposed that she was lost off Cape Horn, with all hands; she was never heard from.”
“No; and she never will be. When I have helped you to find the Mystic and have got square with Jack Robinson, perhaps I may tell you what became of the Palmetto.”
“Well, never mind about her; what can you tell me about my own ship?”
“I’ll tell you, sir, if you will give me time. Three weeks ago Jack met me here ashore. I had been beach-combing for six months and I was dead broke. Jack was flush and paid for the aguardiente like a man. One day he said, ‘Look here, Charlie, I’ve got a devilish sight better lay here than we had with the old Palmetto, and an easier job; do you want to go in with me?’ Naturally I was ready for anything that promised well; and when Jack took me on board ship, showed me those kegs down in the after run, and told me they were all full of silver dollars, I was red hot to get hold of them and ready for anything!”
“You are frank, at any rate.”
The fellow laughed and continued: “Jack told me his plan. It was simple enough. He wanted me to pick up half a dozen reckless fellows like myself, who could be depended upon, and who would join us for a fair price. Then, on the first dark night, we would slip the cable, put to sea, and carry the Mystic to an island we both know of, that has water and cocoanuts but no inhabitants,—well, if you must know, the same place where we laid the old Palmetto’s bones,—and then get rid of the rest of the crew, according to a clever plan he had, and divide the spoil between us two!”