The sailor remained silent for a moment, his face turned away from the man he was supposed to be watching. When he spoke it was in a very low tone, with little movement of the lips, and with his face still turned toward the lieutenant.
"You should have gone with it," he said.
Ned did not reply. He had, at the last moment, made a rush for the boat, but had been kept away from her by the natives.
"Carstens has been after you for a long time," the sailor went on. "He got his orders at Manila."
"What was he doing on the island with the rebels?" asked Ned.
"I'm sure I don't know," was the whispered reply. "There's something mighty funny going on here. More mischief, I'm afraid. No one knows what is in the boxes that are now being unloaded."
"What does he say they are?" asked Ned.
"Supplies, to keep the chiefs good-natured."
"He brought them from Manila?"
"No, he picked them up over on the China coast."