“Oh, don’t bring that up again, sir,” grunted the skipper. “That was a blunder, and every man makes them. Well, that’s very nice of you, gentlemen—very nice indeed; and I was going to speak out a bit nervously,—as I consider it to be my duty to do as Dr Robson’s servant; but as you both speak of me as you do, I hope you won’t be offended when I say outright that I don’t like that Spanish chap at all.”
“Well, I don’t know that I particularly like him,” said the doctor; “but he will be very useful to me, and show me what I want. I shall pay him for his services, and there’ll be an end of it.”
“Yes, gentlemen, that’s right enough, but I wouldn’t trust him a bit. The doctor will say that it is British prejudice. Perhaps it is; but here’s my crew; there isn’t a man among them as I’d say was perfect, but same time I’d lie down and go to sleep quite comfortable and feeling safe, if I knew any one of them was on the watch; and it did me good when I heerd you say, sir, that you wouldn’t have any of the mongrel crew. If it had been the other way on, and you’d said you were going to take Mr Rodd and the young French gentleman and trust yourselves up the country in their boat, I’ll tell you outright, sir, I should have struck against it, and if you’d held out and rode the high horse as master, why, there’d have been a mutiny. The men would have took my side, and we wouldn’t have let you go.”
“And quite right too, Chubb,” said the doctor, clapping him on the shoulder. “It would have been a good proof that I had done wisely in making you my friend. What do you say, Count?”
“Quite right,” was the reply. “Well, captain,” continued the Count, “I don’t see that the party can come to much harm with nine of your stout men to act as bodyguard, if this Spanish captain is used as a guide.”
“No, sir, I don’t see as they can; and as the doctor’s come out on purpose to collect all kinds of curious things and see some of the wonders of the world, I suppose it is right that he should make use of a chance like this. But I wouldn’t trust that man, gentlemen, farther than I could see him, and that’s what, with your leave, I am going to say to my lads. I am just going to tell ’em that they have got to bring the three gentlemen back safe and sound, even if it means that some of them is going to lose the number of their mess, and that means this too, that if Mr Spanish skipper don’t play his game fair—well then—”
The skipper ceased speaking, and screwed up his lips very tightly just in the light shed by the swinging lantern.
“Well, captain,” put in Rodd, who felt rather amused at what he called the fuss the skipper was making, “why don’t you finish what you were going to say?”
“Because I didn’t think it was needed, my lad,” was the reply. “What I meant was, that if the doctor here didn’t think it was his duty to give that yellow chap a very strong dose, one of my lads would.”
The doctor was in as high glee the next morning as the two lads, and, it might be added with justice, the nine sailors who were to form their crew, for to a man they were bubbling over with excitement and delight.