“Well, don’t go to sleep. Once upon a time—”
“That’s a nice beginning,” said Tom.
“Once upon a time a ship filled with gold doubloons—Sirr, are you listening?”
“Yes, gold doubloons—”
“Seems to me you nodded. But never mind. She sailed away from Calla—O. It was all specie and nothing else she had on board. There must have been pretty near five million dollars. Are you awake?”
“I’m listening. I like to keep my eyes shut when anyone else is telling a good story. Go on.”
“Well, sirr, a certain bad lot who lived at Lima got wind of it, and pursued this craft in a hired cruiser, with a hired crew—assassins—overtook—ugly affair—spared none—plank—sharks—Australia—back—island—mutiny—gold hidden—terrible sufferings—death—nobody found—Galapagos Islands—”
The above disjointed sentences are the skipper’s strange story as Tom heard it—not as the Yankee told it; and at the word “islands” Tom dropped to sleep altogether, and did not awake until Barnaby had finished.
“Very remarkable story indeed!” said Tom; “very remarkable! And of course they hanged him?”
“Hanged whom—eh?”