"Yes, and he'll have the last chance too, sir. We'll never see him."
"Very well, if he doesn't bring him off as he promised, I'll jump overboard and swim ashore. I can make the island very easily. You won't pull a boat in pursuit of me."
"No, sir, and nobody else shall. Neither shall the mudhook be hove up till you've had a chance to say a word for us."
"Nelson, the first mate wants to see you in the cabin," said Mr. Gale, coming forward at this moment. "He is going to offer you something to keep still, and you had better take it."
"If that is all he wants it will be of no use for me to go," answered Frank, "for my mind is made up."
"Go and talk to him, anyhow," said the officer. "Perhaps you can strike some sort of a bargain. I want to see you safe off this craft, and now is your chance, if ever."
"Nelson!" shouted the mate, from the top of the companion ladder.
"Coming, sir," replied Frank.
He went, and was not a little astonished at the reception he met as he entered the cabin. The door was suddenly closed behind him, and before he could think twice he was powerless, his ankles and wrists being heavily ironed. "Not a word out of you," said the first mate, covering Frank's head with a cocked revolver. "You'll find out now who controls this ship—you or her proper officers."
"You ain't as smart as some folks seem to think," said the second mate, with a grin. "If you were bound to blab, why didn't you take the hundred dollars the cap'n offered you, and wait till you got ashore before you began to swing your chin?"