"Well, mister," replied the governor, "it's a long story, but, if you want to hear it, I reckon I can tell it to you."
The passengers declared their willingness to listen, and Sam proceeded to give them a complete history of the Crusoe band from the day it was organized down to the time he met the robbers at Mr. Henry's store, describing their adventures in glowing language, and dwelling, with a good deal of pride, upon the exploits of this particular night. The men were no less astonished than every one else had been who had heard the story, and Sam could see that they were uneasy, too.
"So you really set fire to a vessel before you left the harbor, did you?" asked one.
"Sartin. We might as well have let it alone, howsomever, fur her crew put out the fire before it had a chance to do any damage, an' she is after us now. But that needn't scare you none, fur we are leavin' her behind fast."
"That makes no difference," replied the robber. "If she can't catch you, there are plenty of other vessels that can do it. You'll have the whole town after you before long, and we are in danger as long as we remain with you. We want you to set us ashore at once."
"How about our money?" asked Sam.
"What money?"
"Why, the thousand dollars you promised to pay us fur takin' you out to sea."
"O, you haven't earned that yet. We told you that you should have it when you had carried us safely out of sight of Newport. That's something you can't do, and so you need not expect to receive the money. We can't give it to you for nothing, you know."
"Well, if this yere aint the very meanest piece of business I ever heard of," muttered the governor, as he turned on his heel and left the robbers. "But they aint by no means so smart as they think they are. We'll larn 'em how to cheat us. What's the trouble now?"