“And now, lads, the cutter having been successfully got into the water, I find myself in the position of being able to make to you both a certain proposal and offer that has long been in my mind. When I took you two men off your raft, and brought you ashore here in a dying condition, that tiny craft that floats so jauntily out there on the smooth waters of the lagoon was only in frame—a mere skeleton. But you saw of what that skeleton was composed; you saw that it was made of tough steel firmly and substantially put together with stout bolts and rivets. And since then you have assisted me to bring forward the little craft from what she then was to what she is to-day; you have seen and handled the materials that have been worked into her, and nobody knows better than yourselves what careful and faithful labour and workmanship has been bestowed upon the putting of her together. Now, I want you to give me your honest opinion, as sailors, of that little craft. You know that she was built for the sole purpose of carrying us all away from this island—which, I may tell you, lies well in the heart of the Pacific; I want you, as sailors of experience, to say whether you will feel any hesitation in trusting your lives to her.”
Nicholls laughed heartily at the question; and Simpson grinned corroboratively.
“Why,” exclaimed the former, “men have gone more than halfway round the world in craft that aren’t to be mentioned on the same day as that dandy little packet! The last time that I was in Sydney—which was last year—there was a Yankee chap there that had made the voyage from America in a dug-out canoe that he had decked over and rigged as a three-masted schooner—he and another chap—and they intended to go on and complete the trip round the world. I don’t mind saying that I shouldn’t have altogether cared about making such a voyage myself in such a craft; but yonder little beauty’s quite a different story. I’d be as willing to ship in her as in anything else—provided that it was made worth my while. What say you, bo’sun?”
“Same here,” answered Simpson, the man of brevities.
“You really mean it? You are both speaking in serious earnest?” demanded Leslie.
“I am, most certainly,” answered Nicholls; “in proof of which I intend to sail with you when you leave the island—if you’ll take me, Mr Leslie; and I don’t think you are the man to refuse two poor castaways a passage, especially as you’ve got plenty of room aboard there for us both, and we can make ourselves useful enough to pay for our passages.”
“Very well, then,” said Leslie. “Now, this is the proposal that I have to make to you both. I have here, on this island, snugly stowed away in a cave, certain valuables that I am most anxious to personally convey to England; and for certain reasons with which I need not trouble you, I am equally anxious to get them home without bringing them under the notice of the authorities, and the only way in which this can be done is to take them home in the cutter. My plan is to make my way in the first instance to Australia, where Miss Trevor will leave the Flora. At Melbourne I shall revictual, and thence proceed to Capetown, where I shall do the like, sailing thence to England, with a call, perhaps, at some of the Canaries, if necessary. Now, if you have no fancy for such a long trip as that which I have sketched out, in so small a craft as the Flora, you will of course be perfectly free to leave her upon our arrival at Melbourne. But if, on the other hand, you are willing to ship with me for the whole voyage, I think I can make it quite worth your while, for I shall require at least two men whom I can absolutely trust, and I believe you two to be those men. Now, what amount would you consider to be adequate remuneration for the run home from here?”
“How long do you reckon the trip is going to take, sir?” inquired Nicholls.
“Um, let me see,” considered Leslie, making a mental calculation. “We ought to do it comfortably in about one hundred and eighty days—six months; call it seven months, if you like.”
Nicholls considered for a few minutes, and then looked up and said—