"Ay, ay, Luiga, we will."
"Seize him," cried Luiga, pointing to Tempest, who had stood calmly and stoically during the mutinous language.
But as soon as Luiga gave the order, he quietly raised his pistol and shot the West Indian dead.
Drawing his sword, he challenged the mutineers to come on and he would meet them single handed.
"No, no, we were wrong. We ain't murderers nor mutineers, we're fighters," said one, and his speech was echoed by the others.
"Tell me Luiga's plot and I will believe your honesty."
The spokesman told of the intended mutiny, and, to Tempest's surprise, told him that Luiga was always hinting that the boxes of tin contained bullets as well as that valuable commodity.
Although Tempest appeared to trust the men, he kept them under close surveillance.
Curiosity led him to have one of the boxes of tin opened, and, to his great surprise and joy, he found that under the sheets of tin there were hundreds of sovereigns, doubtless intended for the British paymaster-general.