“Crœsus?� ventured Jack.
“Aye, that’s the bully. We’re shaping a course fer Cedar Island and the stone chest Cap’n Walters hid from the white Esquimaux, you’ve heard of ’em.�
“You mean the tribe Steffason discovered?�
“That’s them. They’re all blondes, though rightly speaking they ought to be black. Well, to cut a long yarn short, Walters got lost in a whaling ship up here and hooked up with a tribe of ’em. He married one of their gals and she told him about the stone chest on Cedar Island. He didn’t dare try to get it alone but one night he sneaks out in a native canoe, an’ by good luck is picked up by a sealer bound fer the states. But when he got thar he was too sick fer even the Universal Remedy ter be of any good. Afore he died he give me the bearings and so on of Cedar Island, all ship-shape, an’ I hunts up Terrill & Co. an’ they agrees to go inter it with me and—and here we are.
“With my pockets full o’ gold. As I sailed,� croaked the old man in a harsh voice.
“Here’s the map all drawed kerrect an’ ter scale,� added Uncle Toby, drawing a yellow, dirty bit of paper from his pocket and shoving it toward Jack. It was at this moment that Terrill reentered the cabin.
“Ah! giving our young friend an idea of what we are after, eh?� he said, rubbing his thin hands till his knuckles cracked like firecrackers, “good, very good. But our young friend must be secretive about it. No loose talk, you know. This is a close corporation.�
“Which you would like limited to Terrill & Co.,� thought Jack, aloud he contented himself by saying shortly:
“I understand all that. Captain Ready is my uncle, you know.�
“Quite so,� agreed Mr. Terrill, displaying all his teeth in a grin, “but he’s my partner, my dear young man.�