Presently Martin Alonzo separated himself from his companions, and walked to where he could see the sailors. There was a set smile on his face, and he said nothing for a full minute.
“Now we shall hear something startling, depend upon that,” said Juan, in Diego’s ear.
“It is an egg he has been sitting on for some time,” said Diego, “and I am curious to see what will be hatched.”
“My men,” said Martin Alonzo, raising his powerful voice, “come nearer. I have something to say to you.”
There was no need of a second invitation; for the men crowded as near as they could, and listened while they clung to any available thing; for the vessel was tossing like a cork. Martin Alonzo stretched out his arm towards the other ships.
“They are going back to a land where there is no gold,” he said, and stopped.
“Ay, ay!” growled the men, looking at the ships and nodding their heads.
“I promised you all the gold you could procure,” said Martin Alonzo. “There has not been much as yet to get; but you know whose fault it has been that you could not have a share of what there was.”
At this the men seemed to half comprehend what was coming, and nodded vigorously at each other and shouted, “Ay, ay!” in a way that showed that they would not lag behind his wishes.