"What do you wish, then?"
"An intermediate fate, my lord, between that which you think awaits me and the liberty that you cannot grant me."
"And that is——?"
"To abandon me on one of the desert islands of the Pacific, with the principal necessaries of life. I will manage as I can, and repent, if I have time."
Glenarvan, who was little prepared for this proposal, glanced at his two friends, who remained silent. After a few moments of reflection, he replied:
"Ayrton, if I grant your request, will you tell me all that it is for my interest to know?"
"Yes, my lord; that is to say, all that I know concerning Captain Grant and the Britannia."
"The whole truth?"
"The whole."