“Fork out!” cried Peterkin energetically, starting to his feet and extending his open hand to Jack. “Down with the money, sir, else I’ll have you shut up for life in a debtor’s prison the moment we return to England!”
“I’ll give you an I.O.U. in the meantime,” returned Jack, laughing, “so sit down and be quiet.—The fact is, Ralph, when we discovered this keg of powder Peterkin immediately took me a bet of a thousand pounds that you had something to do with it, and I took him a bet of ten thousand that you had not.”
“Peterkin was right, then,” said I, explaining how the thing had occurred.
“Well, we found it very useful,” continued Jack, “although some of it had got a little damp; and we furbished up the old pistol, with which Peterkin is a crack shot now. But to continue. We did not find any other vestige of you on the reef, and finally gave up all hope of ever seeing you again. After this the island became a dreary place to us, and we began to long for a ship to heave in sight and take us off. But now that you’re back again, my dear fellow, it looks as bright and cheerful as it used to do, and I love it as much as ever.
“And now,” continued Jack, “I have a great desire to visit some of the other islands of the South Seas. Here we have a first-rate schooner at our disposal, so I don’t see what should hinder us.”
“Just the very thing I was going to propose!” cried Peterkin. “I vote for starting at once.”
“Well, then,” said Jack, “it seems to me that we could not do better than shape our course for the island on which Avatea lives, and endeavour to persuade Tararo to let her marry the black fellow to whom she is engaged instead of making a ‘long pig’ of her. If he has a spark of gratitude in him, he’ll do it. Besides, having become champions for this girl once before, it behoves us, as true knights, not to rest until we set her free; at least, all the heroes in all the story-books I have ever read would count it foul disgrace to leave such a work unfinished.”
“I’m sure I don’t know or care what your knights in story-books would do,” said Peterkin; “but I’m certain that it would be capital fun, so I’m your man whenever you want me.”
This plan of Jack’s was quite in accordance with his romantic, impulsive nature; and having made up his mind to save this black girl, he could not rest until the thing was commenced.
“But there may be great danger in this attempt,” he said at the end of a long consultation on the subject. “Will you, lads, go with me in spite of this?”