McPhulach hesitated no longer, but hastily scrawled his signature underneath Smith's.
"Thank you both," said Calamity; "that's all I shall need."
Smith and the engineer, taking the hint, departed and left the Captain with his prisoner.
"Now you want your reward, I suppose," remarked Calamity, and, stepping into his little sleeping cabin, he brought out the money-chest which had been taken from the treasure-house in the fort. From this he counted out the equivalent of one thousand pounds, most of it, at the prisoner's request, in American notes.
"You must give me a receipt for these," he said.
The man wrote out a receipt, signed it, and took in exchange the parcel of notes.
"You've promised not to hand me over to the British, remember," said he.
"I shan't forget it," answered the Captain. "There are quite enough scoundrels in English prisons already, without adding to their number."
"And I can't go back to the island."
"I suppose not. Well, I will see what can be done, and in the meantime you had better stay here."