‘Joe Wetherly,’ he answered.
I waited, but he seemed to require me to question him.
‘You are all agreed, you say, Mr. Lush—upon what?’
He coughed, thrust his fingers into his neckcloth to ease his throat, and then said: ‘Well, now, I’ll tell ye exactly how it stands. Wilkins there was next door to the capt’n’s cabin when he told you of that matter of two hundred thousand pound lying stowed away in a South Sea island. He comes forward and tells us all about it.’ He paused, then said with a tone of impatience: ‘Of course, ye can guess now what we’ve settled on?’
‘Pray, explain,’ said I, understanding but too thoroughly, and feeling the blood forsaking my cheek.
‘Why,’ said the carpenter with a short laugh, ‘what we’ve resolved on is to sail to that there island and get the money.’
‘No good in leaving all that money to lie there for the savages to dig up,’ exclaimed one of the men.
‘Mr. Lush,’ said I, ‘I am a stranger in this ship, and have but one desire, and that is, to leave her along with the young lady who was my fellow-passenger aboard the Indiaman. You will of course do what you will with the vessel. The action of the crew can make no part of my business. All that I ask is that you will signal the first vessel we fall in with, let her be heading as she will, and tranship us.’
A growling ‘No!’ ran amongst the men. The carpenter echoed it with a blow of his fist upon the table. ‘No, sir! we can’t spare you. It’ll be you, Mr. Dugdale, that’ll carry us to that island.’
My consternation was too visible to be missed even by the ignorant eyes which were bent upon me.