‘Whatever ye may tell me, Mr. Dugdale,’ he responded in a voice slightly agitated, ‘I swear to keep locked up in my bosom; but afore I can give ye my word, I must know what I’ve got to take my oath on.’
‘You misunderstand me,’ I exclaimed; ‘I desire no oath. Simply assure me that should a time ever come when I may see my way to escape, you will stand my friend; you will actively assist me if you can—you will not be neutral; I mean, merely my well-wisher; simply tell me this, and I shall know that when an opportunity arises, I will have you to count upon.’
‘Have you a scheme, first of all, Mr. Dugdale?’ he inquired. ‘There’s no good in my consenting to anything that’s agoing to end in getting our throats cut.’
‘No; I have no scheme. What plan could I form? I must grasp the first, the best chance that offers, and then it may be that I will want you. There are others besides myself whom you would find grateful. Miss Temple’s mother is a lady of title, and a rich woman’——
‘Excuse me, Mr. Dugdale,’ he interrupted; ‘I don’t want no bribe to bring me into a proper way of acting, if so be as that proper way ain’t a-going to cost too much. I’ll say downright, now, that if I can help you and the lady to get out of this job and put ye both in the road of getting home, ye may depend upon my doing my best. More’n that there’d be no use in saying, seeing that it ain’t possible to consart a scheme, and that we must wait until something tarns up. If there be an island, and we bring up off it, the sort of opportunity you want may come, and you’ll find all of me there. If the island be a delusion, then something else’ll have to be waited for. But I tell you as man to man that I’m with you and the lady, that I don’t like Mr. Lush nor the business he’s brought the vessel’s crew into but that I’ve got to be as cautious as you; which now means, sir—and I beg that you’ll onderstand me as speaking respectfully—that that there Forrest has seen us together long enough.’
‘Right,’ I exclaimed, grasping his hand; ‘I thank you from my heart for your assurance; and Miss Temple shall thank you herself.’
With which I went aft, gazing steadfastly to windward as I walked, and after a final peep into the binnacle and a slow look round, I stepped below.
There was little to comfort me in this chat with Wetherly; it was worth knowing, however, that he regarded the captain’s yarn as a mere emission of craziness; for heretofore, in the few conversations I had had with him, his hesitation, his cautious inquiries, his manner, that in a superior person would to a certain extent have suggested irony, had caused me to see that his mind was by no means made up on the subject. This, then, was to the good, and it was satisfactory to be informed by him that he would befriend us if an opportunity occurred, providing his assistance should not jeopardise his life. I was grateful for this promise, but scarcely comforted by it. I carried a clouded face into the cabin; Miss Temple, who awaited my return to the cabin, fixed an anxious gaze upon me, but asked no questions.
‘How good you are to suppress your curiosity!’ I exclaimed, standing by her side, and looking into her upturned face; ‘you incalculably lighten my burthen by your forbearance.’
‘You have taught me my lesson,’ she answered quietly; ‘and as a pupil I should be proud of the commendations of my master.’ She pronounced the word ‘master’ with a glance of her proud eyes through the droop of the lashes, and a smile at once sweet and haughty played upon her lips.