“Hurrah!—a prize! a prize!” cried one of the men of the other boat. “A box of gold!”
“Hush!” cried one of his companions. “Don’t talk of it, man. If no one else sees it, we may have it all to ourselves.”
At that moment John Hadden entered the cabin. His eye fell on the box, as the men were trying to hide it; he looked at what was in it. “Friends, this property is not ours,” he remarked, in a calm, firm voice; “we shall get a fair reward if we succeed in saving it. I hope, if we stay by the ship, that we may get her off, at the top of the next flood, by lightening her a little. What say you? Will you stay by my lads and me, and do the job?”
The other men, however, had set their hearts on getting the box of gold. Have it they would, and they made all sorts of excuses to get away from the ship, that they might take it with them. John Hadden was a man who not only would not do wrong himself, but would stop others, if he could, from doing it.
“Mates,” he said, “I do not want to quarrel with you, or with any other men; but the goods on board this ship must remain just as we found them. I am sure that my own lads will bear me out in what I say: none of us will touch them.”
“Oh, we always have heard that you were a very strict man, Mr Hadden, and now we find it true enough!” replied one of the men, with a sneer.
“No,” said John Hadden quietly; “I only say, ‘Do right, whatever comes of it.’ If we take the goods on board this ship, we should be doing wrong. And others doing so, won’t make wrong right. That’s all.”
“Well, well; we don’t want to quarrel. We wished you to share; but if you won’t, you won’t, and neither will get it,” answered the other; “so, Mr Hadden, let’s say no more about it.”
John, honest and true himself, did not think that any trick was going to be played him. The other men joined him and his sons, with seeming goodwill, in getting out warps, and in heaving overboard some of the cargo. Thus they worked on till night stopped them. There was a promise of a fine night; and so, making fast their boats under the lee of the wreck, they prepared to spend the time on board till the return of day. Of course, they had to keep a watch on deck. The first watch was kept by the Haddens; the morning watch by the people of the other boat. When John Hadden and his sons awoke in the morning, and came on deck, the other boat was gone, and so was the box of gold, which had been left in the cabin.
Daylight returning, a white speck was seen away to the northward. John Hadden, as he looked through the glass, knew that it was the boat of those who had been with him. There were some sand-banks, and a narrow passage through them, by which a long distance might be saved. At certain tides this passage was dangerous, even in fine weather.