“Little doot aboot that,” said Archie; “but hallo! here’s our old friend Mustapha Longchops. How did he get on board?”
It was very evident that the old chief must have scrambled up after the seamen boarded, and stowed himself away till the fight was over. What was his object in so doing was difficult to ascertain.
“It wasn’t with any good intention, I’ve a notion,” said Desmond; “however, we’ll be up to him.”
“I think, sir,” said Jerry Bird, “we may as well see if they’ve got any more arms stowed away. If they have, the sooner they’re hove overboard the better; for if they get hold of them, the Arabs would prove somewhat ugly customers on a dark night.”
Jerry’s advice was followed. While two of the hands kept an eye on the crew on deck, Jerry and Desmond, with the rest, searched the after-cabin, and discovered no less than a dozen muskets, several pistols and swords, and some formidable-looking knives or daggers, which would have proved deadly weapons in the hands of the Arabs. They were all quickly hove overboard, greatly to the disgust of their former owners. They were, however, not the only articles discovered.
“Hallo! what’s this?” cried Jerry, drawing out a box from the locker; “it seems pretty heavy for its size. Shouldn’t be surprised to find it full of gold.”
Desmond, who was superintending the search, laughed. “We can scarcely expect such good luck as that,” he answered.
“We’ll try, sir,” said Jerry, prising open the top with one of the daggers which he had retained. “Hurrah! I was right, sir,” he sang out; “golden pieces every one of them, four or five hundred, at least!”
“No doubt about it,” observed Desmond, examining the box; “it is not ours, however, after all. We must hand it over to the commander as part of the cargo found in the prize, as well as every other article of value; though we shall get our share in due time.”
“To be sure, sir, to be sure,” answered Jerry, with a sigh. “At first I thought you and Mr Gordon, and the rest of us, might pocket it; but it’s all right—we must share and share alike.”