ye, sir, the babe unborn would be safe to come ashore in Chance Along!"

John Darling smiled. "You are a sharp lad," he said. "I saw it in your
eyes that you knew me the moment I entered the room. I don't see how I
ever came to mistake a smart, well-spoken lad like you for that fellow
you call the skipper. Well, I am sorry for it. But you have made one
mistake, my lad. I wasn't the captain of that ship. I was only one of
the mates."

"Well, sir," returned Lynch, cordially, "I bain't sharp enough for to
see much difference atween a cap'n an' a mate. Ye looks like a cap'n to
me, anyhow."

He paused, poured more rum and hot water, sampled the brew and
continued.

"Now I feels it a shame, sir, the way Black Dennis Nolan made a fool o'
the lot o' ye, wid his lies about Frenchman's Cove an' Nap Harbor. Sure,
I felt desperate bad about it at the time--an' now I feels worse. Aye,
sir, worse, seein' as how ye be sich a fine, grand ginerous young
gintleman as ye be. An' then the way he ups an' takes all yer gold an'
fine jewels away from ye, an' ye t'inkin' all the time 'twas the folk o'
Nap Harbor done it!"

"Yes, it was certainly an unmannerly trick," said Darling, quietly. "I
suppose he took it all to Chance Along--gold, jewels and everything--and
kept it for himself?"

"He kep' more nor his share o' the sovereigns, ye kin lay to that, sir;
an' as for the rings an' sich fancy trinkets--well, sir, he says as how
we'll all be gettin' our share come June an' he gets 'round to St.
John's here to sell 'em. But there bain't no share for me, sir. I fit
for me rights, I did--an' here I be!"

The interview continued for another hour, and during the glowing,
rum-inspired course of it, Dick Lynch told all that he knew of Chance
Along, its manners, its skipper and its exact location. He confessed
that he had never seen a great diamond and ruby necklace, but that he
had seen a whole casket full of jewels and was willing to swear by all
the saints aloft that the casket was still in Chance Along. He did not
notice that Mr. Darling was spending all his time over one small glass
of whiskey toddy. Finding the young officer a good listener and an
agreeable companion, he went on to tell of the wreck of the _Royal
William_, of the panic in the flooded cabin, and at last of the
beautiful young woman with the voice like fairy bells and eyes like a
mermaid's eyes.

Mr. Darling sat up at that and laid his pipe on the table.

"A full-rigg