me as I closed the
instrument, "we are all right--so far; the opening to the nor'ard of
that curious hummock is the mouth of the estuary into which Barber
drifted while in a state of delirium, and the stranded hulk which is
supposed to contain the treasure stands, according to him, somewhere on
the southern shore. We shall have to make short boards along that
southern shore, keeping a sharp look-out for anything in the nature of a
stranded craft, anchor abreast it, and go ashore and give it a careful
overhaul. Thus far it looks as though there might be some truth in the
man's story. I have no longer any doubt that Barber actually entered
that estuary; but I shall still have to see that wreck before I am
finally convinced of her existence. Barber was admittedly crazy when he
landed yonder, and for all that we know to the contrary he may have
remained crazy all the time that he was there, and have imagined the
whole thing."

"Holy Moses!" exclaimed the boatswain, in consternation, "you surely
don't mean to say, sir, that after all this time you still has doubts
about the truth of that there treasure yarn, do ye? If we don't find
that wrack there'll be the dickens to pay in the forecastle. The men--
especially them Dagoes--'ll be that disapp'inted that there's no knowin'
what game they may try to play."

"How--what do you mean, boatswain?" I demanded sharply.

"Well, Mr Blackburn," he returned, "what I means is that if we don't
find the wrack the chaps'll be so disapp'inted that, in their rage, they
may rise upon us, the afterguard, and try to take the ship from us."

"What good would that do them?" I demanded. "If they were to attempt
so foolish a thing, and were to succeed, what could they do with the
ship? I suppose even they--dolts as they would prove themselves in such
an event as you mention--would not be idiots enough to suppose that they
could compensate for their disappointment by becoming pirates, eh?"

"Blest if I know what they mightn't believe if Svorenssen and the two
Dutchmen got talkin' to 'em," asserted the boatswain. "They're
wonderful talkers, all three of 'em, and they're everlastin'ly gassin'
about one man bein' as good as another, and freedom, and the rights of
man--_you_ know, sir, the sort of slush that such chaps spouts, and that
the shellback swallers as greedily as he would a pannikin of egg-flip!"

"Yes," I said, "I know. I have heard it all, over and over again, until
I have