lete the cutter, sail away in her,
with the treasure on board and Billy as navigator, willing or unwilling,
and upon arriving within sight of their destination they would murder
the poor boy; and the rest would be easy--or so they would probably
believe. Yes; knowing the men so well as I did, I felt that there was
ground for suspicion of them, and I resolved that, without appearing to
do so, I would henceforth keep a wary eye upon them both, and be
constantly, day and night, on my guard against any act of treachery on
their part.

Now it was not often that Billy did anything foolish; but boys will
always be boys, to the end of time, I expect; and about a week after the
lad's conversation with me on the subject of Van Ryn's inquisitiveness
the spirit of mischief suddenly seized him and, "just for a lark", as he
subsequently admitted to me, he must needs leave the Dutchman, upon some
pretence, run up to the house, and then pay us a visit at the shipyard,
bringing Kit with him on a leash, that he might enjoy the consternation
of the natives at the sight of the leopard. It was fortunate that I
spotted the pair when I did, for the beast was already beyond Billy's
control and dragging the lad helplessly after him with the evident
determination to interview the strangers more closely. The animal,
although not yet fully grown, had developed into a magnificent specimen
of his kind, as big as a mastiff and about twice as powerful. To hold
him when I hurriedly relieved Billy of his charge taxed my strength to
such an extent that I was obliged to shout to the workers to quit work
and get into hiding at a safe distance; but, even so, the scent of the
men excited Kit to such an extent that it was only with the utmost
difficulty I was able to drag him back to the bungalow and safely lash
him up.

I was therefore not very greatly surprised when, after work was over
that evening, Svorenssen approached me and said:

"See here, Mister, did ye happen to salve the arms chest from the wreck
before she washed off the reef and foundered?"

"Yes," I said. "What about it?"

"Why, just this," he blustered. "Me and Dirk wants a brace of
revolvers, cartridges, and a cutlash apiece out of that chest. That's
what about it."

"Really!" said I. "A very modest request, very modestly put. Is it
permissible to ask why you want those things, and in what way you
purpose to use them?"

"Oh yes, cert'nly," was the reply. "There's no objecti