,
first off, I'll allow; 'cause, you see, the loss of the Old Man and the
mate left us without a navigator, and none of us knew which way to head
the ship. But me and Chips, bein' the only two officers left, had a
confab together, and then we mustered the rest of the hands and put it
to 'em whether they'd all agree to what we two proposed. And what we
proposed was this: Barber had evidently persuaded Cap'n Stenson that
there wasn't no mistake about the treasure actually existin', and that
it might be found, with a bit of tryin', otherwise the ship wouldn't be
where she is now.

"Then there was the agreement between the two, by which the treasure--
when found--was to be equally divided between 'em. Both of 'em havin'
gone over the side, that agreement couldn't be carried out; but there
was Billy, here; and there was us, the crew of the ship; and what me and
Chips proposed was, first of all, to get hold of a navigator who'd agree
to join in with us, and then go and try to find the treasure; the
arrangement bein' that Billy, as his father's son, should have half of
it, and we--the crew and the navigator--should divide the other half
equally between us.

"There was a lot of palaver over it, naturally--you know, sir, what
sailor-men are--but at last everybody agreed; and then, since we didn't
know where to head for, we hove-to, waitin' for something to come along
whereby we could get hold of a navigator. Then, at last, along comes
you, and you havin' turned up, I s'pose there's no reason why we
shouldn't haul down our ensign, swing the head yards, and fill away to
complete the v'yage?"

"No," I said; "no reason at all why you should not do those things. I
advise you to fill on the ship at once, and steer as you were heading
when you had the misfortune to lose your skipper and mate. Do you know
what that course was?"

"Oh yes," answered Enderby; "the course was north-east, a quarter east."

"Very good," said I. "Let that be the course until I shall have had an
opportunity to take a set of sights to determine the ship's position. I
suppose Captain Stenson had a sextant, chronometer, and all necessary
navigation tables aboard?"

"Yes, sir," said Billy. "They're all in his state-room. If you'll come
with me I'll show them to you."

"Thanks," I said. "What I am chiefly interested in, just now, is the
chronometer. Do you happen to know when it was last wound, Billy?"

"Yes, sir," answered the boy; "last Sunda