ins prophesied.

I sauntered forward with my hands in my pockets.

"Looks that way, doesn't it? Truth is, you've made a mess of it from
first to last. Whichever way you look at it the future is devilishly
unpleasant. Even if you live to be hanged--which isn't at all
likely--one can't call it a cheerful end."

Conceive, if you can, a more surprised lot of ruffians than these. They
leaped to their feet and stared at me in astonishment. I'll swear four
revolvers jumped to sight while one could bat an eyelid.

I leaned on the edge of the table and gave them the most care-free grin
I could summon. All the time I was wondering whether some fool would
perhaps blaze away at me and do his thinking afterward.

"How did you get down here?" the senior engineer demanded.

"Walked down. I'm really surprised at you, Fleming. What would Bothwell
think of you? Why, I might have shot half of you before Higgins could
say Jack Robinson."

It showed how ripe they were for my purpose that at the mention of
Bothwell's name two or three growled curses at him.

"He got us into this, he did; promised us a fortune if we'd join him,"
Gallagher said sulkily.

"And no blood shed, Mr. Sedgwick. That's wot 'e promised," whined the
cook.

"Probably he meant none of ours," I explained ironically.

"He was going to wait till you'd got the treasure and then put you in a
boat near the coast," Gallagher added.

Neidlinger spat sulkily at a knot in the floor. His eyes would not meet
mine. It was a fair guess that he was no hardened mutineer, but had been
caught in a net through lack of moral backbone.

"Afraid Bothwell isn't a very safe man to follow. He's let you be mauled
up pretty badly. I've a notion he'll slip away and leave you to be
hanged without the comfort of his presence."

"You don't need to rub that in, Mr. Sedgwick," advised George Fleming.
"And perhaps, since you're here, you will explain your business."

It must be said for George Fleming that at least he was a hardy villain
and no weakling. The men were like weather-vanes. They veered with each
wind that blew.

"That's right," chimed in Gallagher. "We didn't ask your company. If we
go to hell I shouldn't wonder but you'll travel the road first, sir.
Take a hitch and a half turn on this. We're in the same boat, you and
us. Now you take an oar and pull us out of the rough water, Mr.
Sedgwick."

I laughed.

"Not I, Gallagher. You made your own bed, and I'm hanged if I'll