tongues to talk of it. Captain, do you really believe that Cheddy man is
a priest, or what goes for one in his own country? If he is, he ought to
marry you and Edna."

The captain frowned, with an air of angry impatience. "I could excuse
that poor negro, madam," he said, "when he made such a proposition to
me, but I must say I did not expect anything of the kind from you. Do you
think, even if we had a bishop with us, that I would propose to marry any
woman in the world for the sake of making her what that fellow called the
'boss' of this party?"

It was now Mrs. Cliff's turn to be impatient. "That boss business is a
very small matter," she replied, "although, of course, somebody must be
head while you are gone, and it was about this that I came to see you.
But after hearing what that colored man said, I want to speak of
something far more important, which I have been thinking and thinking
about, and to which I could see no head or tail until a minute ago.
Before I go on, I want you to answer me this question: If you are lost
at sea, and never come back, what is to become of that treasure? It is
yours now, as you let us know plainly enough, but whose will it be if
you should die? It may seem like a selfish and sordid thing for me to
talk to you in this way just before you start on such an expedition, but
I am a business woman,--since my husband's death I have been obliged to
be that,--and I look at things with a business eye. Have you considered
this matter?"

"Yes, I have," answered the captain, "very seriously."

"And so have I," said Mrs. Cliff. "Whether Edna has or not I don't
know, for she has said nothing to me. Now, we are not related to you,
and, of course, have no claim upon you in that way, but I do think
that, as we have all suffered together, and gone through dangers
together, we all ought to share, in some degree at least, in good
things as well as bad ones."

"Mrs. Cliff," said the captain, speaking very earnestly, "you need not
say anything more on that subject. I have taken possession of that
treasure, and I intend to hold it, in order that I may manage things in
my own way, and avoid troublesome disputes. But I have not the slightest
idea of keeping it all for myself. I intend that everybody who has had
any concern in this expedition shall have a share in it. I have thought
over the matter a great deal, and intended, before I left, to tell you
and Miss Markham what I have decided upon. Here is a