kin' in. Thin he takes hold av th' thing an' lifts fer
th' good av his soul. Nary a inch does it move.

"'I wud have opened it, but I heard th' captin's order not to disturb th'
charts atop av it,' sez I.

"'Ye would, ye thafe,' sez he. 'An' if ye had, inter irons would ye go
fer th' raskil ye are. I never thought ye ware so bad, Chips,' sez he.

"'Tis a victim av discipline I am, fer sure, thin,' sez I. 'Ye know I wud
no more steal th' matther av a trunk than fly.'

"'An' who give ye th' order, ye disciplinarian?' sez he.

"'Me conscience,' sez I.

"'Ye better go forrads an' tell yer conscience th' fact that it's a bad
wan fer an honest man to travel wid,' sez he. 'An' tell him also to mind
what I says about obeyin' orders aboard this here ship. If yer conscience
iver wants to command a ship, he don't want to forget that discipline is
discipline, an' whin it comes to thavery, discipline will get ye both in
irons. Slant away afore I loses my temper an' sails inter ye,' sez he.

"So here I am, all in a mess wid that little mate. But th' trunk av gold
is safe on th' cabin floor."

I had nothing to say further than that the matter couldn't be helped. If
the trunk was all right, we might land a fortune yet in the reward Jim
had told us about. Jackwell must have made off with a snug little sum. I
climbed over the side again with some of the skipper's clothes, and we
started slowly back to the brig to get him.

Ford was rowing bow oar, and Johnson aft, and both rowing easily made us
go very slow. However, there was no hurry. Jackwell would in all
probability take several drinks after his bath, and we would only have to
wait aboard the whaler for him until he was ready. The sea was so smooth
that the boat hardly rippled through it, and the sun was warm, making me
somewhat drowsy. The two men rowed in silence for some time, and then
Ford suddenly looked ahead to see how we were going.

"What's the matter with the bloomin' brig?" said he, rowing with his chin
on his shoulder.

I looked around, and it seemed as though we had already gone the full
distance to her, and yet had as far again to go. The _Pirate_ was
certainly half a mile away and there was the brig still far ahead.

"Give way, bullies," I said. "Break an oar or two."

The men made a response to the order, and the boat went along livelier. I
looked at the brig, and suddenly I noticed a thin trail of smoke coming
from her maintop where the opening in the l