the business," said the governor, when Tom
had got out a head-line and made the schooner fast to the pier. "What
are you goin' to do while we are gone, cap'n?"

"I'll stay here and watch the vessel," replied Tom. "I told you I
wouldn't have a hand in stealing the provisions."

"Somebody must do it," said the chief. "We can't go to sea without
grub."

"But how are you going to get into the store?"

"Do you see this yere?" answered the governor, showing an auger he
carried in his hand. "The door that opens into the alley that runs
between the store an' your father's elevator is fastened with a hook.
We'll bore two or three holes through the door, an' then I'll put in my
hand an' lift up that hook. It's just as easy as fallin' off a log."

"Look out for my father's night watchman," said Tom. "He's always got
his eyes open, and if he catches you prowling about that passage-way
he'll bring our cruise to an end in a hurry."

The governor had thought of that watchman more than once, and he was
afraid of him. He would have breathed a good deal easier had he known
that there was no danger to be apprehended from him, and that two other
obstacles had also been removed from his path. The watchman was at that
moment lying behind the elevator, bound hand and foot; the door which
led into the store from the passage-way had already been opened in
precisely the same way that the governor intended to open it, and Johnny
Harding was powerless to resist them, or to give the alarm. But the
Crusoe men did not know this, and more than one of them would have been
glad of some excuse for declining to assist in so hazardous an
enterprise.

"Now, fellers," said the chief, "if there are any cowards in this yere
band, I want to know it before we go any farther. If there are any among
you who aint willin' to promise to stand by me to the last, let them
step out on one side, so that I can have a look at 'em."

The governor paused, but none of the band moved.

"I am glad to see that you are all brave men," continued Sam. "If any
one of you tries to shirk his duty when it comes to the pinch, we'll
throw him over; he sha'n't go on this expedition. Now let's make a
break, fur the quicker we get to work the sooner we'll get done. Friday,
shoulder one of them handspikes an' stand by to use it on Johnny Harding
if he makes a fuss."

"And, Friday," chimed in Tom, "if you do hit him, hit him hard. That boy
has nearly bothered the life out of me."