I
found that in each case the same mistakes were made, and that then,
in order to remedy the mistakes, it was invariably necessary to kill
somebody. Now, by not making those mistakes, it will not be necessary
for me to kill any one, and nobody is going to have a chance to kill me.

"You propose that we fit out a schooner and sign on a crew. What will
happen? A man with a sabre cut across his forehead, or with a black
patch over one eye, will inevitably be one of that crew. And, as soon as
we sail, he will at once begin to plot against us. A cabin boy who the
conspirators think is asleep in his bunk will overhear their plot and
will run to the quarter-deck to give warning; but a pistol shot rings
out, and the cabin boy falls at the foot of the companion ladder. The
cabin boy is always the first one to go. After that the mutineers kill
the first mate, and lock us in our cabin, and take over the ship. They
will then broach a cask of rum, and all through the night we will listen
to their drunken howlings, and from the cabin airport watch the body of
the first mate rolling in the lee scuppers."

"But you forget," I protested eagerly, "there is always ONE faithful
member of the crew, who----"

Edgar interrupted me impatiently.

"I have not overlooked him," he said. "He is a Jamaica negro of gigantic
proportions, or the ship's cook; but he always gets his too, and he gets
it good. They throw HIM to the sharks! Then we all camp out on a
desert island inhabited only by goats, and we build a stockade, and the
mutineers come to treat with us under a white flag, and we, trusting
entirely to their honor, are fools enough to go out and talk with them.
At which they shoot us up, and withdraw laughing scornfully." Edgar
fixed his eye-glasses upon me accusingly.

"Am I right, or am I wrong?" he demanded. I was unable to answer.
"The only man," continued Edgar warmly, "who ever showed the slightest
intelligence in the matter was the fellow in the 'Gold Bug'. HE kept his
mouth shut. He never let any one know that he was after buried treasure,
until he found it. That's me! Now I know EXACTLY where this treasure is,
and----"

I suppose, involuntarily, I must have given a start of interest; for
Edgar paused and shook his head, slyly and cunningly. "And if you think
I have the map on my person now," he declared in triumph, "you'll have
to guess again!"

"Really," I protested, "I had no intention----"

"Not you, perhaps," said Edgar