In Search of Treasure

Frank shook his head.

“That’s all very well, Master Guy, but the captain will play you a trick if he can.”

“What trick can he play me?”

“He can forbid your going on shore again.”

“He wouldn’t do that. He knows that in that case, the contract being broken, I should have an excuse for refusing to pay the sum agreed upon.”

“Is it after hidden gold you are searching, Master Guy?”

“Yes; after treasure concealed on this island by pirates.”

“Do you believe it is there?”

“Yes. I have very good reason to believe it.”

“Then why don’t you get the captain on your side by offering him something—say a thousand dollars—in case you find it.”

“It wouldn’t do much good. The captain doesn’t believe in the treasure.”

Frank Low looked uneasy.

“I’ll tell you what I am afraid of, Master Guy,” he said.

“Go on, Frank.”

“I am afraid some day when you are on the island he will set sail without you.”

Guy looked startled, as he well might, at this suggestion.

“He wouldn’t dare do that,” he replied.

“I don’t know. I believe he would dare to do anything. Besides–”

“Well, Frank,” said Guy, seeing that he hesitated.

“Besides, I don’t think the captain is wholly responsible for what he does.”

“Why do you think that?” asked Guy, quickly.

“From the way he behaves. Sometimes he paces up and down the deck, muttering to himself. I shouldn’t be surprised if he were off his base.”

“You mean that he is crazy?”

“It looks to me like that. I had an uncle who was affected in the same way. He used to go up and down through the village, muttering, and took very little notice of anyone he met when he had the fit on him. After a while he got worse, and at last had to be carried to an asylum.”

“Then you think that with the fit upon him, the captain might sail away and leave me and my two friends on the island?”

“That is what I am afraid of.”

“Thank you for putting me on my guard, Frank. I will think over what you have said and try to prepare for it.”

“I don’t see how you can.”

“I must still continue my visits to the island, whatever risk I run; that is due to my employer. But, should the worst happen, you can do something for me.”

“I will do anything for you, Master Guy,” said the young sailor, earnestly.

“Then, Frank, if the captain treacherously deserts us, and keeps on his course to Bombay, as soon as the Osprey arrives there I want you to call on Mr. Saunders, my employer, and let him know where I am. He will probably have the captain arrested, and will send the Osprey or some other vessel to our help.”

“But you will be left to starve!”

“I don’t fear that. There are natural fruits on the island, and animals that we can kill for food. I think that we can get along as Robinson Crusoe did.”

“I will remember what you have told me, Master Guy, but I hope there will be no need to do it.”

“I trust, too, that the necessity will not arise.”

“Don’t you think you had better give up your search, Master Guy, considering how much opposition there is to it?”

“No, Frank,” said Guy, firmly. “You must remember that I am in the employ of Mr. Saunders, and represent his interests. I will prove faithful to him, whatever happens.”

Frank Low looked perplexed and uneasy. He had become anxious, and being warmly attached to Guy, who treated him as a friend and an equal, thought chiefly of his safety.

CHAPTER XXXII

LUKE CLARK MAKES A DISCOVERY

The fear excited by Frank Low’s communication made Guy more anxious than ever to complete his work upon the island as soon as possible. Captain Richmond’s evident hostility and desire to get away excited daily apprehension.

Guy had no desire to repeat the experience of Robinson Crusoe. It would doubtless be romantic, but he preferred to read romances rather than enact them.

Guy’s feelings were shared by his two companions.

“Whenever I come to the island I pray that it may be for the last time,” said Abner Titcomb. “With such a man as Captain Richmond in command of the Osprey I never feel safe.”

“I feel so, too,” added Luke Clark.

A new alarm seized Guy. Would his companions refuse to persevere in the quest?

He had no doubt of their general loyalty, but both had families in far-away Maine, and their affections made them timid.

Guy himself had a father and friends in America, and he, too, shrank from the fate which would be his if the captain should take a fancy to sail away and leave them on the island.

It was certainly a strange and momentous responsibility that rested upon this American boy of but seventeen years. Here were two men of middle age under his direction. He had hired them for a special service, but he could not command them to remain faithful in the face of the danger which they all dreaded.

“Don’t you think, Mr. Titcomb,” said Guy, on the second morning after his conversation with Frank Low, “that we had better work more systematically?”