im with some of their valuable pearls after reaching
Wauparmur, when no possible complication could result from Sanders
knowing that these two ragged sailors were very wealthy men. But the
words had been said, and could not be recalled, though a vague
uneasiness shot through the mind of Abe Storms when he saw a sudden
flash of the dark eyes of the youth, who said, in the cheeriest of
voices, slapping the captain on the shoulder with a vigor that
staggered him:

"Who talks of paying one for doing his simple duty? If you or your
friend repeats that insult, there will be war between us; and
then--excuse me, but ain't you joking when you talk of paying well?
For, begging pardon again, you don't look like millionaires with a
very heavy bank account."

Storms trembled, but he could not restrain the captain.

"Of course, we wouldn't insult you, but you will be remembered; and
though we are not very extravagant in the way of dress, and don't look
like very wealthy men, yet I can promise you you shall be well
recompensed, and, what is more, we can carry out the promise, too, in
a way that will open your eyes."

Having uttered these compromising words, Captain Bergen laughed in a
way which alarmed the mate still more; for there was a peculiarity in
his friend's actions which he had never noticed before.

"I know we are dressed very poorly," added the captain, "and we
wouldn't be very popular in a drawing-room, but if you set us down as
poor men you will make a great mistake. Won't he, Abe--eh, boy?"

And he facetiously punched the astonished and grieved mate in the
side, and danced about as if he had perpetrated the best joke of his
life.

Just then Storms caught the eye of Fred Sanders, and he significantly
tapped his own forehead to signify that the captain was not exactly
right, mentally. And, when he did so, the kind-hearted mate spoke the
truth.

CHAPTER XXVII

FRED SANDERS

Captain Bergen was so affected by the joyful awakening to the fact
that his long, dismal sojourn on the lonely island in the Pacific had
reached the end at last, and by the belief that now he would be
carried as rapidly as wind and sail could take him to his beloved New
England again, that his mind was unsettled and he behaved in a way
that pained, as much as it astonished, his companion.

Inasmuch as such was the fact, Mr. Storms hoped that it would be
accepted as an explanation of the strange utterances in which he had
indulged,