head-hunters," said Divine.

Ward's eyes went wide, and he blew out his cheeks in surprise. Then his
face went black with an angry scowl.

"You see what you done now, you blitherin' fools, you!" he cried, "with
your funny business? You gone an' killed the goose what laid the golden
eggs. Thought you'd get it all, didn't you? and now nobody won't get
nothin', unless it is the halter. Nice lot o' numbskulls you be, an'
whimperin' 'round now expectin' of us to take you back--well, I reckon
not, not on your measly lives," and with that he raised his revolver to
fire again at Divine.

The society man toppled over backward into the pit behind the breastwork
before Ward had a chance to pull the trigger.

"Hol' on there mate!" cried Bony Sawyer; "there ain't no call now fer
gettin' excited. Wait until you hear all we gotta say. You can't
blame us pore sailormen. It was this here fool dude and that scoundrel
Theriere that put us up to it. They told us that you an' Skipper Simms
was a-fixin' to double-cross us all an' leave us here to starve on
this Gawd-forsaken islan'. Theriere said that he was with you when you
planned it. That you wanted to git rid o' as many of us as you could
so that you'd have more of the ransom to divide. So all we done was in
self-defense, as it were.

"Why not let bygones be bygones, an' all of us join forces ag'in' these
murderin' heathen? There won't be any too many of us at best--Red
an' Wison seen more'n two thousan' of the man-eatin' devils. They're
a-creepin' up on us from behin' right this minute, an' you can lay to
that; an' the chances are that they got some special kind o' route into
that there cove, an' maybe they're a-watchin' of you right now!"

Ward turned an apprehensive glance to either side. There was logic in
Bony's proposal. They couldn't spare a man now. Later he could punish
the offenders at his leisure--when he didn't need them any further.

"Will you swear on the Book to do your duty by Skipper Simms an' me if
we take you back?" asked Ward.

"You bet," answered Bony Sawyer.

The others nodded their heads, and Divine sprang up and started down
toward Ward.

"Hol' on you!" commanded the mate. "This here arrangement don' include
you--it's jes' between Skipper Simms an' his sailors. You're a rank
outsider, an' you butts in an' starts a mutiny. Ef you come back you
gotta stand trial fer that--see?"

"You better duck, mister," advised Red Sanders; "they'll hang
you s