ave assisted me to bring forward the little
craft from what she then was to what she is to-day; you have seen and
handled the materials that have been worked into her, and nobody knows
better than yourselves what careful and faithful labour and workmanship
has been bestowed upon the putting of her together. Now, I want you to
give me your honest opinion, as sailors, of that little craft. You know
that she was built for the sole purpose of carrying us all away from
this island--which, I may tell you, lies well in the heart of the
Pacific; I want you, as sailors of experience, to say whether you will
feel any hesitation in trusting your lives to her."

Nicholls laughed heartily at the question; and Simpson grinned
corroboratively.

"Why," exclaimed the former, "men have gone more than halfway round the
world in craft that aren't to be mentioned on the same day as that dandy
little packet! The last time that I was in Sydney--which was last
year--there was a Yankee chap there that had made the voyage from
America in a dug-out canoe that he had decked over and rigged as a
three-masted schooner--he and another chap--and they intended to go on
and complete the trip round the world. I don't mind saying that I
shouldn't have altogether cared about making such a voyage myself in
such a craft; but yonder little beauty's quite a different story. I'd
be as willing to ship in her as in anything else--provided that it was
made worth my while. What say you, bo'sun?"

"Same here," answered Simpson, the man of brevities.

"You really mean it? You are both speaking in serious earnest?"
demanded Leslie.

"_I_ am, most certainly," answered Nicholls; "in proof of which I intend
to sail with you when you leave the island--if you'll take me, Mr
Leslie; and I don't think you are the man to refuse two poor castaways a
passage, especially as you've got plenty of room aboard there for us
both, and we can make ourselves useful enough to pay for our passages."

"Very well, then," said Leslie. "Now, this is the proposal that I have
to make to you both. I have here, on this island, snugly stowed away in
a cave, certain valuables that I am most anxious to personally convey to
England; and for certain reasons with which I need not trouble you, I am
equally anxious to get them home without bringing them under the notice
of the authorities, and the only way in which this can be done is to
take them home _in the cutter_. My plan is to make