dn't
want her any more, nobody thought anythin' about it. Then comed the
dividin' o' the gold-dust, an' after it the great questyun--leastwise,
so far as I war consarned--as to who should take away the girls. I'd
been waitin' for this, an' for the settlin' o't I war ready to do or
die. Gomez an' Hernandez war the two who laid claim to 'em--as I
knowed, an' expected they would. Pertendin' a likin' for Miss Carmen
myself, an' puttin' Davis up to what I wanted 'bout the tother, we also
put in our claim. It ended in Gomez an' me goin' in for a fight; which
must 'a tarminated in the death o' one or other o' us. I hed no dread
o' dyin'; only from the fear o' its leavin' the saynoreetas unprotected.
But thar war no help for't, an' I agreed to the duel, which war to be
fought first wi' pistols, an' finished up, if need be, wi' the steel.

"Everythin' settled, we war 'bout settin' to, when one o' the fellows--
who'd gone up the cliff to take a look ahead--just then sung out, that
we'd landed on a island. Recallin' the lost boat, we knew that meant a
dreadful danger. In coorse it stopped the fight, an' we all rushed up
to the cliff.

"When we saw how things stood, there war no more talk o' quarrellin'.
The piratical scoundrels war scared nigh out o' thar senses; an' would
'a been glad to get back aboard the craft they'd come out o', the which
all, 'ceptin' Davis an' myself, supposed to be at the bottom o' the sea.

"After that, 'twar all safe, as far as concarned the saynoreetas. To
them as wanted 'em so bad, they war but a second thought, in the face of
starvation; which soon tamed the wolves down, an' kep 'em so till the
last o' the chapter.

"Now, young gentlemen; ye know how Harry Blew hev behaved, an' can judge
for yourselves, whether he's kep the word he gi'ed you 'fore leavin' San
Francisco."

"Behaved nobly, grandly!" cries Crozier. "Kept your word like a man:
like a true British sailor! Come to my arms--to my heart, Harry! And
forgive the suspicions we had, not being able to help them. Here, Will!
take him to yours, and show him how grateful we both are, to the man who
has done more for us than saving our lives."

"Bless you, Blew! God bless you!" exclaims Cadwallader, promptly
responding to the appeal; and holding Harry in a hug that threatens to
crush in his ribs.

The affecting scene is followed by an interval of profound silence;
broken by the voice of Grummet, who, at the wheel, is steering str