he
same, in storm, as in sunshine.

"I know naught of his history. The Swan has been his home since he
first came on board, twelve years ago. As long as she is afloat, he
never leaves her. When she is laid down for repairs, he takes the
nearest lodging on hand, and abides there till she is afloat again.
I believe that he comes from Fowey, and guess that he got into some
trouble or other, and had to run for it. But that's nothing to me.
I want no better man; and know that, whatever comes, I can rely
upon Pengarvan to stand by me, and the ship, to the last."

If the men were astonished at the thirty new hands who came on
board on the previous evening, they were still more astonished when
as many more embarked in the morning. The newcomers were ordered to
keep in the forecastle, and in the quarters under it, until the
Swan was well away from land.

"There will be a good many eyes turned on the ship, as soon as we
are seen to be shaking out our canvas," Reuben said; "and there is
no need to set their tongues wagging, by showing more men on deck
than we usually carry."

The captain and Diggory Beggs talked late on into the night. They
went over all the ground again; and Reuben brought out the map of
the islands, and showed where he intended to touch.

"I think not to do much trading there," he said. "There is gold in
Hispaniola and Cuba; but the captain I got the chart from said
there was no very great store there, and that the natives had but
little of it when the Spaniards first arrived; seeing that it took
trouble and labor to obtain, and they are by nature altogether
averse to hard work, and moreover place but little value on the
gold. But there were rumors among them that, farther west, there
was a land where gold was in great plenty; and where there was a
powerful people, dressed in gay attire, and wearing great bracelets
and necklaces of gold.

"So far, the Spaniards have not found this land; though they have
sailed down the coast a long way to the south, and northward as far
as the point that Master Cabot reached, when he sailed down from
Newfoundland; but due west they have never sailed far, and have
found the sea ever stretching away in front of them; so that it is
clear that either the great mainland is split in two at this point,
or there is a vast bay. This I shall try to discover, and if we
find these people of whom the Indians speak, we may well return
loaded down with gold.

"My advice to you, Cous