, made a discovery of a
new land should claim it, for their king, seems to me fair and
right; but not that they should claim sole traffic, with lands of
whose very existence they know nothing; and therefore, although it
is true that the pope has given these western islands to Spain, I
see not how he can give to them land not, as yet, discovered.

"If there is, as the natives in the islands say, a land lying
somewhere to the west, where gold is abundant, I see no reason why,
if we are first there, we should not gather great stores. The bales
and boxes, that were brought round from London, contain a great
quantity of all the things that are, as the Spaniard told me, most
prized by the natives. Glass beads of all sorts and kinds, vessels
of brass, iron hatchets and arrowheads, hawk bells, mirrors, and
trinkets. The venture is, I admit, a perilous one; but if we
succeed, every man on board will have a share in the profit."

Reuben then explained the arrangements he had made, with the
owners, for the division of such treasure as they might bring home.

"That is a fair proposal," the first mate said; "and I doubt not
that all on board will gladly fall in with it. If we succeed, we
shall set every tongue in England wagging; and there will be plenty
of others, I warrant, who will be ready to follow our example."

"I had intended," Reuben went on, "to sail as far as the straits;
then to head for the island of Madeira and, when within sight of
it, to head away west-sou'-west. But if we carry this wind with us,
we will make straight for the islands, and thereby shall escape the
risk of being seen by vessels coming and going, as they all follow
a track south of Madeira. We can make a good fight with any
Spaniard that falls foul of us, and are as likely to take him as he
is to capture us; but I would fain keep clear of them, if I can,
since we go to trade and not to fight.

"Now I think you had best give a hint of the matter in hand to our
old crew, all of whom we can depend upon; as indeed, I hope we can
upon all, though as yet their mettle has not been tried. Take them
aside singly, and open the matter to them. In a few days I shall
tell the rest; but the matter will go more fairly, and easily, if
we have a proportion of them ready to throw up their caps, and
shout."

"Aye, aye, Captain Reuben. One bellwether will carry a whole flock
after it, but I fear not that any will want to hold back. It is
just the adventure that wi