in bottles. In addition to this were the stores in the lazarette
(besides a quantity of several kinds of wine in jars, &c.) elsewhere
enumerated, besides all the ship's furniture, her guns, powder,
small-arms, &c, as well as the ship herself. I took the men into the run
and showed them the chests, opening the little one which I had stocked
with small-arms, and lifting the lids of two or three of the others.
They were perfectly satisfied, fully believing all the chests to be
filled with small-arms and nothing else, and so we came away and
returned to the cabin, where, to please them, I put down the value of
the cargo at a venture, setting figures against each article, and making
out a total of two thousand six hundred and forty pounds. This of course
included the ship.

"How much'll dat be a man, massa?" asked Cromwell.

"Six hundred and sixty pounds," I answered.

The poor fellow was so transported that, after staring at me in silence
with the corners of his mouth stretched to his ears, he tossed up his
hands, burst into a roar of laughter, and made several skips about the
deck.

"Of course," said I, addressing Wilkinson, "my figures may be ahead or
short of the truth. But if you are disposed to take the chance, I'll
tell you what I'll do; I'll stand by my figures, accepting the risk of
the value of the lading being less than what I say it is, and undertake
to give each man of you six hundred and sixty pounds for your share."

"Well, sir," said he, "I don't know that I ought to object. But a few
pounds is a matter of great consequence to me, and I reckon if these
here goods and the wessel should turn out to be worth more than ye
offer, the loss 'ud go agin the grit, ay, if 'twere twenty dollars a
man."

I laughed, and told him to let the matter rest, there was plenty of time
before us; I should be willing to stand to my offer even if I lost by
it, so heartily obliged was I to them for coming to my assistance. And
in this I spoke the truth, though, as you will understand who know my
position, I had to finesse. It went against my conscience to make out
that the chests were full of small-arms, but I should have been mad to
tell them the truth, and, perhaps, by the truth made devils of men who
were, and promised to remain, steady, temperate, honest fellows. I was
not governed by the desire to keep all the treasure to myself; no, I vow
to God I should have been glad to give them a moiety of it, had I not
apprehended