sparingly.

Another hour passed, and still they heard no tread of approaching feet.
It would soon be dark. But suddenly they were startled when a voice
hailed them. It came from the direction of a big ceiba tree a hundred
yards down the forest path.

"Ahoy, there!"

"Ahoy, yourself!" shouted back the captain.

A stick was thrust from behind the tree. A white cloth was tied to the
end of it.

"This is Ditty talkin'," came the voice.

"I know it is, you scoundrel," roared the captain.

"No hard words, Cap'n," came the answer. "It'll only be the worse for
you. I want to have a confab with you."

"Come along then and say your say," replied Captain Hamilton.

"You won't shoot?"

"Not you," promised the captain. "I hope to see you hung later on."

"No tricks, now," said Ditty cautiously

"I said I wouldn't and that's enough," responded the captain. "You can
take it or leave it."

The mate emerged fully from behind the tree and came into the open
space. At fifty paces from the fortress he halted.

"There's guns coverin' you from behind them trees, if anything happens
to me," he said in further warning.

"I don't wonder you think that every man's a liar, Ditty," the captain
replied bitterly. "You judge them out of your own black heart. Now,
what do you want? Why have you seized my ship? Why have you killed
one of my men?"

"I hain't seized your ship," answered Ditty sullenly. "You left me in
charge of it. An' I didn't kill any of your men. Sanders got drunk
an' fell overboard."

"Don't lie to me, you rascal," returned the captain. "We heard the
shooting and saw the man shot as he leaped overboard. You'll hang for
that yet, if I don't kill you first. You're a bloody mutineer and you
know it. Now stow your lies and get to the point. What do you want?"

"We want them doubloons!" fairly shouted Ditty, stung by the captain's
contempt, "an' we're goin' to have 'em."

"Doubloons? What do you mean?" asked the captain.

"The treasure you come here to dig for," answered Ditty. "You can't
fool me. I've been on to your little game ever since before the
schooner left New York. I got sharp ears, I have," pursued the mate,
his one eye gleaming balefully as he looked at the heads above the line
of the breastwork. "I know you found a map an' some sort of a paper
what explained about that old pirate treasure. It was in a sailorman's
chest in Tyke Grimshaw's office. Like enough Tyke stole it f