rom the
poor feller. An' I heard you tellin' Miss Ruth about it that night at
dinner," he added, with a leering glance at the pale-faced girl.

"So that's why you shipped me such a lot of scum and riffraff, was it,
you villain?" Captain Hamilton asked.

"You can think as you like about that," answered Ditty. "But this here
kind of chinning won't git us anywhere. I know all about the map and
that paper, an' I know that you come here lookin' for that loot. An' I
bet you've found it a'ready. Now, to put it short an' sweet, me an' my
mates want it."

"Suppose you got it?" parleyed the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_.
"It wouldn't do you any good. The schooner is landlocked and can't get
away."

"Even so it'll do us as much good as it will you," countered Ditty.
"We've got the longboat an' we can easily make one of the islands near
by where we can find a ship to take us to the States."

"And suppose I have the treasure and refuse to give it to you?" pursued
the captain.

"Then we'll take it!" threatened Ditty, his one eye glowing with
malevolence. "We'll take it if we have to kill every last one of you
to git it!

"Hey! Barker! Olsen! The rest of you bullies!" he added, raising his
voice, "you know blamed well the after-guard won't do nothin' for you
fellers but let you git shot. You better come with us.

"We're nearly two to one, anyway, an' you've got no chance," he added
to Captain Hamilton.

"We haven't, eh?" exploded the captain, his pent-up rage finding vent.
"Do your worst, you black-hearted hound! And if you're not behind that
tree in one minute, may God have mercy on your soul!"

CHAPTER XXXI

A DARING VENTURE

With an expression of baffled rage convulsing his features, Ditty
turned and made for shelter. Once safely there, he hurled back the
wildest threats and imprecations. So vile they were that Ruth
shuddered and put her hands to her ears.

"I said I'd kill you all!" the mate shouted. "I'll take that back.
I'll kill all but one!"

The threat was easily understood. Captain Hamilton's face went white,
and he glanced hastily at Ruth. But he only said:

"Keep down out of sight, men. They know where we are, but we don't
know where they are. They may try to rush us, but I don't think they
will at first. Aim carefully and shoot at anything that offers a fair
target, but don't waste the ammunition."

He had hardly finished speaking before there came a volley, and the
bulle