s to the position of the cache, and begged them to set out
incontinently on the quest, so that they might see if he deceived them,
and (if they were at first unsuccessful) he should be able to correct
their error.

But here arose a difficulty on which he doubtless counted. None of these
men would trust another, none would consent to stay behind. On the other
hand, although the Master seemed extremely low, spoke scarce above a
whisper, and lay much of the time insensible, it was still possible it
was a fraudulent sickness; and if all went treasure-hunting, it might
prove they had gone upon a wild-goose chase, and return to find their
prisoner flown. They concluded, therefore, to hang idling round the
camp, alleging sympathy to their reason; and, certainly, so mingled are
our dispositions, several were sincerely (if not very deeply) affected
by the natural peril of the man whom they callously designed to murder.
In the afternoon, Hastie was called to the bedside to pray: the which
(incredible as it must appear) he did with unction; about eight at night
the wailing of Secundra announced that all was over; and before ten, the
Indian, with a link stuck in the ground, was toiling at the grave.
Sunrise of next day beheld the Master's burial, all hands attending with
great decency of demeanour; and the body was laid in the earth, wrapped
in a fur robe, with only the face uncovered; which last was of a waxy
whiteness, and had the nostrils plugged according to some Oriental habit
of Secundra's. No sooner was the grave filled than the lamentations of
the Indian once more struck concern to every heart; and it appears this
gang of murderers, so far from resenting his outcries, although both
distressful and (in such a country) perilous to their own safety,
roughly but kindly endeavoured to console him.

But if human nature is even in the worst of men occasionally kind, it is
still, and before all things, greedy; and they soon turned from the
mourner to their own concerns. The cache of the treasure being hard by,
although yet unidentified, it was concluded not to break camp; and the
day passed, on the part of the voyagers, in unavailing exploration of
the woods, Secundra the while lying on his master's grave. That night
they placed no sentinel, but lay altogether about the fire, in the
customary woodman fashion, the heads outward, like the spokes of a
wheel. Morning found them in the same disposition; only Pinkerton, who
lay on Mount