The governor left his men to talk the matter over at their leisure, and
walked toward the robbers, who had brought their consultation to a
close, and seemed to be awaiting an opportunity to speak to him. "Look
here, boy," said one of them, as Sam came up, "who are you, and where
are you going?"

"Well, mister," replied the governor, "it's a long story, but, if you
want to hear it, I reckon I can tell it to you."

The passengers declared their willingness to listen, and Sam proceeded
to give them a complete history of the Crusoe band from the day it was
organized down to the time he met the robbers at Mr. Henry's store,
describing their adventures in glowing language, and dwelling, with a
good deal of pride, upon the exploits of this particular night. The men
were no less astonished than every one else had been who had heard the
story, and Sam could see that they were uneasy, too.

"So you really set fire to a vessel before you left the harbor, did
you?" asked one.

"Sartin. We might as well have let it alone, howsomever, fur her crew
put out the fire before it had a chance to do any damage, an' she is
after us now. But that needn't scare you none, fur we are leavin' her
behind fast."

"That makes no difference," replied the robber. "If she can't catch you,
there are plenty of other vessels that can do it. You'll have the whole
town after you before long, and we are in danger as long as we remain
with you. We want you to set us ashore at once."

"How about our money?" asked Sam.

"What money?"

"Why, the thousand dollars you promised to pay us fur takin' you out to
sea."

"O, you haven't earned that yet. We told you that you should have it
when you had carried us safely out of sight of Newport. That's
something you can't do, and so you need not expect to receive the money.
We can't give it to you for nothing, you know."

"Well, if this yere aint the very meanest piece of business I ever heard
of," muttered the governor, as he turned on his heel and left the
robbers. "But they aint by no means so smart as they think they are.
We'll larn 'em how to cheat us. What's the trouble now?"

This question was addressed to the skipper, who was running about the
deck in a high state of excitement, having just discovered the Storm
King coming up the narrows. Although Tom was very much interested in his
plot against the robbers, he had not forgotten the responsibilities
resting upon him, and he had kept a bright lookout