l, well, gold and silver," he continued, "to fill
the Nell Gwynn and another! And what concern is that of mine? Let your
words come plain off your tongue; I have no time for foolery."

"'Tis no foolery on my tongue, sir, as you may please to see."

He drew a paper from his pocket and shook it out as he came a little
nearer, speaking all the while. His voice had gone low, running to
a soft kind of chuckle, and his eyes were snapping with fire,
which Iberville alone had seen was false. "I have come to make your
excellency's fortune, if you will stand by with a good, stout ship and a
handful of men to see me through."

The governor shrugged his shoulders. "Babble," he said, "all babble and
bubble. But go on."

"Babble, your honour! Every word of it is worth a pint of guineas; and
this is the pith of it. Far down West Indies way, some twenty-five,
maybe, or thirty years ago, there was a plate ship wrecked upon a reef.
I got it from a Spaniard, who had been sworn upon oath to keep it
secret by priests who knew. The priests were killed and after a time
the Spaniard died also, but not until he had given me the ways whereby I
should get at what makes a man's heart rap in his weasand."

"Let me see your chart," said the governor.

A half-hour later he rose, went to the door, and sent a soldier for the
two king's officers. As he did so, Bucklaw eyed the room doors, windows,
fireplaces, with a grim, stealthy smile trailing across his face. Then
suddenly the good creature was his old good self again--the comfortable
shrewdness, the buoyant devil-may-care, the hook stroking the chin
pensively. And the king's officers came in, and soon all four were busy
with the map.

CHAPTER IV

THE UPLIFTING OF THE SWORDS

Iberville and Gering sat on with the tobacco and the wine. The older men
had joined the ladies, the governor having politely asked them to do so
when they chose. The other occupant of the room was Morris, who still
stood stolidly behind his master's chair.

For a time he heard the talk of the two young men as in a kind of dream.
Their words were not loud, their manner was amicable enough, if the
sharing of a bottle were anything to the point. But they were sitting
almost the full length of the table from him, and to quarrel courteously
and with an air hath ever been a quality in men of gentle blood.

If Morris's eyesight had been better, he would have seen that Gering
handled his wine nervously, and had put do