supposin' that you find it.
And then he goes on to say that, for his part, he don't see as the
treasure is yours any more than it's anybody else's, and that, in his
opinion, if it's ever found, all hands ought to share and share alike.
And some of the chaps seemed to think he was right, and others they
didn't, and Bill up and says--

"`Look here, George,' he says, `supposin' when we gets ashore at Sydney
you was to find a bag of sovereigns in the street, would you share 'em
with us?'

"George said that 'd be a different thing altogether from findin' a
treasure on a desert island; and we all had a long argyment about it,
and couldn't agree; and, after that, the steward talked a good deal more
about all sharin' alike in the treasure, and that if we was all of one
mind it could be done, and a lot more stuff of the same kind. But we
all laughed at him; and then came the arrival of the ship in Sydney, and
George bein' paid off, and after that I heard nothin' more about the
treasure."

"And what makes you imagine that the new men have got hold of the
story?" I asked.

"Well, sir," said Joe, "it's just one or two little things I've
overheard said. The first thing as ever made me suspect that there was
somethin' up was the mention of the word `treasure.' Cookie is the man
as seems to know most about it--he's everlastin'ly talkin' about it--and
I fancy he must have fallen in with the steward somewheres ashore and
heard the whole story from him."

"And what has the cook to say about it?" I inquired.

"Ah, that's just what I wants to find out," answered Joe. "They won't
say anything to me about it, but just sits whisperin' with their heads
together away for'ard in the far end of the fo'c's'le, and I notices as
it's always the cook as has most to say. He and Rogers seems to be the
leadin' spirits in the job, whatever it is."

"So your little scheme of yesterday has borne no fruit, thus far?" I
suggested.

"Well, not much," said Joe. "But then, I don't expect 'em to take me
into their secrets right off the reel, the first time that I misbehave
myself. But I believe they'll have a try to get me in with 'em before
they tries to carry out their plans. Last night, when I was sittin' on
my chest, grumblin' and growlin' at the way I'd been treated durin' the
day,"--here Joe laughed softly as the peculiar humour of the situation
seemed to present itself to him--"the cook wanted to know whether I
wouldn't rather be a r