"I didn"t do it, Thirkle; I didn"t put ye where ye be," whimpered Petrak.
"I"m for cuttin" ye loose, but Bucky ain"t."
"He"s mad at me, and I can"t argue with him, but if ye say a word or two he"ll mind ye; and remember, Petrak, if ye can"t make him see it right, ye"ll hang--the two of ye--and ye know Thirkle always has it as it is."
Thirkle whispered something to Petrak which I did not catch, and then the little rascal went over to Buckrow and began to talk with him quietly, and finally began to plead for Thirkle.
"Ye"re afraid of him," sneered Buckrow. "Ye"re afraid of Thirkle with reef-knots on his hands, and ye"ll be afraid of him when he"s dead, ye coward!"
"I ain"t afraid of him, Bucky, but he says we"ll hang; and so we will if we don"t let him have a hand gettin" this gold clear away."
"He"ll do for us; and then what good will the gold be to us? Reddy, ye know the devil as I do; jind now he"s got this pile he"ll settle us when he sees his way to it."
"Let him go, Bucky; let him go. The night"ll be on us in an hour or so, and then what"ll we do? Leave it to Thirkle and it"ll come out all right; and I know it and you know it, Bucky. There"s the two of us to him, and we"ll make him play it fair now."
"The two of us"ll play it fair without him," said Buckrow. "Come on and stow this gold, and have done with the job."
"That"s an end of it," said Thirkle. "No use to talk of it more. Do for me now; I ain"t got much longer to live, anyhow. But I"ll tell you chaps what I"ll do, so ye won"t have to ask no favours at the end."
"What now, Thirkle?" asked Buckrow.
"They tried to make a preacher of me in my young days, and it was no go; and they put me in the navy, and I made a mess of that. But I"m good as a navy chaplain at saying a prayer; and if ye"ll bring me the little Bible ye"ll find in my jacket-pocket I"ll say the burial service of the Church of England over ye two, fine as a bishop would and good enough for anybody, with all the frills. How"s that for Thirkle?"
"Let him go, Bucky," whined Petrak, with quivering knees and terror in his face.
CHAPTER XVIII
BIG STAKES IN A BIG GAME
"I"d look a fine fish letting of him go now, after what"s pa.s.sed between us!" laughed Buckrow. "Ye mind what he"d do the minute he got his paws free. Reddy, if ye don"t shut yer trap I"ll drill ye, that"s what."
"No arms for me," suggested Thirkle. "I bear no arms; and both of ye have the bilge on me with all the knives and pistols in yer own hands."
"That"s all very fine for ye to say now, Thirkle; but what of when ye get in reach of a gun or a knife? What then?"
"I"ll bear ye no grudge," said Thirkle. "Never a word will I say, Bucky.
That"s done and gone, and we all have our little quarrels. Never a hand will I turn against ye, Bucky, and Petrak here to witness what I say."
"No grudge ag"in" me for what I done?" demanded Buckrow doubtfully. "Ye mean ye"ll let this go and never a word ag"in" me, Thirkle?"
"Never a word. We"ll slip all that and turn to at getting this gold away.
What"s a little mistake against all this here? Going to let a bit of a row stand between us and good times? I say no. Give me a chance to get ye all off here with the gold and I won"t likely forget it if ye let me go, Bucky. I"m not the man to hold a small mistake of judgment against a mate like you, what"s fought and worked with me so long, and ye was always ready, Bucky, when there was a hard job ahead.
"Nearly two years we"ve been together, mate, and it would be a pity if we smashed things now, when we"ve got a ship-load of gold. It"s time we quit and took our comfort, and no more chances of getting a rope at the end of it. We"ve about played the game out, and we"d better not play a good thing too far or we"ll find ourselves catching a crab one of these fine days. I said we"d stop if we made it safe with the _Kut Sang_, and we have and now that we"ve got plenty ahead, with eating and drinking and a good bed the rest of our days, let"s square away for home.
"We"ll start fair and square again, mates, as we did when we first put our heads together for this fortune, and no grudges and all equal now, as the worst of the work is over and the next is to get away with it, easy enough if ye let me pilot the job. In a month we"ll be in London, and ye and Reddy, with a pub all yer own, and living at ease like gentlemen."
"All equal from this on, Thirkle? Each has his say, and one as good as the other?"
"Nothing without a council and two votes to decide, so ye two"ll be yer own masters, having the two votes against me, with my advice for help.
There"s fifty thousand pounds for each of us, and we"ll separate in London and go our own ways if ye like. I"ll swear a black oath to that, and my word"s good, as ye both know.
"Did I ever break it to ye? Didn"t I always cut the loot as I agreed? I"m Thirkle, and when I say a thing I mean it. Now, Bucky, think it over before it"s too late. Will ye go it alone, or will ye give me a fair play at the game, and come out with yer life and a fair share of the gold?
It"s for you to decide, and see ye don"t make a mistake."
"No arms for ye, split three ways, and do as we please when we"re away clear with the gold?" asked Buckrow.
"That"s it, Bucky. That"s what I said and what I say, and I"ll stick to it."
"Swear to it, and nothing in yer mind."
"I swear to it and nothing in my mind. It"s a square enough thing, and I never laid to do for ye as ye think. It was all a mistake, Bucky."
Buckrow began to whisper with Petrak again, and Thirkle held his hands up and called to them sharply: "Here! Cut this rope!"
Petrak started for Thirkle with a sheath-knife, but Buckrow pulled him back.
"I"ll let him go," he said. "This is my job, Thirkle," continued Buckrow, approaching his prisoner. "I"m atween two minds with ye, and one is to slit yer neck, as I won"t deny; but ye"re a sharp cuss, and I guess ye can do this work better than I can. But I want to say to ye now, if ever ye turn on me after this ye"re a dog.
"I"ll take my chance with ye, but ye bear me no love, and I know it; and ever ye reach for a knife or a gun, mind that I don"t see ye. It"s play fair from now on, but show a claw and yer done for if I can do it."
He stooped down and slipped the blade of his knife through the bonds he had put upon Thirkle, and then stepped away from him, with the knife held in guard, as if he expected the pirate to leap at him once he had his hands free.
But Thirkle sat still for a few minutes, rubbing his wrists, and then called for the bottle. Petrak handed it to him, and he sipped the brandy and bathed his wounded head with it, sending Reddy to a pool of water at the base of the cliff to wet his handkerchief, and then bound it around his head.
"It looks bad, but it didn"t hurt much, Bucky," he said, smiling. "What hurt me more was to have ye turn on me the way ye did; but that"s all pa.s.sed and gone, and we won"t mention it again."
"Mind ye, don"t," growled Buckrow, who was still in an angry mood and perhaps thought he had made a mistake in giving Thirkle freedom again.
"Oh, limber up a bit, Bucky," said Thirkle. "What"s the use of us all going to Kingdom Come over a little fight, when we"ve had so much fighting to get this? The gold turned all our heads, no doubt, but we can"t be fools through it. The stuff"s no good here--the job"s not done yet, but I"ll get ye all clear now if ye mind me and keep sober in port.
Shake, old mate, and let"s be friends again."
He held out his hand to Buckrow, who took it, but awkwardly. I could see that he feared Thirkle, even unarmed, and knew him for his master.
"I"m cussed sorry, Thirkle, for what I done; but I felt ye wanted to do for me, and I couldn"t stand for that," he said, with his eyes on the ground.
"All square now, Bucky, and never a word. Ye always did yer work well, and never a slip."
"And didn"t I do the same, Thirkle? Didn"t I stand by?" asked Petrak, surveying his chief with an expression of surprise that he had been overlooked in commendation, much as a dog would seek petting.
"You, too," a.s.sented Thirkle, beaming on the little red-headed man.
"Never was a better man when there was to be a knife used quick and neat; I"ll say that for ye. Now, I want to take a little rest for a few minutes, and if I was to have a word to say I"d suggest that you two get the sacks stowed in the hole there. I want a little confab with Mr.
Trenholm here, and I"ll give a hand presently. If ye think it"s fair, I"ll rest a bit; but we ought to get that stuff snug away, and there"s no time to be lost."
Buckrow took away the belt and pistols, which had been unfastened from me after my capture, and he and Petrak set to work carrying the sacks of gold into the cleft in the cliff.