Читать книгу Wrecked on Spider Island; Or, How Ned Rogers Found the Treasure онлайн

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Then the conversation ceased as the captain left the pantry, and Ned heard the mate, who had remained behind an instant, mutter to himself:

“I knew the old man was up to something, or he wouldn’t have been so sweet for the last twenty-four hours. It’s a big scheme he’s got, an’ I don’t see why it couldn’t be worked without trouble. A thousand dollars is a pile of money to a man who never had any more than I’ve got.”

This was sufficient to show Ned that the chief officer would not hesitate to assist in wrecking the brig, provided it could be done without taking too big a risk, and the boy began to wonder what would become of him if the crime was finally committed.

The captain had said that if any one on board had a suspicion the brig was deliberately scuttled, such person should never leave the craft alive.

Now Ned was in the possession of the secret, and in case the captain discovered that his words could be heard so plainly from one apartment to the other, it was only reasonable to suppose he would carry his threat into execution, more especially when it was a person of so little importance as a cabin-boy without a relative in the world.