Perceiving he would get no more satisfaction, Lanyard schooled himself to be politic for the time being.

“Say it is so, then...  But I think you have something to propose.”

“It’s simple enough:  When two people find themselves in the same boat they’ve got to pull together if they want to get anywhere.”

“You propose, then, an alliance?”

“That’s the answer.  Without you I can’t do anything but kick over the applecart for Whit Monk; and that sort of revenge is mighty unsatisfactory.  Without me—­well:  what can you do?  I know you can get that tin safe of Whit’s open, when you feel like it, get the jewels and all; but what show do you stand to get away with them?  That is, unless you’ve got somebody working in with you on board the ship.  See here...”

The mutter sank into a husky whisper, and in order to be heard the speaker bent so low over Lanyard that fumes of whiskey almost suffocated the poor man in his bed.

“You’ve got a head, you’ve had experience, you know how...  Well, go to it:  make your plans, consult with me, get everything fixed, lift the loot; I’ll stand by, fix up everything so’s your work will go through slick, see that you don’t get hurt, stow the jewels where they won’t be found; and when it’s all over, we’ll split fifty-fifty.  What d’you say?”

“Extremely ingenious, monsieur, but unfortunately impracticable.”

“That’s the last thing,” stated the disappointed whisper, “I ever thought a man like you would say.”

“But it is obvious.  We do not know each other.”

“You mean, you can’t trust me?”

“For that matter:  how can you be sure you can trust me?”

“Oh, I guess I can size up a square guy when I see him.”

“Many thanks.  But why should I trust you, when you will not even be quite frank with me?”

“How’s that?  Haven’t I——­”

“One moment:  you refuse to name the source of your astonishingly detailed information concerning this affair—­myself included.  You wish me to believe you simply assume I am at odds with Captain Monk and his friends.  I admit it is true.  But how should you know it?  Ah, no, my friend! either you will tell me how you learned this secret, or I must beg you to let me get my sleep.”

“That’s easy.  I heard Whit and Phinuit talking about you the other night, on deck, when they didn’t think anybody was listening.”

Lanyard smiled into the darkness:  no need to fret about fair play toward this one!  The truth was not in him, and by the same token the traditional honour that obtains among thieves could not be.

He said, as if content, in the manner of a practical man dismissing all immaterial considerations: 

“As you say, the time is brief...”

“It’ll have to be pulled off to-morrow night or not at all,” the mutter urged with an eager accent.

“My thought, precisely.  For then we come to land, do we not?”