He came toward us in a threatening manner, and Thirkle, seeing that he must submit with good grace, got up and met him with a smile.

“By all means, Bucky, we are equal, but I didn’t think ye’d begrudge me a little time after what happened.  How does the gold fit in there?”

“Wet as a junk.  We put the first sack in the eyes of her, but it’s no kid’s play, and we ought to have help, Mr. Thirkle, if we get clear away from this island to-night.  We can’t swear there won’t be no moon, and, moon or no, we want to be out of the jungle and at the boats by sundown.  And what’s the game with the writin’ chap here?  I’m minded to have him do a bit of this work.”

“Gold don’t rust, do it, Thirkle?” asked Petrak.  “I told Bucky gold don’t rust but he don’t like the water in there.”

“Oh, dry up!” growled Buckrow.  “What with yer talk we’ll be at this job all night—­”

“I vote—­” began Petrak.

“To the devil with ye and yer votin’!” said Buckrow.  “It’s time we got to work, all hands, and so we will, and the writin’ chap’ll turn to and do his bit, or I’ll know why.  If he ain’t to do his part, or we don’t make no use of him, I say we’ll up and do for him now and have it done with.  Next ye know he’ll make his getaway, and then a nice mess we’ll be in.”

“We don’t intend to let Mr. Trenholm get away,” said Thirkle.  “I was just thinking, lads, that there are three of us, but counting Mr. Trenholm we make four, and we can rattle him down so he can lift and carry, but not much else.”

“Then, lash his flippers down and put a bight on his legs,” said Buckrow; and he brought rope and began to fashion it into knots.

There was a minute when I was tempted to jump and run for it; but it would have meant certain death, for the three of them stood over me, two of them loaded down with pistols, and I would have had a poor chance of getting away.

There was a promise of delay in the work to be done; and, not knowing what had become of Captain Riggs, there was the bare possibility that he might come upon the pirates’ camp and attack them from ambush when he saw that I was a captive.

If I made the slightest resistance to the hampering ropes they put on me, with the cunning knots known to seamen, I knew they would not hesitate to make an end of me.  So I stood up and allowed Buckrow to lash my wrists to my knees in such a way that I was bent nearly double, but with my hands sufficiently free to grasp a burden, and my feet hobbled for short steps.

We began the work of putting the sacks of gold into the hole in the cliff, and I set at the task with a prayer that before it was finished and my life was of no further value to the pirates I might find an opportunity to escape.

CHAPTER XIX

“ONE MAN LESS IN THE FORECASTLE MESS”

“Ye can let him work with ye, Thirkle,” said Buckrow.  “As ye and the writin’ chap seem to have a lot of chin, pair off with him; and, as the two of ye don’t bear arms, he can’t get his paws on a gun or knife that way.  You two work ahead of me and Petrak, and then we can keep an eye on the both of ye.