“No business?”

“No business, ma’am.  I have just been having words with young Harry, here, over his disobedience this afternoon; but this is infinitely more serious.  We are here to search for treasure.  We no sooner drop anchor than a man visits us, who claims that the island is his.  This at once presupposes his claim upon any treasure that may be hidden upon it, and consequently that, as soon as he discovers our purpose, he will be our enemy.  It follows, I should imagine, that of all steps the most fatal was to admit him on board to discover our weakness.”

“Our weakness, sir?” asked Miss Belcher, carelessly, as though but half attending.

“Our weakness, ma’am; as it was doubtless to discover our weakness that he came.”

“Now, I rather thought,” murmured Miss Belcher, “that Miss Plinlimmon and I had spent a great part of this afternoon in impressing him with our strength.”

“To be sure,” pursued Captain Branscome, “with such a company as he found on board, he can scarcely have suspected a treasure hunt.  Still, when he does suspect it—­as sooner or later he must—­he will know our weakness.”

“He could scarcely have dealt with us more frankly than he did, at any rate,” said Miss Belcher, with an air of simplicity; “for he assured us he was alone on the island.”

“And you believed him, ma’am?”

“I forget, sir, if I believed him; but he certainly knows that we are here in search of treasure, for I told him so myself.”

Captain Branscome gasped.  “You—­you told him so?” he echoed.

“I did, and he replied that it scarcely surprised him to hear it, that of the few vessels which found their way to Mortallone, quite an appreciable proportion came with some idea of discovering treasure.  The proportion, he added, had fallen off of late years, and the most of them nowadays put in to water, but there was a time when the treasure-seekers threatened to become a positive nuisance.  He said this with a smile which disarmed all suspicion.  In fact, it was impossible to take offence with the man.”

But at this point Plinny, frightened perhaps at the warnings of apoplexy in Captain Branscome’s face, laid a hand gently on Miss Belcher’s arm.

“Are we treating our good friend quite fairly?” she asked.

Miss Belcher glanced at her and broke into a ringing laugh.

“You dear creature!  No, to be sure, we are not; but from a child I always turned mischievous under correction.  Captain Branscome, I beg your pardon.”

“It is granted, ma’am.”

“And—­for I take you to be on the point of resigning, here and now—­”

“Ma’am, you have guessed correctly.”

“I am going to beg you to do nothing of the sort.  No, I am not going to ask it only as a favour, but to appeal to your reason.  You think it extremely rash of me to have entertained this man and talked with him so frankly?  Well, but consider.  To begin with, if I had not told him that we were after the treasure, he would probably have guessed it; nay, I make bold to say that he guessed it already, for—­I forgot to mention it—­he knows Harry Brooks.”