“I take it, Jack, for I must believe you honest, after all you have done for us.  Excuse my warmth, which, if a little unreasonable, was somewhat natural under the circumstances.  I suppose our case is now hopeless, and that we shall all be soon on board the brig again; for Spike will hardly think of abandoning me again on an island provisioned and fitted as is this!”

“It’s not so sartain, sir, that you fall into his hands at all,” put in Jack.  “The men of the brig will never come here of their own accord, depend on that, for sailors don’t like graves.  Spike has come in here a’ter the schooner’s chain, that he dropped into the water when he made sail from the sloop-of-war, at the time he was here afore, and is not expectin’ to find us here.  No—­no—­he thinks we are beatin’ up toward Key West this very minute, if, indeed, he has missed us at all.  ’T is possible he believes the boat has got adrift by accident, and has no thought of our bein’ out of the brig.”

“That is impossible, Jack.  Do you suppose he is ignorant that Rose is missing?”

“Sartain of it, maty, if Mrs. Budd has read the letter well that Miss Rose left for her, and Biddy has obeyed orders.  If they’ve followed instructions, Miss Rose is thought to be in her state-room, mournin’ for a young man who was abandoned on a naked rock, and Jack Tier, havin’ eat somethin’ that has disagreed with him, is in his berth.  Recollect, Spike will not be apt to look into Miss Rose’s state-room or my berth, to see if all this is true.  The cook and Josh are both in my secret, and know I mean to come back, and when the fit is over I have only to return to duty, like any other hand.  It is my calculation that Spike believes both Miss Rose and myself on board the Molly at this very moment.”

“And the boat—­what can he suppose has become of the boat?”

“Sartainly, the boat makes the only chance ag’in us.  But the boat was ridin’ by its painter astarn, and accidents sometimes happen to such craft.  Then we two are the wery last he will suspect of havin’ made off in the boat by ourselves.  There’ll be Mrs. Budd and Biddy as a sort of pledge that Miss Rose is aboard, and as for Jack Tier, he is too insignificant to occupy the captain’s thoughts just now.  He will probably muster the people for’ard, when he finds the boat is gone, but I do not think he’ll trouble the cabins or state-rooms.”

Mulford admitted that this was possible, though it scarcely seemed probable to him.  There was no help, however, for the actual state of things, and they all now turned their attention to the brig, and to the movements of those on board her.  Jack Tier had swung-to the outer-door of the house, as soon as the Swash came in view through it, and fortunately none of the windows on that side of the building had been opened at all.  The air entered to windward, which was on the rear of the dwelling, so that it was possible to be comfortable and yet leave the front,