"What think'st thou then, Rufus Broadmead, of this fool's errand to the
savages?" inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for a moment that
he might the better listen to the tumult on the shore. "Wot ye not that
if water had been the only boon he craves the captain had fared much
better on the mainland? Besides, did not I myself overhear the Apache
only yesterday tell him of a certainty that the tribes over there were
away on the warpath? But no, by the mass, here must we risk our precious
scalps to row into the very teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the
whim of as obstinate an Englishman as ever sailed aboard Her Majesty's
fleets!" and without awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in disgust.
The others laughed.
"Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, for all thy listening with
thy big ears, as not to know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught else
our captain seeks? Water, - pouf!" the speaker made a rough grimace,
"water may well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir Francis were
the lives of half a dozen seamen when booty for the queen lies in the
balance? The Apache told him, too, - thou see'st thou hast not played
the listening game alone, for, hiding behind the fo'castle door myself,
I heard him say it, - that here lay that famous island, San - how is't
they call it? San Catlina - I know not how 'tis spoken, - some Spanish
lingo not fit for English tongues! At any rate 'twas here your Spanish
robber, Don Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his precious son as
well, stopped to seek direction ere they found the land of gold.
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