"I will, I will; but please p'int dat weepon some oder way."
The mate complied, and the African, somewhat reassured, though still considerably frightened, listened to the words of the man who he supposed was drowned hours before.
"I am alive and well, Pomp, as you can see, and so is the captain, who is taking a short nap in the cabin. We are well armed, as you know----"
"And we can sail away in the morning, at the turning of the tide, and leave you here----"
"Dat's what I want you to do, an' I'll go wid you."
"You can't go! I know well enough what you came out here for. You thought you would find a chance to get the upper hand of the captain, and would let the other villains on board. There! you needn't deny it. I understand the matter too well to be deceived."
"Didn't I sabe de cap'in's life?" quavered Pomp, still fearful of the cold, measured tones of the mate.
"You befriended him at a critical moment, and therefore I won't shoot you, when I have such a good chance to do so. But you have regretted your interference more than once, and you are seeking now to undo all the good you have done. We have it in our power not only to go away, but to bring back a force which shall hang every one of you three, as you deserve to be, but----"
"But we don't propose to do it. We are not going away to leave you here. To-morrow we shall have a proposal to offer to your mates, which they will be glad to accept. That is about all I have to say to you."
As Mate Storms said, he had but little more communication to make with the negro.
"You may now swim back to your friends and say that we will be ready to negotiate to-morrow morning. If they will come down to the shore, we will have a talk and arrange the whole business. Now, perhaps, you had better go back."
Pomp Cooper was quick-witted enough to understand that this utterance was in the nature of a hint for him to depart, and he stood not on the order of his going.
"Good-by, sah," he called out. "Much obleege fo' your kindness, dat I shall remember a good while."
Mate Storms stood motionless, watching him until he was perhaps a hundred feet from the craft, when he said, just loud enough to be heard:
"Sharks are mighty plenty hereabout, and I saw a big one yesterday. Shouldn't wonder if he has a leg bit off before he gets back."