He had
laid our plans before Mr. Atchison, who approved. If I listened to
him without arguing, he would make my fortune and my sister's as
well.
"I had never met a man of his quality before. I was a young fool,
yet not altogether such a fool but I had persuaded my sister to hand
the map over to me, and wore it always about me. She told me that
she had shown it twice to Martin, but never for more than two minutes
at a time, and had never let it go out of her hands. I wonder now
that he didn't murder her for it; and the only reason must be that he
reckoned to use me for navigating the ship, and then to get rid of
me.
"A fool I was even to the extent of letting him talk me over when I
found he had engaged twelve hands for the cruise. There was no
reason on earth for this number except that these were the gang after
the treasure, and that he was playing with the lot of them, same as
with me.
"The upshot was that we said goodbye to my mother and sister, and
crossed over to Carbonear, where I made acquaintance with my crew.
The number of them raised no suspicion in the port, because it was
taken for granted the _Willing Mind_, an old salt ship, was bound for
St. Jago, where ten or a dozen hands are nothing unusual to work the
salt; and this was the argument he had used to make me carry so many.
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