untold, of which I offer you half, and yet you English people are so cold and unmovable. Why, a Spaniard or a Frenchman would have gone mad with excitement.”
“Yes,” said Mr Parkley, “but we don’t do that sort of thing here.”
“No,” said the Cuban, “you are so cold.”
“It takes some time to warm us, sir,” said Dutch, sternly; “but when we are hot, we keep so till our work is done. Your Frenchman and Spaniard soon get hot, and are cold directly.”
“That’s right, Pugh, every word,” said Mr Parkley, nodding his head.
“Then you refuse my offer?” said the Cuban, with a bitter look of contempt stealing over his face.
“Do I?” replied Mr Parkley.
“Yes, you are silent – you do not respond.”
“Englishmen don’t risk ten thousand pounds without looking where it is to go, my fine fellow,” said Mr Parkley, drumming away at the desk. “I don’t say I shall not take it up, and I don’t say I shall.”
“You doubt me, then. Are not my papers good?”
“Unexceptionable.”
“Is not the half of the wondrous wealth enough for you? You who only take out your ship and divers to get what it has taken me years to find. I tell you there are cargoes of this rich metal lying there – hundreds of thousands of pounds – a princely fortune; and yet you hesitate.”
“Are there any volcanoes your way?” said Mr Parkley, drily.
“Yes – many. Why?”
“I thought so,” said the sturdy Englishman.
“It is enough,” cried the Cuban, haughtily. “You play with me, and insult me.”
And, as he spoke, with flashing eyes, he snatched at the two ingots, and began to wrap them up, but with a smile of contempt he threw them back on the desk.
“No, we do not,” said Mr Parkley quietly; “only you are so red hot. I must have time to think.”
“Time to think?”
“Yes. I like the idea, and I think I shall accept your offer.”
“You believe in my papers, then?”
“Oh, yes, they are beyond suspicion,” said Mr Parkley, holding out his hand. “Only there are so many tricks played that one has to go carefully. Well, how are you? Glad to see you, and hope we shall be good friends.”
“My great friend!” exclaimed the Cuban, throwing his arms round the sturdy little man, and nearly oversetting him, stool and all, in his fervid embrace. “They were right: you are the true enterprising man of energy after all.”
“I say, don’t do that again, please,” said Mr Parkley. “We shake hands here, and save those hugs for the other sex – at least the young fellows do.”
“But I am overjoyed,” exclaimed the Cuban, enthusiastically. “Here, I will be English,” he cried, holding out his hand and shaking that of Dutch most heartily. “We two shall be great friends, I see. You will come too. You are young and full of energy, and you shall be as rich as he. You shall both draw up gold in heaps and be princes. Thank you both – thank you. And now we will make our plans.”
“Gently, gently,” exclaimed Mr Parkley; “this all takes time. If that treasure has lain for three hundred years at the bottom of the sea, it will be safe for a few months longer.”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
“Then we must take our time, and, if we go, make plenty of preparation.”
“Yes, yes,” said the Cuban; “take plenty of diving suits and a diving bell.”
“Don’t you fidget about that, sir,” said Mr Parkley, proudly. “I think we can find such appliances as will do the trick. Eh, Pugh?”
Dutch nodded, and then looked uneasily at the Cuban, whose presence seemed to fill him with a vague trouble.
“I’ve got an important contract on too,” continued Parkley.
“A contract?” said the Cuban. “A new machine?”
“No, no; a bond such as we must have to do certain work.”
“Yes, yes. I see.”
“I’ve got to empty a ship off the coast here. She went down, laden with copper.”
“I must see that,” cried the Cuban, excitedly. “Where is it? Let us go. I must see the men go under water.”
“All in good time, sir – all in good time; for I must finish that job first. Well, Rasp,” he continued, as that worthy came in.
“It’s Mrs Pug, sir. Shall I show her in?”
“No, no,” exclaimed Dutch, eagerly.
But he was too late; for, as he spoke, a lady-like figure entered the room, and the bright, fair, girlish face, with its clustering curls of rich dark-brown hair, turned from one to the other in a timid, apologetic way.
“I am sorry,” she faltered. “You are engaged. My husband arranged – ”
“Come in, my dear – come in,” said Mr Parkley, hopping off his stool, taking her hands, and patting them affectionately, as he placed her in a chair. “We’ve about done for to-day; and if we had not, there’s nothing you might not hear. I’ll be bound to say, Pugh keeps nothing from you.”
“But she is beautiful!” muttered the Cuban, with sparkling eyes, as his lips parted, and a warm flush came into his creamy cheeks; while Dutch turned pale as he saw his admiration, and the vague feeling of dread came once more in combination with one of dislike.
Story 1-Chapter III.
Under Water and Under Current
“But I am not polite, my dear,” said Mr Parkley. “This is Señor Manuel Lorry, a gentleman from Havana. Señor, Mrs Pugh, the wife of my future partner, and almost my daughter.”
The Cuban bowed low as the young Englishwoman rose and looked anxiously at him, her eyes falling directly, and she blushed vividly, as though her fair young cheeks were scorched beneath his ardent gaze.
A pang shot through the breast of Dutch Pugh; but the eyes were raised again to his with so naïve and innocent a look that the pain was assuaged, and he crossed to her side.
“Well, Señor,” said Mr Parkley, “I am to see that you are not imposed upon, so you are in my charge.”
“I know so much of the straightforward honesty of the English, sir, that I am glad to be in your hands.”
“That’s complimentary,” said Mr Parkley.
“It is true, sir,” said the Cuban, bowing.
“Very well, then,” said Mr Parkley, “we’ll begin by trusting one another
