Page:Ballantyne--The Battery and the Boiler.djvu/248

 "Hooray!" echoed Jim Slagg, "them 's exactly my sentiments."

"But the booty is not ours to take," objected Robin.

"Whose is it, then?" asked Sam; "the rightful owners we don't know, and the wrongful owners are defunct."

"I tell 'ee what it is, mates," said Johnson, "the whole o' the booty is mine, 'cause why? it was me as blowed up the owners, so I 'm entitled to it by conquest, an' you needn't go to fightin' over it. If you behave yourselves, I 'll divide it equally among us, share an' share alike."

"It seems to me, Johnson," said Robin, "that in strict justice the booty belongs to Letta, Meerta, and blind Bungo, as the natural heirs of the pirates."

"But they 're not the heirs, they are part of the booty," said the seaman, "and, as sitch, falls to be divided among us."

"If that 's so," said Slagg, "then I claim Letta for my share, and you, Johnson, can have your pick of Meerta and blind Bungo."

"Nay, Letta is mine, because I was the first to discover her," said Robin. "Whom will you go with, Letta?"

"With you, of course," replied the child quite earnestly. "Haven't you promised to take me back to mamma?"