Page:The Rover Boys in Southern Waters.djvu/196

180 "I don't know what to make of him. Sometimes I think he is all right, and then again I don't feel like trusting him."

"That's my way of it, too. We don't want anybody we can't trust in this."

"Oh, he'll have to do as we say."

"Hello, what's up there?" shouted Sid Jeffers, from the bench where he was sitting, finishing some liquor before him.

"We want to talk certain things over," said Gasper Pold. "Come here."

In a cautious manner Sack Todd and Gasper Pold "sounded" the first mate of the ill-fated Dogstar. They said, if they could get control of the steam yacht, it might mean big money to all concerned.

"But what will you do with those Rover boys and the Dutch lad?" asked Jeffers.

"Oh, we can either cast them adrift somewhere or else put them off on a deserted shore," answered Sack Todd. "Then I can turn this steam yacht over to a friend of mine—an utter stranger to them—and he can get the salvage on the craft for us and we can divide up."

This plan to make money appealed strongly to the first mate, and he finally agreed to aid the others in gaining possession of the craft. Then the two sailors were instructed by Jeffers and they agreed to do as ordered, leaving the