“Well, we’re going, anyway, aren’t we, Dave?” replied Tempest. “You see, Mr. Flagg, there is just this point. The bark isn’t lying in an exposed place. She is――or was――squatting snugly, weighted down with sand, in the shelter of a lagoon where the sea practically couldn’t smash her up. At any rate, she would have a far better chance in there than she would if she were just lying stranded on the rocks in the open.” “That makes a difference,” said Flagg, more encouragingly, “though you’ll have to go there to find out how much difference. Listen to me, Tempest. I’m a man of business, as any one in Dogtooth City will tell you, and all my life I’ve been willing to take a chance when there was a good thing going. You know well enough that there are big difficulties ahead of you. Now, why not let me come in on the deal? My boat is lying here in Shavay Bay doing nothing in particular. I could provision her for the trip and land you right back here on this beach with the stuff――if we found it. What do you say? Of course, I wouldn’t want to do it for nothing. The whole thing is a matter of speculation. I suppose there’s only you and the boy in on the proposition. Suppose we say split the proceeds into three?” Dave looked at his friend inquiringly. He had great respect for Tempest’s judgment, and would have fallen in with any suggestion Tempest thought fit to agree to. The idea sounded fair enough. Anyway, Dave was not actuated by any mercenary motive; so far, the love of adventure had carried him toward the _Hatteras_ as much as had any hope of monetary reward. Tempest knew that, and he avoided the boy’s eyes for the moment. Of course, it would have been by far the easiest course to do as Flagg said, but from a purely business point of view the notion struck Tempest as being stupid. If Mr. Flagg had suddenly descended with his boat on them while they were marooned after the wreck of the _Manihiki_, it was very possible that Tempest would have leaped at the chance of making the little fat man a partner in the matter. But as things were, it was different. Fortune had favored them greatly by bringing them so close to the spot they were struggling to reach. Perhaps fortune would do more for them. The weather remained perfect. It would be so easy to offer a third of a possible fortune in return for this proffered assistance.