"But a night or two afterwards, Master George brings up the subject again by sayin' that he don't suppose it's likely as you'll offer to share this here treasure with all hands, supposin' that you find it. And then he goes on to say that, for his part, he don't see as the treasure is yours any more than it's anybody else's, and that, in his opinion, if it's ever found, all hands ought to share and share alike. And some of the chaps seemed to think he was right, and others they didn't, and Bill up and says-- "`Look here, George,' he says, `supposin' when we gets ashore at Sydney you was to find a bag of sovereigns in the street, would you share 'em with us?' "George said that 'd be a different thing altogether from findin' a treasure on a desert island; and we all had a long argyment about it, and couldn't agree; and, after that, the steward talked a good deal more about all sharin' alike in the treasure, and that if we was all of one mind it could be done, and a lot more stuff of the same kind. But we all laughed at him; and then came the arrival of the ship in Sydney, and George bein' paid off, and after that I heard nothin' more about the treasure." "And what makes you imagine that the new men have got hold of the story?" I asked. "Well, sir," said Joe, "it's just one or two little things I've overheard said. The first thing as ever made me suspect that there was somethin' up was the mention of the word `treasure.' Cookie is the man as seems to know most about it--he's everlastin'ly talkin' about it--and I fancy he must have fallen in with the steward somewheres ashore and heard the whole story from him." "And what has the cook to say about it?" I inquired. "Ah, that's just what I wants to find out," answered Joe. "They won't say anything to me about it, but just sits whisperin' with their heads together away for'ard in the far end of the fo'c's'le, and I notices as it's always the cook as has most to say. He and Rogers seems to be the leadin' spirits in the job, whatever it is." "So your little scheme of yesterday has borne no fruit, thus far?" I suggested.