This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE MISSING SHIP
183

Sunday was a quiet day on shipboard. The Englishmen did not show themselves excepting at meals, and the boys were content to leave them severely alone. They told Captain Sanders of the chart and of the talk that had occurred.

"Let them alone, lads," said the commander of the Golden Eagle. "I'll venture to say that sooner or later they'll find out they are on a wild goose chase."

"The only one that seems to be anyway nice is the fellow named Giles Borden," said Dave. "He is rather quiet. The other fellow, Rumney, is almost as bad as Geswick and Pardell."

"So I've noticed, Dave. And the queer part of it is, Borden paid for the passages. He appears to be the only one with money."

"Maybe he is backing the expedition," suggested Roger.

"I'm sorry for him if he is," answered the captain.

The Bahama Islands had been passed, and now they were in the vicinity of Porto Rico. Then commenced the trip southward, through the Lesser Antilles.

"This is the spot for active volcanoes," observed Phil. "Don't you remember how the Island of Martinique suffered?"

"Oh, don't speak of volcanoes!" cried Roger.