andifthingswentwellwithus，wemightrealisefifteenpercentofthefirstoutlay。Wewerenotmerelybankrupt，wewerecomicbankrupts：afairbuttforjeeringinthestreets。IhopeI
boretheblowwithagoodcountenance；indeed，mymindhadlongbeenquitemadeup，andsincethedaywefoundtheopiumIhadknowntheresult。ButthethoughtofJimandMamieachedinmelikeaphysicalpain，andIshrankfromspeechandcompanionship。
Iwasinthisframeofmindwhenthecaptainproposedthatweshouldlandupontheisland。Isawhehadsomethingtosay，andonlyfeareditmightbeconsolation；forIcouldjustbearmygrief，notbunglingsympathy；andyetIhadnochoicebuttoaccedetohisproposal。
Wewalkedawhilealongthebeachinsilence。Thesunoverheadreverberatedraysofheat；thestaringsand，theglaringlagoon，torturedoureyes；andthebirdsandtheboomofthefar-awaybreakersmadeasavagesymphony。
“Idon’trequiretotellyouthegame’sup？”Naresasked。
“No。”saidI。
“Iwasthinkingofgettingtoseato-morrow。”hepursued。
“Thebestthingyoucando。”saidI。
“ShallwesayHonolulu？”heinquired。
“O，yes；let’ssticktotheprogramme。”Icried。“Honolulubeit！”
Therewasanothersilence，andthenNaresclearedhisthroat。
“We’vebeenprettygoodfriends，youandme，Mr。Dodd。”heresumed。“We’vebeengoingthroughthekindofthingthattriesaman。We’vehadthehardestkindofwork，we’vebeenbadlybacked，andnowwe’rebadlybeaten。Andwe’vefetchedthroughwithoutawordofdisagreement。Idon’tsaythistopraisemyself：it’smytrade；it’swhatI’mpaidfor，andtrainedfor，andbroughtupto。Butitwasanotherthingforyou；itwasallnewtoyou；anditdidmegoodtoseeyoustandrightuptoitandswingrightintoit，dayin，dayout。Andthenseehowyou’vetakenthisdisappointment，wheneverybodyknowsyoumusthavebeentauteneduptoshying-point！Iwishyou’dletmetellyou，Mr。Dodd，thatyou’vestoodoutmightymanlyandhandsomelyinallthisbusiness，andmadeeveryonelikeyouandadmireyou。AndIwishyou’dletmetellyou，besides，thatI’vetakenthiswreckbusinessasmuchtoheartasyouhave；
somethingkindofrisesinmythroatwhenIthinkwe’rebeaten；
andifIthoughtwaitingwoulddoit，Iwouldstickonthisreefuntilwestarved。”
Itriedinvaintothankhimforthesegenerouswords，buthewasbeforehandwithmeinamoment。
“Ididn’tbringyouashoretosoundmypraises。”heinterrupted。
“Weunderstandoneanothernow，that’sall；andIguessyoucantrustme。WhatIwishedtospeakaboutismoreimportant，andit’sgottobefaced。WhatarewetodoabouttheFlyingScudandthedimenovel？”
“Ireallyhavethoughtnothingaboutthat。”Ireplied。“ButI
expectImeantogetatthebottomofit；andifthebogusCaptainTrentistobefoundontheearth’ssurface，IguessI
meantofindhim。”
“Allyou’vegottodoistalk。”saidNares；“youcanmakethebiggestkindofboom；itisn’toftenthereportershaveachanceatsuchayarnasthis；andIcantellyouhowitwillgo。Itwillgobytelegraph，Mr。Dodd；it’llbetelegraphedbythecolumn，andhead-lined，andfrothedup，anddeniedbyauthority，andit’llhitbogusCaptainTrentinaMexicanbar-room，andknockoverbogusGoddedaalinaslumsomewhereuptheBaltic，andbowldownHardyandBrowninsailors’musichallsroundGreenock。O，there’snodoubtyoucanhavearegulardomesticJudgmentDay。Theonlypointiswhetheryoudeliberatelywantto。”
“Well。”saidI，“Ideliberatelydon’twantonething：I
deliberatelydon’twanttomakeapublicexhibitionofmyselfandPinkerton：somoral——smugglingopium；suchdamnedfools——payingfiftythousandfora’deadhorse’！”
“Nodoubtitmightdamageyouinabusinesssense。”thecaptainagreed。“AndI’mpleasedyoutakethatview；forI’veturnedkindofsoftuponthejob。There’sbeensomecrookednessabout，nodoubtofit；but，Lawblessyou！ifwedroppeduponthetroupe，allthepremierartistswouldsliprightoutwiththeboodleintheirgrip-sacks，andyou’donlycollaralotofoldmutton-headedshell-backsthatdidn’tknowthebackofthebusinessfromthefront。Idon’ttakemuchstockinMercantileJack，youknowthat；but，poordevil，he’sgottogowherehe’stold；andifyoumaketrouble，tentooneit’llmakeyousicktoseetheinnocentswhohavetostandtheracket。Itwouldbedifferentifweunderstoodtheoperation；butwedon’t，yousee：there’salotofqueercornersinlife；andmyvoteistolettheblame’thinglie。”
“Youspeakasifwehadthatinourpower。”Iobjected。
“Andsowehave。”saidhe。
“Whataboutthemen？”Iasked。“Theyknowtoomuchbyhalf；
andyoucan’tkeepthemfromtalking。”
“Can’tI？”returnedNares。“Ibetaboarding-mastercan！Theycanbeallhalf-seas-over，whentheygetashore，blinddrunkbydark，andcruisingoutoftheGoldenGateindifferentdeep-seashipsbythenextmorning。Can’tkeepthemfromtalking，can’tI？Well，Icanmake’emtalkseparate，leastways。Ifawholecrewcametalking，partieswouldlisten；butifit’sonlyoneloneoldshell-back，it’stheusualyarn。Andatleast，theyneedn’ttalkbeforesixmonths，or——ifwehaveluck，andthere’sawhalerhandy——threeyears。Andbythattime，Mr。Dodd，it’sancienthistory。”
“That’swhattheycallShanghaiing，isn’tit？”Iasked。“I
thoughtitbelongedtothedimenovel。”
“O，dimenovelsarerightenough。”returnedthecaptain。
“Nothingwrongwiththedimenovel，onlythatthingshappenthickerthantheydoinlife，andthepracticalseamanshipisoff-
colour。”
“Sowecankeepthebusinesstoourselves。”Imused。
“There’soneotherpersonthatmightblab。”saidthecaptain。
“ThoughIdon’tbelieveshehasanythinglefttotell。”
“AndwhoisSHE？”Iasked。
“Theoldgirlthere。”heanswered，pointingtothewreck。“I
knowthere’snothinginher；butsomehowI’mafraidofsomeoneelse——it’sthelastthingyou’dexpect，soit’sjustthefirstthat’llhappen——someonedroppingintothisGod-forgottenislandwherenobodydropsin，waltzingintothatwreckthatwe’vegrownoldwithsearching，stoopingstraightdown，andpickingrightuptheverythingthattellsthestory。What’sthattome？youmayask，andwhyamIgoneSoftTommyonthisMuseumofCrooks？They’vesmashedupyouandMr。
Pinkerton；they’veturnedmyhairgreywithconundrums；
they’vebeenuptolarks，nodoubt；andthat’sallIknowofthem——yousay。Well，andthat’sjustwhereitis。Idon’tknowenough；Idon’tknowwhat’suppermost；it’sjustsuchalotofmiscellaneouseventualitiesasIdon’tcaretogostirringup；andIaskyoutoletmedealwiththeoldgirlafterapatentofmyown。”
“Certainly——whatyouplease。”saidI，scarcewithattention，foranewthoughtnowoccupiedmybrain。“Captain。”Ibrokeout，“youarewrong：wecannothushthisup。Thereisonethingyouhaveforgotten。”
“Whatisthat？”heasked。
“AbogusCaptainTrent，abogusGoddedaal，awholeboguscrew，haveallstartedhome。”saidI。“Ifweareright，notoneofthemwillreachhisjourney’send。Anddoyoumeantosaythatsuchacircumstanceasthatcanpasswithoutremark？”
“Sailors。”saidthecaptain，“onlysailors！Iftheywereallboundforoneplace，inabody，Idon’tsayso；butthey’reallgoingseparate——toHull，toSweden，totheClyde，totheThames。
Well，ateachplace，whatisit？Nothingnew。Onlyonesailormanmissing：gotdrunk，orgotdrowned，orgotleft：thepropersailor’send。”
Somethingbitterinthethoughtandinthespeaker’stonesstruckmehard。“Hereisonethathasgotleft！”Icried，gettingsharplytomyfeet；forwehadbeensometimeseated。“Iwishitweretheother。Idon’t——don’trelishgoinghometoJimwiththis！”
“Seehere。”saidNares，withreadytact，“Imustbegettingaboard。Johnson’sinthebrigannexingchandleryandcanvas，andthere’ssomethingsintheNorahthatwantfixingagainstwegotosea。Wouldyouliketobelefthereinthechicken-
ranch？I’llsendforyoutosupper。”
Iembracedtheproposalwithdelight。Solitude，inmyframeofmind，wasnottoodearlypurchasedattheriskofsunstrokeorsand-blindness；andsoonIwasaloneontheill-omenedislet。I
shouldfindithardtotellofwhatIthought——ofJim，ofMamie，ofourlostfortune，ofmylosthopes，ofthedoombeforeme：toturntoatsomemechanicaloccupationinsomesubalternrank，andtotoilthere，unremarkedandunamused，untilthehourofthelastdeliverance。Iwas，atleast，sosunkinsadnessthatI
scarceremarkedwhereIwasgoing；andchance(orsomefinersensethatlivesinus，andonlyguidesuswhenthemindisinabeyance)conductedmystepsintoaquarteroftheislandwherethebirdswerefew。Bysomedeviousroute，whichIwasunabletoretraceformyreturn，Iwasthusabletomount，withoutinterruption，tothehighestpointofland。AndhereI
wasrecalledtoconsciousnessbyalastdiscovery。
ThespotonwhichIstoodwaslevel，andcommandedawideviewofthelagoon，theboundingreef，theroundhorizon。
NearerhandIsawthesisterislet，thewreck，theNorahCreina，andtheNorah’sboatalreadymovingshoreward。Forthesunwasnowlow，flamingonthesea’sverge；andthegalleychimneysmokedonboardtheschooner。
Itthusbefellthatthoughmydiscoverywasbothaffectingandsuggestive，Ihadnoleisuretoexaminefurther。WhatIsawwastheblackenedembersoffireofwreck。Byallthesigns，itmusthaveblazedtoagoodheightandburnedfordays；fromthescantlingofasparthatlayuponthemarginonlyhalfconsumed，itmusthavebeentheworkofmorethanone；andI
receivedatoncetheimageofaforlorntroopofcastaways，houselessinthatlostcorneroftheearth，andfeedingtheretheirfireofsignal。Thenextmomentahailreachedmefromtheboat；andburstingthroughthebushesandtherisingsea-fowl，I
saidfarewell(Itrustforever)tothatdesertisle。
ThelastnightatMidway，Ihadlittlesleep；thenextmorning，afterthesunwasrisen，andtheclatterofdeparturehadbeguntoreignondeck，Ilayalongwhiledozing；andwhenatlastI
steppedfromthecompanion，theschoonerwasalreadyleapingthroughthepassintotheopensea。Closeonherboard，thehugescrollofabreakerunfurleditselfalongthereefwithaprodigiousclamour；andbehindIsawthewreckvomitingintothemorningairacoilofsmoke。Thewreathsalreadyblewoutfartoleeward，flamesalreadyglitteredinthecabinskylight；
andthesea-fowlwerescatteredinsurpriseaswideasthelagoon。Aswedrewfartheroff，theconflagrationoftheFlyingScudflamedhigher；andlongafterwehaddroppedallsignsofMidwayIsland，thesmokestillhunginthehorizonlikethatofadistantsteamer。Withthefadingoutofthatlastvestige，theNorahCreina，passedagainintotheemptyworldofcloudandwaterbywhichshehadapproached；andthenextfeaturesthatappeared，elevendayslater，tobreakthelineofsky，werethearidmountainsofOahu。
Ithasoftensincebeenacomfortablethoughttomethatwehadthusdestroyedthetell-taleremnantsoftheFlyingScud；andoftenastrangeonethatmylastsightandreminiscenceofthatfatalshipshouldbeapillarofsmokeonthehorizon。Tosomanyothersbesidesmyselfthesameappearancehadplayedapartinthevariousstagesofthatbusiness：luringsometowhattheylittleimagined，fillingsomewithunimaginableterrors。
Butourswasthelastsmokeraisedinthestory；andwithitsdyingawaythesecretoftheFlyingScudbecameaprivateproperty。
Itwasbythefirstlightofdawnthatwesaw，closeonboard，themetropolitanislandofHawaii。Weheldalongthecoast，asnearaswecouldventure，withafreshbreezeandunderanuncloudedheaven；beholding，aswewent，thearidmountainsidesandscrubbycocoa-palmsofthatsomewhatmelancholyarchipelago。AboutfouroftheafternoonweturnedWaimanoloPoint，thewesterlyheadlandofthegreatbightofHonolulu；
showedourselvesfortwentyminutesinfullview；andthenfellagaintoleeward，andputintherestofdaylight，plyingundershortenedsailundertheleeofWaimanolo。
