"If I sail with him, as I suppose I _must_, nothing will be easier than
for me to give all the courses and distances."

This reply produced a long and brooding silence. By this time, the reader
will have got a clue to the nature of the secret that was discussed so
much, and so often, between these two men. Daggett, finding himself sick,
poor, and friendless, among strangers, had early cast about him for the
means of obtaining an interest with those who might serve him. He had soon
got an insight into the character of Deacon Pratt, from the passing
remarks of the Widow White, who was induced to allude to the uncle, in
consequence of the charitable visits of the niece. One day, when matters
appeared to be at a very low ebb with him, and shortly after he had been
put ashore, the sick mariner requested an interview with the deacon
himself. The request had been reluctantly granted; but, during the visit,
Daggett had managed so well to whet his visiter's appetite for gain, that
henceforth there was no trouble in procuring the deacon's company. Little
by little had Daggett let out his facts, always keeping enough in reserve
to render himself necessary, until he had got his new acquaintance in the
highest state of feverish excitement. The schooner was purchased, and all
the arrangements necessary to her outfit were pressed forward as fast as
prudence would at all allow. The chart, and the latitude and longitude,
were the circumstances over which Daggett retained the control. These he
kept to himself, though he averred that he had laid down on the charts
that were in his chest the two important points which had been the
subjects of his communications.

Although this man had been wily in making his revelations, and had chosen
his confidant with caution and sagacity, most of that which he related was
true. He had belonged to a sealer that had been in a very high southern
latitude, where it had made some very important discoveries, touching the