midday
`` That , '' replied Bascomb , sententiously , `` will be their lookout . If they can not find anyone to translate my letter , so much the worse for them . But there should be no trouble about that ; for if they can find nobody else the captain will make my meaning clear to them . '' It was considerably past midday when at length the whole of the Spaniards , together with their dead and wounded , were transferred to the felucca and dispatched to the shore , the Spanish captain being entrusted with the letter to the governor or commandant of the town ; and then the English found time to look into their own affairs and take a meal . It was found that by a marvellous stroke of good fortune the galleon had been captured without the loss of a man , or even so much as a single casualty on the English side ; and , this being the case , the question arose whether or not they should retain possession of the vessel , dividing the _ Adventure 's _ crew equally between her and the prize . There arose quite a sharp difference of opinion on this point , Bascomb and the two gentlemen adventurers maintaining that the prize was far too valuable to be parted with or destroyed , now that they had her ; while Winter and Dick contended that they were far too few in number to justify the proposed division , the effect of which would be to put them in possession of two perilously short-handed ships , instead of one fully manned . Moreover , the _ Santa Margaretta _ was nearly twice the size of the _ Adventure _ , the proposal therefore to divide the crew of the latter into two equal parts would hardly meet the case , since a crew of forty men could handle the galleon only in fine weather , while as to fighting her effectually in the event of their falling in with an enemy , it simply could not be done .