CAPTAIN BLOOD

By Rafael Sabatini

CAPTAIN BLOOD His Odyssey

CONTENTS

 I. THE MESSENGER II. KIRKE'S DRAGOONS III. THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE IV. HUMAN MERCHANDISE V. ARABELLA BISHOP VI. PLANS OF ESCAPE VII. PIRATES VIII. SPANIARDS IX. THE REBELS-CONVICT X. DON DIEGO XI. FILIAL PIETY XII. DON PEDRO SANGRE XIII. TORTUGA XIV. LEVASSEUR'S HEROICS XV. THE RANSOM XVI. THE TRAP XVII. THE DUPES XVIII. THE MILAGROSA XIX. THE MEETING XX. THIEF AND PIRATE XXI. THE SERVICE OF KING JAMES XXII. HOSTILITIES XXIII. HOSTAGES XXIV. WAR XXV. THE SERVICE OF KING LOUIS XXVI. M. DE RIVAROL XXVII. CARTAGENA XXVIII. THE HONOUR OF M. DE RIVAROL XXIX. THE SERVICE OF KING WILLIAM XXX. THE LAST FIGHT OF THE ARABELLA XXXI. HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR

CHAPTER I. THE MESSENGER

Peter Blood, bachelor of medicine and several other things besides, smoked a pipe and tended the geraniums boxed on the sill of his windowabove Water Lane in the town of Bridgewater. 

Sternly disapproving eyes considered him from a window opposite, butwent disregarded. Mr. Blood's attention was divided between his task andthe stream of humanity in the narrow street below; a stream which pouredfor the second time that day towards Castle Field, where earlier inthe afternoon Ferguson, the Duke's chaplain, had preached a sermoncontaining more treason than divinity. 

These straggling, excited groups were mainly composed of men with greenboughs in their hats and the most ludicrous of weapons in their hands. Some, it is true, shouldered fowling pieces, and here and there a swordwas brandished; but more of them were armed with clubs, and most of themtrailed the mammoth pikes fashioned out of scythes, as formidable tothe eye as they were clumsy to the hand. There were weavers, brewers, carpenters, smiths, masons, bricklayers, cobblers, and representativesof every other of the trades of peace among these improvised men of war. Bridgewater, like Taunton, had yielded so generously of its manhood tothe service of the bastard Duke that for any to abstain whose age andstrength admitted of his bearing arms was to brand himself a coward or apapist. 

Yet Peter Blood, who was not only able to bear arms, but trained andskilled in their use, who was certainly no coward, and a papist onlywhen it suited him, tended his geraniums and smoked his pipe on thatwarm July evening as indifferently as if nothing were afoot. One otherthing he did. He flung after those war-fevered enthusiasts a line ofHorace--a poet for whose work he had early conceived an inordinateaffection:

"Quo, quo, scelesti, ruitis?"

And now perhaps you guess why the hot, intrepid blood inherited from theroving sires of his Somersetshire mother remained cool amidst all thisfrenzied fanatical heat of rebellion; why the turbulent spirit which hadforced him once from the sedate academical bonds his father wouldhave imposed upon him, should now remain quiet in the very midst ofturbulence. You realize how he regarded these men who were rallying tothe banners of liberty--the banners woven by the virgins of Taunton, thegirls from the seminaries of Miss Blake and Mrs. Musgrove, who--as theballad runs--had ripped open their silk petticoats to make colours forKing Monmouth's army. That Latin line, contemptuously flung after themas they clattered down the cobbled street, reveals his mind. To him theywere fools rushing in wicked frenzy upon their ruin. 

You see, he knew too much about this fellow Monmouth and the prettybrown slut who had borne him, to be deceived by the legend oflegitimacy, on the strength of which this standard of rebellion hadbeen raised. He had read the absurd proclamation posted at the Crossat Bridgewater--as it had been posted also at Taunton andelsewhere--setting forth that "upon the decease of our Sovereign LordCharles the Second, the right of succession to the Crown of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, with the dominions and territoriesthereunto belonging, did legally descend and devolve upon the mostillustrious and high-born Prince James, Duke of Monmouth, son and heirapparent to the said King Charles the Second. "

It had moved him to laughter, as had the further announcement that"James Duke of York did first cause the said late King to be poysoned, and immediately thereupon did usurp and invade the Crown. "

He knew not which was the greater lie. For Mr. Blood had spent a thirdof his life in the Netherlands, where this same James Scott--who nowproclaimed himself James the Second, by the grace of God, King, etcetera--first saw the light some six-and-thirty years ago, and he wasacquainted with the story current there of the fellow's real paternity. Far from being legitimate--by virtue of a pretended secret marriagebetween Charles Stuart and Lucy Walter--it was possible that thisMonmouth who now proclaimed himself King of England was not even theillegitimate child of the late sovereign. What but ruin and disastercould be the end of this grotesque pretension? How could it be hopedthat England would ever swallow such a Perkin? And it was on his behalf, to uphold his fantastic claim, that these West Country clods, led by afew armigerous Whigs, had been seduced into rebellion!

"Quo, quo, scelesti, ruitis?"

He laughed and sighed in one; but the laugh dominated the sigh, for Mr. Blood was unsympathetic, as are most self-sufficient men; and hewas very self-sufficient; adversity had taught him so to be. A moretender-hearted man, possessing his vision and his knowledge, might havefound cause for tears in the contemplation of these ardent, simple, Nonconformist sheep going forth to the shambles--escorted to therallying ground on Castle Field by wives and daughters, sweethearts andmothers, sustained by the delusion that they were to take the fieldin defence of Right, of Liberty, and of Religion. For he knew, asall Bridgewater knew and had known now for some hours, that it wasMonmouth's intention to deliver battle that same night. The Duke was tolead a surprise attack upon the Royalist army under Feversham that wasnow encamped on Sedgemoor. Mr. Blood assumed that Lord Feversham wouldbe equally well-informed, and if in this assumption he was wrong, at least he was justified of it. He was not to suppose the Royalistcommander so indifferently skilled in the trade he followed. 

Mr. Blood knocked the ashes from his pipe, and drew back to close hiswindow. As he did so, his glance travelling straight across the streetmet at last the glance of those hostile eyes that watched him. Therewere two pairs, and they belonged to the Misses Pitt, two amiable, sentimental maiden ladies who yielded to none in Bridgewater in theirworship of the handsome Monmouth. 

Mr. Blood smiled and inclined his head, for he was on friendly termswith these ladies, one of whom, indeed, had been for a little while hispatient. But there was no response to his greeting. Instead, the eyesgave him back a stare of cold disdain. The smile on his thin lips grew alittle broader, a little less pleasant. He understood the reason of thathostility, which had been daily growing in this past week since Monmouthhad come to turn the brains of women of all ages. The Misses Pitt, he apprehended, contemned him that he, a young and vigorous man, of amilitary training which might now be valuable to the Cause, should standaloof; that he should placidly smoke his pipe and tend his geraniums onthis evening of all evenings, when men of spirit were rallying to theProtestant Champion, offering their blood to place him on the thronewhere he belonged. 

If Mr. Blood had condescended to debate the matter with these ladies, hemight have urged that having had his fill of wandering and adventuring, he was now embarked upon the career for which he had been originallyintended and for which his studies had equipped him; that he was a manof medicine and not of war; a healer, not a slayer. But they would haveanswered him, he knew, that in such a cause it behoved every man whodeemed himself a man to take up arms. They would have pointed out thattheir own nephew Jeremiah, who was by trade a sailor, the master of aship--which by an ill-chance for that young man had come to anchor atthis season in Bridgewater Bay--had quitted the helm to snatch up amusket in defence of Right. But Mr. Blood was not of those who argue. AsI have said, he was a self-sufficient man. 

He closed the window, drew the curtains, and turned to the pleasant, candle-lighted room, and the table on which Mrs. Barlow, hishousekeeper, was in the very act of spreading supper. To her, however, he spoke aloud his thought. 

"It's out of favour I am with the vinegary virgins over the way. "

He had a pleasant, vibrant voice, whose metallic ring was softened andmuted by the Irish accent which in all his wanderings he had never lost. It was a voice that could woo seductively and caressingly, or command insuch a way as to compel obedience. Indeed, the man's whole nature was inthat voice of his. For the rest of him, he was tall and spare, swarthyof tint as a gipsy, with eyes that were startlingly blue in that darkface and under those level black brows. In their glance those eyes, flanking a high-bridged, intrepid nose, were of singular penetrationand of a steady haughtiness that went well with his firm lips. Thoughdressed in black as became his calling, yet it was with an elegancederived from the love of clothes that is peculiar to the adventurer hehad been, rather than to the staid medicus he now was. His coat was offine camlet, and it was laced with silver; there were ruffles of Mechlinat his wrists and a Mechlin cravat encased his throat. His great blackperiwig was as sedulously curled as any at Whitehall. 

Seeing him thus, and perceiving his real nature, which was plain uponhim, you might have been tempted to speculate how long such a man wouldbe content to lie by in this little backwater of the world into whichchance had swept him some six months ago; how long he would continue topursue the trade for which he had qualified himself before he had begunto live. Difficult of belief though it may be when you know his history, previous and subsequent, yet it is possible that but for the trickthat Fate was about to play him, he might have continued this peacefulexistence, settling down completely to the life of a doctor in thisSomersetshire haven. It is possible, but not probable. 

He was the son of an Irish medicus, by a Somersetshire lady in whoseveins ran the rover blood of the Frobishers, which may account for acertain wildness that had early manifested itself in his disposition. This wildness had profoundly alarmed his father, who for an Irishman wasof a singularly peace-loving nature. He had early resolved that theboy should follow his own honourable profession, and Peter Blood, beingquick to learn and oddly greedy of knowledge, had satisfied his parentby receiving at the age of twenty the degree of baccalaureus medicinaeat Trinity College, Dublin. His father survived that satisfaction bythree months only. His mother had then been dead some years already. Thus Peter Blood came into an inheritance of some few hundred pounds, with which he had set out to see the world and give for a season a freerein to that restless spirit by which he was imbued. A set of curiouschances led him to take service with the Dutch, then at war with France;and a predilection for the sea made him elect that this service shouldbe upon that element. He had the advantage of a commission under thefamous de Ruyter, and fought in the Mediterranean engagement in whichthat great Dutch admiral lost his life. 

After the Peace of Nimeguen his movements are obscure. But we know thathe spent two years in a Spanish prison, though we do not know how hecontrived to get there. It may be due to this that upon his releasehe took his sword to France, and saw service with the French in theirwarring upon the Spanish Netherlands. Having reached, at last, the ageof thirty-two, his appetite for adventure surfeited, his health havinggrown indifferent as the result of a neglected wound, he was suddenlyoverwhelmed by homesickness. He took ship from Nantes with intent tocross to Ireland. But the vessel being driven by stress of weatherinto Bridgewater Bay, and Blood's health having grown worse during thevoyage, he decided to go ashore there, additionally urged to it by thefact that it was his mother's native soil. 

Thus in January of that year 1685 he had come to Bridgewater, possessorof a fortune that was approximately the same as that with which he hadoriginally set out from Dublin eleven years ago. 

Because he liked the place, in which his health was rapidly restoredto him, and because he conceived that he had passed through adventuresenough for a man's lifetime, he determined to settle there, and takeup at last the profession of medicine from which he had, with so littleprofit, broken away. 

That is all his story, or so much of it as matters up to that night, sixmonths later, when the battle of Sedgemoor was fought. 

Deeming the impending action no affair of his, as indeed it was not, andindifferent to the activity with which Bridgewater was that night agog, Mr. Blood closed his ears to the sounds of it, and went early to bed. Hewas peacefully asleep long before eleven o'clock, at which hour, asyou know, Monmouth rode but with his rebel host along the Bristol Road, circuitously to avoid the marshland that lay directly between himselfand the Royal Army. You also know that his numerical advantage--possiblycounter-balanced by the greater steadiness of the regular troops on theother side--and the advantages he derived from falling by surprise uponan army that was more or less asleep, were all lost to him by blunderingand bad leadership before ever he was at grips with Feversham. 

The armies came into collision in the neighbourhood of two o'clock inthe morning. Mr. Blood slept undisturbed through the distant boom ofcannon. Not until four o'clock, when the sun was rising to dispel thelast wisps of mist over that stricken field of battle, did he awakenfrom his tranquil slumbers. 

He sat up in bed, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and collected himself. Blows were thundering upon the door of his house, and a voice wascalling incoherently. This was the noise that had aroused him. Conceiving that he had to do with some urgent obstetrical case, hereached for bedgown and slippers, to go below. On the landing he almostcollided with Mrs. Barlow, new-risen and unsightly, in a state of panic. He quieted her cluckings with a word of reassurance, and went himself toopen. 

There in slanting golden light of the new-risen sun stood a breathless, wild-eyed man and a steaming horse. Smothered in dust and grime, hisclothes in disarray, the left sleeve of his doublet hanging in rags, this young man opened his lips to speak, yet for a long moment remainedspeechless. 

In that moment Mr. Blood recognized him for the young shipmaster, Jeremiah Pitt, the nephew of the maiden ladies opposite, one who hadbeen drawn by the general enthusiasm into the vortex of that rebellion. The street was rousing, awakened by the sailor's noisy advent; doorswere opening, and lattices were being unlatched for the protrusion ofanxious, inquisitive heads. 

"Take your time, now, " said Mr. Blood. "I never knew speed made byoverhaste. "

But the wild-eyed lad paid no heed to the admonition. He plunged, headlong, into speech, gasping, breathless. 

"It is Lord Gildoy, " he panted. "He is sore wounded... At Oglethorpe'sFarm by the river. I bore him thither... And... And he sent me for you. Come away! Come away!"

He would have clutched the doctor, and haled him forth by force inbedgown and slippers as he was. But the doctor eluded that too eagerhand. 

"To be sure, I'll come, " said he. He was distressed. Gildoy had been avery friendly, generous patron to him since his settling in these parts. And Mr. Blood was eager enough to do what he now could to dischargethe debt, grieved that the occasion should have arisen, and in such amanner--for he knew quite well that the rash young nobleman had been anactive agent of the Duke's. "To be sure, I'll come. But first give meleave to get some clothes and other things that I may need. "

"There's no time to lose. "

"Be easy now. I'll lose none. I tell ye again, ye'll go quickest bygoing leisurely. Come in... Take a chair... " He threw open the door of aparlour. 

Young Pitt waved aside the invitation. 

"I'll wait here. Make haste, in God's name. " Mr. Blood went off to dressand to fetch a case of instruments. 

Questions concerning the precise nature of Lord Gildoy's hurt could waituntil they were on their way. Whilst he pulled on his boots, he gaveMrs. Barlow instructions for the day, which included the matter of adinner he was not destined to eat. 

When at last he went forth again, Mrs. Barlow clucking after him likea disgruntled fowl, he found young Pitt smothered in a crowd of scared, half-dressed townsfolk--mostly women--who had come hastening for newsof how the battle had sped. The news he gave them was to be read in thelamentations with which they disturbed the morning air. 

At sight of the doctor, dressed and booted, the case of instrumentstucked under his arm, the messenger disengaged himself from those whopressed about, shook off his weariness and the two tearful aunts thatclung most closely, and seizing the bridle of his horse, he climbed tothe saddle. 

"Come along, sir, " he cried. "Mount behind me. "

Mr. Blood, without wasting words, did as he was bidden. Pitt touchedthe horse with his spur. The little crowd gave way, and thus, uponthe crupper of that doubly-laden horse, clinging to the belt of hiscompanion, Peter Blood set out upon his Odyssey. For this Pitt, in whomhe beheld no more than the messenger of a wounded rebel gentleman, wasindeed the very messenger of Fate. 

CHAPTER II. KIRKE'S DRAGOONS

Oglethorpe's farm stood a mile or so to the south of Bridgewater on theright bank of the river. It was a straggling Tudor building showing greyabove the ivy that clothed its lower parts. Approaching it now, throughthe fragrant orchards amid which it seemed to drowse in Arcadian peacebeside the waters of the Parrett, sparkling in the morning sunlight, Mr. Blood might have had a difficulty in believing it part of a worldtormented by strife and bloodshed. 

On the bridge, as they had been riding out of Bridgewater, they had meta vanguard of fugitives from the field of battle, weary, broken men, many of them wounded, all of them terror-stricken, staggering inspeedless haste with the last remnants of their strength into theshelter which it was their vain illusion the town would afford them. Eyes glazed with lassitude and fear looked up piteously out of haggardfaces at Mr. Blood and his companion as they rode forth; hoarse voicescried a warning that merciless pursuit was not far behind. Undeterred, however, young Pitt rode amain along the dusty road by which thesepoor fugitives from that swift rout on Sedgemoor came flocking inever-increasing numbers. Presently he swung aside, and quitting the roadtook to a pathway that crossed the dewy meadowlands. Even here theymet odd groups of these human derelicts, who were scattering in alldirections, looking fearfully behind them as they came through the longgrass, expecting at every moment to see the red coats of the dragoons. 

But as Pitt's direction was a southward one, bringing them ever nearerto Feversham's headquarters, they were presently clear of that humanflotsam and jetsam of the battle, and riding through the peacefulorchards heavy with the ripening fruit that was soon to make its annualyield of cider. 

At last they alighted on the kidney stones of the courtyard, and Baynes, the master, of the homestead, grave of countenance and flustered ofmanner, gave them welcome. 

In the spacious, stone-flagged hall, the doctor found LordGildoy--a very tall and dark young gentleman, prominent of chin andnose--stretched on a cane day-bed under one of the tall mullionedwindows, in the care of Mrs. Baynes and her comely daughter. His cheekswere leaden-hued, his eyes closed, and from his blue lips came with eachlaboured breath a faint, moaning noise. 

Mr. Blood stood for a moment silently considering his patient. Hedeplored that a youth with such bright hopes in life as Lord Gildoy'sshould have risked all, perhaps existence itself, to forward theambition of a worthless adventurer. Because he had liked and honouredthis brave lad he paid his case the tribute of a sigh. Then he knelt tohis task, ripped away doublet and underwear to lay bare his lordship'smangled side, and called for water and linen and what else he needed forhis work. 

He was still intent upon it a half-hour later when the dragoons invadedthe homestead. The clatter of hooves and hoarse shouts that heraldedtheir approach disturbed him not at all. For one thing, he was noteasily disturbed; for another, his task absorbed him. But his lordship, who had now recovered consciousness, showed considerable alarm, and thebattle-stained Jeremy Pitt sped to cover in a clothes-press. Baynes wasuneasy, and his wife and daughter trembled. Mr. Blood reassured them. 

"Why, what's to fear?" he said. "It's a Christian country, this, andChristian men do not make war upon the wounded, nor upon those whoharbour them. " He still had, you see, illusions about Christians. He held a glass of cordial, prepared under his directions, to hislordship's lips. "Give your mind peace, my lord. The worst is done. "

And then they came rattling and clanking into the stone-flagged hall--around dozen jack-booted, lobster-coated troopers of the TangiersRegiment, led by a sturdy, black-browed fellow with a deal of gold laceabout the breast of his coat. 

Baynes stood his ground, his attitude half-defiant, whilst his wifeand daughter shrank away in renewed fear. Mr. Blood, at the head of theday-bed, looked over his shoulder to take stock of the invaders. 

The officer barked an order, which brought his men to an attentive halt, then swaggered forward, his gloved hand bearing down the pummel ofhis sword, his spurs jingling musically as he moved. He announced hisauthority to the yeoman. 

"I am Captain Hobart, of Colonel Kirke's dragoons. What rebels do youharbour?"

The yeoman took alarm at that ferocious truculence. It expressed itselfin his trembling voice. 

"I... I am no harbourer of rebels, sir. This wounded gentleman.... "

"I can see for myself. " The Captain stamped forward to the day-bed, andscowled down upon the grey-faced sufferer. 

"No need to ask how he came in this state and by his wounds. A damnedrebel, and that's enough for me. " He flung a command at his dragoons. "Out with him, my lads. "

Mr. Blood got between the day-bed and the troopers. 

"In the name of humanity, sir!" said he, on a note of anger. "This isEngland, not Tangiers. The gentleman is in sore case. He may not bemoved without peril to his life. "

Captain Hobart was amused. 

"Oh, I am to be tender of the lives of these rebels! Odds blood! Do youthink it's to benefit his health we're taking him? There's gallows beingplanted along the road from Weston to Bridgewater, and he'll servefor one of them as well as another. Colonel Kirke'll learn thesenonconforming oafs something they'll not forget in generations. "

"You're hanging men without trial? Faith, then, it's mistaken I am. We're in Tangiers, after all, it seems, where your regiment belongs. "

The Captain considered him with a kindling eye. He looked him over fromthe soles of his riding-boots to the crown of his periwig. He notedthe spare, active frame, the arrogant poise of the head, the air ofauthority that invested Mr. Blood, and soldier recognized soldier. TheCaptain's eyes narrowed. Recognition went further. 

"Who the hell may you be?" he exploded. 

"My name is Blood, sir--Peter Blood, at your service. "

"Aye--aye! Codso! That's the name. You were in French service once, wereyou not?"

If Mr. Blood was surprised, he did not betray it. 

"I was. "

"Then I remember you--five years ago, or more, you were in Tangiers. "

"That is so. I knew your colonel. "

"Faith, you may be renewing the acquaintance. " The Captain laughedunpleasantly. "What brings you here, sir?"

"This wounded gentleman. I was fetched to attend him. I am a medicus. "

"A doctor--you?" Scorn of that lie--as he conceived it--rang in theheavy, hectoring voice. 

"Medicinae baccalaureus, " said Mr. Blood. 

"Don't fling your French at me, man, " snapped Hobart. "Speak English!"

Mr. Blood's smile annoyed him. 

"I am a physician practising my calling in the town of Bridgewater. "

The Captain sneered. "Which you reached by way of Lyme Regis in thefollowing of your bastard Duke. "

It was Mr. Blood's turn to sneer. "If your wit were as big as yourvoice, my dear, it's the great man you'd be by this. "

For a moment the dragoon was speechless. The colour deepened in hisface. 

"You may find me great enough to hang you. "

"Faith, yes. Ye've the look and the manners of a hangman. But if youpractise your trade on my patient here, you may be putting a rope roundyour own neck. He's not the kind you may string up and no questionsasked. He has the right to trial, and the right to trial by his peers. "

"By his peers?"

The Captain was taken aback by these three words, which Mr. Blood hadstressed. 

"Sure, now, any but a fool or a savage would have asked his name beforeordering him to the gallows. The gentleman is my Lord Gildoy. "

And then his lordship spoke for himself, in a weak voice. 

"I make no concealment of my association with the Duke of Monmouth. I'll take the consequences. But, if you please, I'll take them aftertrial--by my peers, as the doctor has said. "

The feeble voice ceased, and was followed by a moment's silence. As iscommon in many blustering men, there was a deal of timidity deep downin Hobart. The announcement of his lordship's rank had touched thosedepths. A servile upstart, he stood in awe of titles. And he stood inawe of his colonel. Percy Kirke was not lenient with blunderers. 

By a gesture he checked his men. He must consider. Mr. Blood, observinghis pause, added further matter for his consideration. 

"Ye'll be remembering, Captain, that Lord Gildoy will have friends andrelatives on the Tory side, who'll have something to say to ColonelKirke if his lordship should be handled like a common felon. You'll gowarily, Captain, or, as I've said, it's a halter for your neck ye'll beweaving this morning. "

Captain Hobart swept the warning aside with a bluster of contempt, buthe acted upon it none the less. "Take up the day-bed, " said he, "andconvey him on that to Bridgewater. Lodge him in the gaol until I takeorder about him. "

"He may not survive the journey, " Blood remonstrated. "He's in no caseto be moved. "

"So much the worse for him. My affair is to round up rebels. " Heconfirmed his order by a gesture. Two of his men took up the day-bed, and swung to depart with it. 

Gildoy made a feeble effort to put forth a hand towards Mr. Blood. "Sir, " he said, "you leave me in your debt. If I live I shall study howto discharge it. "

Mr. Blood bowed for answer; then to the men: "Bear him steadily, " hecommanded. "His life depends on it. "

As his lordship was carried out, the Captain became brisk. He turnedupon the yeoman. 

"What other cursed rebels do you harbour?"

"None other, sir. His lordship.... "

"We've dealt with his lordship for the present. We'll deal with you ina moment when we've searched your house. And, by God, if you've lied tome.... " He broke off, snarling, to give an order. Four of his dragoonswent out. In a moment they were heard moving noisily in the adjacentroom. Meanwhile, the Captain was questing about the hall, sounding thewainscoting with the butt of a pistol. 

Mr. Blood saw no profit to himself in lingering. 

"By your leave, it's a very good day I'll be wishing you, " said he. 

"By my leave, you'll remain awhile, " the Captain ordered him. 

Mr. Blood shrugged, and sat down. "You're tiresome, " he said. "I wonderyour colonel hasn't discovered it yet. "

But the Captain did not heed him. He was stooping to pick up a soiledand dusty hat in which there was pinned a little bunch of oak leaves. Ithad been lying near the clothes-press in which the unfortunate Pitt hadtaken refuge. The Captain smiled malevolently. His eyes raked the room, resting first sardonically on the yeoman, then on the two women in thebackground, and finally on Mr. Blood, who sat with one leg thrown overthe other in an attitude of indifference that was far from reflectinghis mind. 

Then the Captain stepped to the press, and pulled open one of the wingsof its massive oaken door. He took the huddled inmate by the collar ofhis doublet, and lugged him out into the open. 

"And who the devil's this?" quoth he. "Another nobleman?"

Mr. Blood had a vision of those gallows of which Captain Hobart hadspoken, and of this unfortunate young shipmaster going to adorn one ofthem, strung up without trial, in the place of the other victim of whomthe Captain had been cheated. On the spot he invented not only a titlebut a whole family for the young rebel. 

"Faith, ye've said it, Captain. This is Viscount Pitt, first cousin toSir Thomas Vernon, who's married to that slut Moll Kirke, sister to yourown colonel, and sometime lady in waiting upon King James's queen. "

Both the Captain and his prisoner gasped. But whereas thereafter youngPitt discreetly held his peace, the Captain rapped out a nasty oath. Heconsidered his prisoner again. 

"He's lying, is he not?" he demanded, seizing the lad by the shoulder, and glaring into his face. "He's rallying rue, by God!"

"If ye believe that, " said Blood, "hang him, and see what happens toyou. "

The dragoon glared at the doctor and then at his prisoner. "Pah!"He thrust the lad into the hands of his men. "Fetch him along toBridgewater. And make fast that fellow also, " he pointed to Baynes. "We'll show him what it means to harbour and comfort rebels. "

There was a moment of confusion. Baynes struggled in the grip of thetroopers, protesting vehemently. The terrified women screamed untilsilenced by a greater terror. The Captain strode across to them. He tookthe girl by the shoulders. She was a pretty, golden-headed creature, with soft blue eyes that looked up entreatingly, piteously into the faceof the dragoon. He leered upon her, his eyes aglow, took her chin in hishand, and set her shuddering by his brutal kiss. 

"It's an earnest, " he said, smiling grimly. "Let that quiet you, littlerebel, till I've done with these rogues. "

And he swung away again, leaving her faint and trembling in the arms ofher anguished mother. His men stood, grinning, awaiting orders, the twoprisoners now fast pinioned. 

"Take them away. Let Cornet Drake have charge of them. " His smoulderingeye again sought the cowering girl. "I'll stay awhile--to search outthis place. There may be other rebels hidden here. " As an afterthought, he added: "And take this fellow with you. " He pointed to Mr. Blood. "Bestir!"

Mr. Blood started out of his musings. He had been considering that inhis case of instruments there was a lancet with which he might performon Captain Hobart a beneficial operation. Beneficial, that is, tohumanity. In any case, the dragoon was obviously plethoric and wouldbe the better for a blood-letting. The difficulty lay in making theopportunity. He was beginning to wonder if he could lure the Captainaside with some tale of hidden treasure, when this untimely interruptionset a term to that interesting speculation. 

He sought to temporize. 

"Faith it will suit me very well, " said he. "For Bridgewater is mydestination, and but that ye detained me I'd have been on my way thithernow. "

"Your destination there will be the gaol. "

"Ah, bah! Ye're surely joking!"

"There's a gallows for you if you prefer it. It's merely a question ofnow or later. "

Rude hands seized Mr. Blood, and that precious lancet was in the case onthe table out of reach. He twisted out of the grip of the dragoons, forhe was strong and agile, but they closed with him again immediately, andbore him down. Pinning him to the ground, they tied his wrists behindhis back, then roughly pulled him to his feet again. 

"Take him away, " said Hobart shortly, and turned to issue his orders tothe other waiting troopers. "Go search the house, from attic to cellar;then report to me here. "

The soldiers trailed out by the door leading to the interior. Mr. Bloodwas thrust by his guards into the courtyard, where Pitt and Baynesalready waited. From the threshold of the hall, he looked back atCaptain Hobart, and his sapphire eyes were blazing. On his lips trembleda threat of what he would do to Hobart if he should happen to survivethis business. Betimes he remembered that to utter it were probably toextinguish his chance of living to execute it. For to-day the King's menwere masters in the West, and the West was regarded as enemy country, tobe subjected to the worst horror of war by the victorious side. Here acaptain of horse was for the moment lord of life and death. 

Under the apple-trees in the orchard Mr. Blood and his companions inmisfortune were made fast each to a trooper's stirrup leather. Then atthe sharp order of the cornet, the little troop started for Bridgewater. As they set out there was the fullest confirmation of Mr. Blood'shideous assumption that to the dragoons this was a conquered enemycountry. There were sounds of rending timbers, of furniture smashed andoverthrown, the shouts and laughter of brutal men, to announce that thishunt for rebels was no more than a pretext for pillage and destruction. Finally above all other sounds came the piercing screams of a woman inacutest agony. 

Baynes checked in his stride, and swung round writhing, his face ashen. As a consequence he was jerked from his feet by the rope that attachedhim to the stirrup leather, and he was dragged helplessly a yard or twobefore the trooper reined in, cursing him foully, and striking him withthe flat of his sword. 

It came to Mr. Blood, as he trudged forward under the laden apple-treeson that fragrant, delicious July morning, that man--as he had longsuspected--was the vilest work of God, and that only a fool would sethimself up as a healer of a species that was best exterminated. 

CHAPTER III. THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

It was not until two months later--on the 19th of September, if youmust have the actual date--that Peter Blood was brought to trial, upona charge of high treason. We know that he was not guilty of this; butwe need not doubt that he was quite capable of it by the time he wasindicted. Those two months of inhuman, unspeakable imprisonment hadmoved his mind to a cold and deadly hatred of King James and hisrepresentatives. It says something for his fortitude that in all thecircumstances he should still have had a mind at all. Yet, terribleas was the position of this entirely innocent man, he had cause forthankfulness on two counts. The first of these was that he should havebeen brought to trial at all; the second, that his trial took placeon the date named, and not a day earlier. In the very delay whichexacerbated him lay--although he did not realize it--his only chance ofavoiding the gallows. 

Easily, but for the favour of Fortune, he might have been one of thosehaled, on the morrow of the battle, more or less haphazard fromthe overflowing gaol at Bridgewater to be summarily hanged in themarket-place by the bloodthirsty Colonel Kirke. There was about theColonel of the Tangiers Regiment a deadly despatch which might havedisposed in like fashion of all those prisoners, numerous as they were, but for the vigorous intervention of Bishop Mews, which put an end tothe drumhead courts-martial. 

Even so, in that first week after Sedgemoor, Kirke and Fevershamcontrived between them to put to death over a hundred men after a trialso summary as to be no trial at all. They required human freights forthe gibbets with which they were planting the countryside, and theylittle cared how they procured them or what innocent lives they took. What, after all, was the life of a clod? The executioners were kept busywith rope and chopper and cauldrons of pitch. I spare you the details ofthat nauseating picture. It is, after all, with the fate of Peter Bloodthat we are concerned rather than with that of the Monmouth rebels. 

He survived to be included in one of those melancholy droves ofprisoners who, chained in pairs, were marched from Bridgewater toTaunton. Those who were too sorely wounded to march were conveyed incarts, into which they were brutally crowded, their wounds undressed andfestering. Many were fortunate enough to die upon the way. When Bloodinsisted upon his right to exercise his art so as to relieve some ofthis suffering, he was accounted importunate and threatened with aflogging. If he had one regret now it was that he had not been out withMonmouth. That, of course, was illogical; but you can hardly expectlogic from a man in his position. 

His chain companion on that dreadful march was the same Jeremy Pitt whohad been the agent of his present misfortunes. The young shipmasterhad remained his close companion after their common arrest. Hence, fortuitously, had they been chained together in the crowded prison, where they were almost suffocated by the heat and the stench duringthose days of July, August, and September. 

Scraps of news filtered into the gaol from the outside world. Some mayhave been deliberately allowed to penetrate. Of these was the tale ofMonmouth's execution. It created profoundest dismay amongst those menwho were suffering for the Duke and for the religious cause he hadprofessed to champion. Many refused utterly to believe it. A wild storybegan to circulate that a man resembling Monmouth had offered himself upin the Duke's stead, and that Monmouth survived to come again in gloryto deliver Zion and make war upon Babylon. 

Mr. Blood heard that tale with the same indifference with which he hadreceived the news of Monmouth's death. But one shameful thing he heardin connection with this which left him not quite so unmoved, and servedto nourish the contempt he was forming for King James. His Majesty hadconsented to see Monmouth. To have done so unless he intended to pardonhim was a thing execrable and damnable beyond belief; for the only otherobject in granting that interview could be the evilly mean satisfactionof spurning the abject penitence of his unfortunate nephew. 

Later they heard that Lord Grey, who after the Duke--indeed, perhaps, before him--was the main leader of the rebellion, had purchased his ownpardon for forty thousand pounds. Peter Blood found this of a piece withthe rest. His contempt for King James blazed out at last. 

"Why, here's a filthy mean creature to sit on a throne. If I had knownas much of him before as I know to-day, I don't doubt I should havegiven cause to be where I am now. " And then on a sudden thought: "Andwhere will Lord Gildoy be, do you suppose?" he asked. 

Young Pitt, whom he addressed, turned towards him a face from which theruddy tan of the sea had faded almost completely during those months ofcaptivity. His grey eyes were round and questioning. Blood answered him. 

"Sure, now, we've never seen his lordship since that day atOglethorpe's. And where are the other gentry that were taken?--the realleaders of this plaguey rebellion. Grey's case explains their absence, I think. They are wealthy men that can ransom themselves. Here awaitingthe gallows are none but the unfortunates who followed; those who hadthe honour to lead them go free. It's a curious and instructive reversalof the usual way of these things. Faith, it's an uncertain worldentirely!"

He laughed, and settled down into that spirit of scorn, wrapped inwhich he stepped later into the great hall of Taunton Castle to take histrial. With him went Pitt and the yeoman Baynes. The three of them wereto be tried together, and their case was to open the proceedings of thatghastly day. 

The hall, even to the galleries--thronged with spectators, most of whomwere ladies--was hung in scarlet; a pleasant conceit, this, of the LordChief Justice's, who naturally enough preferred the colour that shouldreflect his own bloody mind. 

At the upper end, on a raised dais, sat the Lords Commissioners, thefive judges in their scarlet robes and heavy dark periwigs, BaronJeffreys of Wem enthroned in the middle place. 

The prisoners filed in under guard. The crier called for silence underpain of imprisonment, and as the hum of voices gradually became hushed, Mr. Blood considered with interest the twelve good men and true thatcomposed the jury. Neither good nor true did they look. They werescared, uneasy, and hangdog as any set of thieves caught with theirhands in the pockets of their neighbours. They were twelve shaken men, each of whom stood between the sword of the Lord Chief Justice's recentbloodthirsty charge and the wall of his own conscience. 

From them Mr. Blood's calm, deliberate glance passed on to consider theLords Commissioners, and particularly the presiding Judge, that LordJeffreys, whose terrible fame had come ahead of him from Dorchester. 

He beheld a tall, slight man on the young side of forty, with an ovalface that was delicately beautiful. There were dark stains of sufferingor sleeplessness under the low-lidded eyes, heightening their brillianceand their gentle melancholy. The face was very pale, save for the vividcolour of the full lips and the hectic flush on the rather high butinconspicuous cheek-bones. It was something in those lips that marredthe perfection of that countenance; a fault, elusive but undeniable, lurked there to belie the fine sensitiveness of those nostrils, thetenderness of those dark, liquid eyes and the noble calm of that palebrow. 

The physician in Mr. Blood regarded the man with peculiar interestknowing as he did the agonizing malady from which his lordship suffered, and the amazingly irregular, debauched life that he led in spite ofit--perhaps because of it. 

"Peter Blood, hold up your hand!"

Abruptly he was recalled to his position by the harsh voice of the clerkof arraigns. His obedience was mechanical, and the clerk droned out thewordy indictment which pronounced Peter Blood a false traitor againstthe Most Illustrious and Most Excellent Prince, James the Second, bythe grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland King, hissupreme and natural lord. It informed him that, having no fear of God inhis heart, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil, he had failed in the love and true and due natural obedience towards hissaid lord the King, and had moved to disturb the peace and tranquillityof the kingdom and to stir up war and rebellion to depose his said lordthe King from the title, honour, and the regal name of the imperialcrown--and much more of the same kind, at the end of all of which hewas invited to say whether he was guilty or not guilty. He answered morethan was asked. 

"It's entirely innocent I am. "

A small, sharp-faced man at a table before and to the right of himbounced up. It was Mr. Pollexfen, the Judge-Advocate. 

"Are you guilty or not guilty?" snapped this peppery gentleman. "Youmust take the words. "

"Words, is it?" said Peter Blood. "Oh--not guilty. " And he went on, addressing himself to the bench. "On this same subject of words, may itplease your lordships, I am guilty of nothing to justify any of thosewords I have heard used to describe me, unless it be of a want ofpatience at having been closely confined for two months and longer in afoetid gaol with great peril to my health and even life. "

Being started, he would have added a deal more; but at this point theLord Chief Justice interposed in a gentle, rather plaintive voice. 

"Look you, sir: because we must observe the common and usual methods oftrial, I must interrupt you now. You are no doubt ignorant of the formsof law?"

"Not only ignorant, my lord, but hitherto most happy in that ignorance. I could gladly have forgone this acquaintance with them. "

A pale smile momentarily lightened the wistful countenance. 

"I believe you. You shall be fully heard when you come to your defence. But anything you say now is altogether irregular and improper. "

Enheartened by that apparent sympathy and consideration, Mr. Bloodanswered thereafter, as was required of him, that he would be tried byGod and his country. Whereupon, having prayed to God to send him a gooddeliverance, the clerk called upon Andrew Baynes to hold up his hand andplead. 

From Baynes, who pleaded not guilty, the clerk passed on to Pitt, whoboldly owned his guilt. The Lord Chief Justice stirred at that. 

"Come; that's better, " quoth he, and his four scarlet brethren nodded. "If all were as obstinate as his two fellow-rebels, there would never bean end. "

After that ominous interpolation, delivered with an inhuman iciness thatsent a shiver through the court, Mr. Pollexfen got to his feet. Withgreat prolixity he stated the general case against the three men, andthe particular case against Peter Blood, whose indictment was to betaken first. 

The only witness called for the King was Captain Hobart. He testifiedbriskly to the manner in which he had found and taken the threeprisoners, together with Lord Gildoy. Upon the orders of his colonel hewould have hanged Pitt out of hand, but was restrained by the lies ofthe prisoner Blood, who led him to believe that Pitt was a peer of therealm and a person of consideration. 

As the Captain's evidence concluded, Lord Jeffreys looked across atPeter Blood. 

"Will the prisoner Blood ask the witness any questions?"

"None, my lord. He has correctly related what occurred. "

"I am glad to have your admission of that without any of theprevarications that are usual in your kind. And I will say this, thathere prevarication would avail you little. For we always have the truthin the end. Be sure of that. "

Baynes and Pitt similarly admitted the accuracy of the Captain'sevidence, whereupon the scarlet figure of the Lord Chief Justice heaveda sigh of relief. 

"This being so, let us get on, in God's name; for we have much to do. "There was now no trace of gentleness in his voice. It was brisk andrasping, and the lips through which it passed were curved in scorn. "Itake it, Mr. Pollexfen, that the wicked treason of these three roguesbeing established--indeed, admitted by them--there is no more to besaid. "

Peter Blood's voice rang out crisply, on a note that almost seemed tocontain laughter. 

"May it please your lordship, but there's a deal more to be said. "

His lordship looked at him, first in blank amazement at his audacity, then gradually with an expression of dull anger. The scarlet lips fellinto unpleasant, cruel lines that transfigured the whole countenance. 

"How now, rogue? Would you waste our time with idle subterfuge?"

"I would have your lordship and the gentlemen of the jury hear me on mydefence, as your lordship promised that I should be heard. "

"Why, so you shall, villain; so you shall. " His lordship's voice washarsh as a file. He writhed as he spoke, and for an instant his featureswere distorted. A delicate dead-white hand, on which the veins showedblue, brought forth a handkerchief with which he dabbed his lips andthen his brow. Observing him with his physician's eye, Peter Bloodjudged him a prey to the pain of the disease that was destroying him. "So you shall. But after the admission made, what defence remains?"

"You shall judge, my lord. "

"That is the purpose for which I sit here. "

"And so shall you, gentlemen. " Blood looked from judge to jury. Thelatter shifted uncomfortably under the confident flash of his blue eyes. Lord Jeffreys's bullying charge had whipped the spirit out of them. Hadthey, themselves, been prisoners accused of treason, he could not havearraigned them more ferociously. 

Peter Blood stood boldly forward, erect, self-possessed, and saturnine. He was freshly shaven, and his periwig, if out of curl, was at leastcarefully combed and dressed. 

"Captain Hobart has testified to what he knows--that he found me atOglethorpe's Farm on the Monday morning after the battle at Weston. Buthe has not told you what I did there. "

Again the Judge broke in. "Why, what should you have been doing therein the company of rebels, two of whom--Lord Gildoy and your fellowthere--have already admitted their guilt?"

"That is what I beg leave to tell your lordship. "

"I pray you do, and in God's name be brief, man. For if I am to betroubled with the say of all you traitor dogs, I may sit here until theSpring Assizes. "

"I was there, my lord, in my quality as a physician, to dress LordGildoy's wounds. "

"What's this? Do you tell us that you are a physician?"

"A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. "

"Good God!" cried Lord Jeffreys, his voice suddenly swelling, his eyesupon the jury. "What an impudent rogue is this! You heard the witnesssay that he had known him in Tangiers some years ago, and that he wasthen an officer in the French service. You heard the prisoner admit thatthe witness had spoken the truth?"

"Why, so he had. Yet what I am telling you is also true, so it is. Forsome years I was a soldier; but before that I was a physician, and Ihave been one again since January last, established in Bridgewater, as Ican bring a hundred witnesses to prove. "

"There's not the need to waste our time with that. I will convict youout of your own rascally mouth. I will ask you only this: How came you, who represent yourself as a physician peacefully following yourcalling in the town of Bridgewater, to be with the army of the Duke ofMonmouth?"

"I was never with that army. No witness has sworn to that, and I dareswear that no witness will. I never was attracted to the late rebellion. I regarded the adventure as a wicked madness. I take leave to ask yourlordship" (his brogue became more marked than ever) "what should I, who was born and bred a papist, be doing in the army of the ProtestantChampion?"

"A papist thou?" The judge gloomed on him a moment. "Art more likea snivelling, canting Jack Presbyter. I tell you, man, I can smell aPresbyterian forty miles. "

"Then I'll take leave to marvel that with so keen a nose your lordshipcan't smell a papist at four paces. "

There was a ripple of laughter in the galleries, instantly quelled bythe fierce glare of the Judge and the voice of the crier. 

Lord Jeffreys leaned farther forward upon his desk. He raised thatdelicate white hand, still clutching its handkerchief, and sproutingfrom a froth of lace. 

"We'll leave your religion out of account for the moment, friend, " saidhe. "But mark what I say to you. " With a minatory forefinger he beat thetime of his words. "Know, friend, that there is no religion a mancan pretend to can give a countenance to lying. Thou hast a preciousimmortal soul, and there is nothing in the world equal to it in value. Consider that the great God of Heaven and Earth, before Whose tribunalthou and we and all persons are to stand at the last day, will takevengeance on thee for every falsehood, and justly strike thee intoeternal flames, make thee drop into the bottomless pit of fire andbrimstone, if thou offer to deviate the least from the truth and nothingbut the truth. For I tell thee God is not mocked. On that I charge youto answer truthfully. How came you to be taken with these rebels?"

Peter Blood gaped at him a moment in consternation. The man wasincredible, unreal, fantastic, a nightmare judge. Then he collectedhimself to answer. 

"I was summoned that morning to succour Lord Gildoy, and I conceived itto be the duty imposed upon me by my calling to answer that summons. "

"Did you so?" The Judge, terrible now of aspect--his face white, histwisted lips red as the blood for which they thirsted--glared uponhim in evil mockery. Then he controlled himself as if by an effort. He sighed. He resumed his earlier gentle plaintiveness. "Lord! How youwaste our time. But I'll have patience with you. Who summoned you?"

"Master Pitt there, as he will testify. "

"Oh! Master Pitt will testify--he that is himself a traitorself-confessed. Is that your witness?"

"There is also Master Baynes here, who can answer to it. "

"Good Master Baynes will have to answer for himself; and I doubt nothe'll be greatly exercised to save his own neck from a halter. Come, come, sir; are these your only witnesses?"

"I could bring others from Bridgewater, who saw me set out that morningupon the crupper of Master Pitt's horse. "

His lordship smiled. "It will not be necessary. For, mark me, I do notintend to waste more time on you. Answer me only this: When Master Pitt, as you pretend, came to summon you, did you know that he had been, asyou have heard him confess, of Monmouth's following?"

"I did, My lord. "

"You did! Ha!" His lordship looked at the cringing jury and uttered ashort, stabbing laugh. "Yet in spite of that you went with him?"

"To succour a wounded man, as was my sacred duty. "

"Thy sacred duty, sayest thou?" Fury blazed out of him again. "Good God!What a generation of vipers do we live in! Thy sacred duty, rogue, is tothy King and to God. But let it pass. Did he tell you whom it was thatyou were desired to succour?"

"Lord Gildoy--yes. "

"And you knew that Lord Gildoy had been wounded in the battle, and onwhat side he fought?"

"I knew. "

"And yet, being, as you would have us believe, a true and loyal subjectof our Lord the King, you went to succour him?"

Peter Blood lost patience for a moment. "My business, my lord, was withhis wounds, not with his politics. "

A murmur from the galleries and even from the jury approved him. Itserved only to drive his terrible judge into a deeper fury. 

"Jesus God! Was there ever such an impudent villain in the world asthou?" He swung, white-faced, to the jury. "I hope, gentlemen of thejury, you take notice of the horrible carriage of this traitor rogue, and withal you cannot but observe the spirit of this sort of people, what a villainous and devilish one it is. Out of his own mouth he hassaid enough to hang him a dozen times. Yet is there more. Answer methis, sir: When you cozened Captain Hobart with your lies concerning thestation of this other traitor Pitt, what was your business then?"

"To save him from being hanged without trial, as was threatened. "

"What concern was it of yours whether or how the wretch was hanged?"

"Justice is the concern of every loyal subject, for an injusticecommitted by one who holds the King's commission is in some sense adishonour to the King's majesty. "

It was a shrewd, sharp thrust aimed at the jury, and it reveals, I think, the alertness of the man's mind, his self-possession eversteadiest in moments of dire peril. With any other jury it must havemade the impression that he hoped to make. It may even have made itsimpression upon these poor pusillanimous sheep. But the dread judge wasthere to efface it. 

He gasped aloud, then flung himself violently forward. 

"Lord of Heaven!" he stormed. "Was there ever such a canting, impudentrascal? But I have done with you. I see thee, villain, I see theealready with a halter round thy neck. "

Having spoken so, gloatingly, evilly, he sank back again, and composedhimself. It was as if a curtain fell. All emotion passed again from hispale face. Back to invest it again came that gentle melancholy. Speakingafter a moment's pause, his voice was soft, almost tender, yet everyword of it carried sharply through that hushed court. 

"If I know my own heart it is not in my nature to desire the hurt ofanybody, much less to delight in his eternal perdition. It is out ofcompassion for you that I have used all these words--because I wouldhave you have some regard for your immortal soul, and not ensure itsdamnation by obdurately persisting in falsehood and prevarication. But Isee that all the pains in the world, and all compassion and charity arelost upon you, and therefore I will say no more to you. " He turned againto the jury that countenance of wistful beauty. "Gentlemen, I must tellyou for law, of which we are the judges, and not you, that if any personbe in actual rebellion against the King, and another person--who reallyand actually was not in rebellion--does knowingly receive, harbour, comfort, or succour him, such a person is as much a traitor as he whoindeed bore arms. We are bound by our oaths and consciences to declareto you what is law; and you are bound by your oaths and your consciencesto deliver and to declare to us by your verdict the truth of the facts. "

Upon that he proceeded to his summing-up, showing how Baynes and Bloodwere both guilty of treason, the first for having harboured a traitor, the second for having succoured that traitor by dressing his wounds. Heinterlarded his address by sycophantic allusions to his natural lordand lawful sovereign, the King, whom God had set over them, and withvituperations of Nonconformity and of Monmouth, of whom--in his ownwords--he dared boldly affirm that the meanest subject within thekingdom that was of legitimate birth had a better title to the crown. "Jesus God! That ever we should have such a generation of vipers amongus, " he burst out in rhetorical frenzy. And then he sank back as ifexhausted by the violence he had used. A moment he was still, dabbinghis lips again; then he moved uneasily; once more his features weretwisted by pain, and in a few snarling, almost incoherent words hedismissed the jury to consider the verdict. 

Peter Blood had listened to the intemperate, the blasphemous, and almostobscene invective of that tirade with a detachment that afterwards, inretrospect, surprised him. He was so amazed by the man, by the reactionstaking place in him between mind and body, and by his methods ofbullying and coercing the jury into bloodshed, that he almost forgotthat his own life was at stake. 

The absence of that dazed jury was a brief one. The verdict found thethree prisoners guilty. Peter Blood looked round the scarlet-hung court. For an instant that foam of white faces seemed to heave before him. Thenhe was himself again, and a voice was asking him what he had to sayfor himself, why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, beingconvicted of high treason. 

He laughed, and his laugh jarred uncannily upon the deathly stillnessof the court. It was all so grotesque, such a mockery of justiceadministered by that wistful-eyed jack-pudding in scarlet, who washimself a mockery--the venal instrument of a brutally spiteful andvindictive king. His laughter shocked the austerity of that samejack-pudding. 

"Do you laugh, sirrah, with the rope about your neck, upon the verythreshold of that eternity you are so suddenly to enter into?"

And then Blood took his revenge. 

"Faith, it's in better case I am for mirth than your lordship. For Ihave this to say before you deliver judgment. Your lordship sees me--aninnocent man whose only offence is that I practised charity--with ahalter round my neck. Your lordship, being the justiciar, speaks withknowledge of what is to come to me. I, being a physician, may speak withknowledge of what is to come to your lordship. And I tell you that Iwould not now change places with you--that I would not exchange thishalter that you fling about my neck for the stone that you carry inyour body. The death to which you may doom me is a light pleasantry bycontrast with the death to which your lordship has been doomed by thatGreat Judge with whose name your lordship makes so free. "

The Lord Chief Justice sat stiffly upright, his face ashen, his lipstwitching, and whilst you might have counted ten there was no sound inthat paralyzed court after Peter Blood had finished speaking. All thosewho knew Lord Jeffreys regarded this as the lull before the storm, andbraced themselves for the explosion. But none came. 

Slowly, faintly, the colour crept back into that ashen face. The scarletfigure lost its rigidity, and bent forward. His lordship began to speak. In a muted voice and briefly--much more briefly than his wont on suchoccasions and in a manner entirely mechanical, the manner of a manwhose thoughts are elsewhere while his lips are speaking--he deliveredsentence of death in the prescribed form, and without the leastallusion to what Peter Blood had said. Having delivered it, he sank backexhausted, his eyes half-closed, his brow agleam with sweat. 

The prisoners filed out. 

Mr. Pollexfen--a Whig at heart despite the position of Judge-Advocatewhich he occupied--was overheard by one of the jurors to mutter in theear of a brother counsel:

"On my soul, that swarthy rascal has given his lordship a scare. It's apity he must hang. For a man who can frighten Jeffreys should go far. "

CHAPTER IV. HUMAN MERCHANDISE

Mr. Pollexfen was at one and the same time right and wrong--a conditionmuch more common than is generally supposed. 

He was right in his indifferently expressed thought that a man whosemien and words could daunt such a lord of terror as Jeffreys, should bythe dominance of his nature be able to fashion himself a considerabledestiny. He was wrong--though justifiably so--in his assumption thatPeter Blood must hang. 

I have said that the tribulations with which he was visited as a resultof his errand of mercy to Oglethorpe's Farm contained--although as yethe did not perceive it, perhaps--two sources of thankfulness: one thathe was tried at all; the other that his trial took place on the 19thof September. Until the 18th, the sentences passed by the court of theLords Commissioners had been carried out literally and expeditiously. But on the morning of the 19th there arrived at Taunton a courier fromLord Sunderland, the Secretary of State, with a letter for Lord Jeffreyswherein he was informed that His Majesty had been graciously pleasedto command that eleven hundred rebels should be furnished fortransportation to some of His Majesty's southern plantations, Jamaica, Barbados, or any of the Leeward Islands. 

You are not to suppose that this command was dictated by any sense ofmercy. Lord Churchill was no more than just when he spoke of the King'sheart as being as insensible as marble. It had been realized that inthese wholesale hangings there was taking place a reckless waste ofvaluable material. Slaves were urgently required in the plantations, and a healthy, vigorous man could be reckoned worth at least from tento fifteen pounds. Then, there were at court many gentlemen who had someclaim or other upon His Majesty's bounty. Here was a cheap and ready wayto discharge these claims. From amongst the convicted rebels a certainnumber might be set aside to be bestowed upon those gentlemen, so thatthey might dispose of them to their own profit. 

My Lord Sunderland's letter gives precise details of the royalmunificence in human flesh. A thousand prisoners were to be distributedamong some eight courtiers and others, whilst a postscriptum to hislordship's letter asked for a further hundred to be held at the disposalof the Queen. These prisoners were to be transported at once to HisMajesty's southern plantations, and to be kept there for the space often years before being restored to liberty, the parties to whom theywere assigned entering into security to see that transportation wasimmediately effected. 

We know from Lord Jeffreys's secretary how the Chief Justice inveighedthat night in drunken frenzy against this misplaced clemency to whichHis Majesty had been persuaded. We know how he attempted by letter toinduce the King to reconsider his decision. But James adhered to it. Itwas--apart from the indirect profit he derived from it--a clemencyfull worthy of him. He knew that to spare lives in this fashion was toconvert them into living deaths. Many must succumb in torment to thehorrors of West Indian slavery, and so be the envy of their survivingcompanions. 

Thus it happened that Peter Blood, and with him Jeremy Pitt and AndrewBaynes, instead of being hanged, drawn, and quartered as their sentencesdirected, were conveyed to Bristol and there shipped with some fiftyothers aboard the Jamaica Merchant. From close confinement underhatches, ill-nourishment and foul water, a sickness broke out amongstthem, of which eleven died. Amongst these was the unfortunate yeomanfrom Oglethorpe's Farm, brutally torn from his quiet homestead amidthe fragrant cider orchards for no other sin but that he had practisedmercy. 

The mortality might have been higher than it was but for Peter Blood. At first the master of the Jamaica Merchant had answered with oaths andthreats the doctor's expostulations against permitting men to perishin this fashion, and his insistence that he should be made free of themedicine chest and given leave to minister to the sick. But presentlyCaptain Gardner came to see that he might be brought to task forthese too heavy losses of human merchandise and because of this he wasbelatedly glad to avail himself of the skill of Peter Blood. The doctorwent to work zealously and zestfully, and wrought so ably that, by hisministrations and by improving the condition of his fellow-captives, hechecked the spread of the disease. 

Towards the middle of December the Jamaica Merchant dropped anchor inCarlisle Bay, and put ashore the forty-two surviving rebels-convict. 

If these unfortunates had imagined--as many of them appear to havedone--that they were coming into some wild, savage country, theprospect, of which they had a glimpse before they were hustled overthe ship's side into the waiting boats, was enough to correct theimpression. They beheld a town of sufficiently imposing proportionscomposed of houses built upon European notions of architecture, butwithout any of the huddle usual in European cities. The spire of achurch rose dominantly above the red roofs, a fort guarded the entranceof the wide harbour, with guns thrusting their muzzles between thecrenels, and the wide facade of Government House revealed itselfdominantly placed on a gentle hill above the town. This hill was vividlygreen as is an English hill in April, and the day was such a day asApril gives to England, the season of heavy rains being newly ended. 

On a wide cobbled space on the sea front they found a guard ofred-coated militia drawn up to receive them, and a crowd--attracted bytheir arrival--which in dress and manner differed little from a crowd ina seaport at home save that it contained fewer women and a great numberof negroes. 

To inspect them, drawn up there on the mole, came Governor Steed, a short, stout, red-faced gentleman, in blue taffetas burdened by aprodigious amount of gold lace, who limped a little and leaned heavilyupon a stout ebony cane. After him, in the uniform of a colonel of theBarbados Militia, rolled a tall, corpulent man who towered head andshoulders above the Governor, with malevolence plainly written on hisenormous yellowish countenance. At his side, and contrasting oddly withhis grossness, moving with an easy stripling grace, came a slight younglady in a modish riding-gown. The broad brim of a grey hat with scarletsweep of ostrich plume shaded an oval face upon which the climate ofthe Tropic of Cancer had made no impression, so delicately fair was itscomplexion. Ringlets of red-brown hair hung to her shoulders. Franknesslooked out from her hazel eyes which were set wide; commiserationrepressed now the mischievousness that normally inhabited her freshyoung mouth. 

Peter Blood caught himself staring in a sort of amazement at thatpiquant face, which seemed here so out of place, and finding his starereturned, he shifted uncomfortably. He grew conscious of the sorryfigure that he cut. Unwashed, with rank and matted hair and adisfiguring black beard upon his face, and the erstwhile splendid suitof black camlet in which he had been taken prisoner now reduced to ragsthat would have disgraced a scarecrow, he was in no case for inspectionby such dainty eyes as these. Nevertheless, they continued to inspecthim with round-eyed, almost childlike wonder and pity. Their owner putforth a hand to touch the scarlet sleeve of her companion, whereuponwith an ill-tempered grunt the man swung his great bulk round so that hedirectly confronted her. 

Looking up into his face, she was speaking to him earnestly, but theColonel plainly gave her no more than the half of his attention. Hislittle beady eyes, closely flanking a fleshly, pendulous nose, hadpassed from her and were fixed upon fair-haired, sturdy young Pitt, whowas standing beside Blood. 

The Governor had also come to a halt, and for a moment now that littlegroup of three stood in conversation. What the lady said, Peter couldnot hear at all, for she lowered her voice; the Colonel's reached himin a confused rumble, but the Governor was neither considerate norindistinct; he had a high-pitched voice which carried far, and believinghimself witty, he desired to be heard by all. 

"But, my dear Colonel Bishop, it is for you to take first choice fromthis dainty nosegay, and at your own price. After that we'll send therest to auction. "

Colonel Bishop nodded his acknowledgment. He raised his voice inanswering. "Your excellency is very good. But, faith, they're a weedylot, not likely to be of much value in the plantation. " His beady eyesscanned them again, and his contempt of them deepened the malevolence ofhis face. It was as if he were annoyed with them for being in no bettercondition. Then he beckoned forward Captain Gardner, the master of theJamaica Merchant, and for some minutes stood in talk with him over alist which the latter produced at his request. 

Presently he waved aside the list and advanced alone towards therebels-convict, his eyes considering them, his lips pursed. Before theyoung Somersetshire shipmaster he came to a halt, and stood an instantpondering him. Then he fingered the muscles of the young man's arm, and bade him open his mouth that he might see his teeth. He pursed hiscoarse lips again and nodded. 

He spoke to Gardner over his shoulder. 

"Fifteen pounds for this one. "

The Captain made a face of dismay. "Fifteen pounds! It isn't half what Imeant to ask for him. "

"It is double what I had meant to give, " grunted the Colonel. 

"But he would be cheap at thirty pounds, your honour. "

"I can get a negro for that. These white swine don't live. They're notfit for the labour. "

Gardner broke into protestations of Pitt's health, youth, and vigour. It was not a man he was discussing; it was a beast of burden. Pitt, asensitive lad, stood mute and unmoving. Only the ebb and flow of colourin his cheeks showed the inward struggle by which he maintained hisself-control. 

Peter Blood was nauseated by the loathsome haggle. 

In the background, moving slowly away down the line of prisoners, wentthe lady in conversation with the Governor, who smirked and preenedhimself as he limped beside her. She was unconscious of the loathlybusiness the Colonel was transacting. Was she, wondered Blood, indifferent to it?

Colonel Bishop swung on his heel to pass on. 

"I'll go as far as twenty pounds. Not a penny more, and it's twice asmuch as you are like to get from Crabston. "

Captain Gardner, recognizing the finality of the tone, sighed andyielded. Already Bishop was moving down the line. For Mr. Blood, asfor a weedy youth on his left, the Colonel had no more than a glance ofcontempt. But the next man, a middle-aged Colossus named Wolverstone, who had lost an eye at Sedgemoor, drew his regard, and the haggling wasrecommenced. 

Peter Blood stood there in the brilliant sunshine and inhaled thefragrant air, which was unlike any air that he had ever breathed. Itwas laden with a strange perfume, blend of logwood flower, pimento, andaromatic cedars. He lost himself in unprofitable speculations born ofthat singular fragrance. He was in no mood for conversation, nor wasPitt, who stood dumbly at his side, and who was afflicted mainly at themoment by the thought that he was at last about to be separated fromthis man with whom he had stood shoulder to shoulder throughout allthese troublous months, and whom he had come to love and depend upon forguidance and sustenance. A sense of loneliness and misery pervaded himby contrast with which all that he had endured seemed as nothing. ToPitt, this separation was the poignant climax of all his sufferings. 

Other buyers came and stared at them, and passed on. Blood did not heedthem. And then at the end of the line there was a movement. Gardner wasspeaking in a loud voice, making an announcement to the general publicof buyers that had waited until Colonel Bishop had taken his choice ofthat human merchandise. As he finished, Blood, looking in his direction, noticed that the girl was speaking to Bishop, and pointing up the linewith a silver-hilted riding-whip she carried. Bishop shaded his eyeswith his hand to look in the direction in which she was pointing. Then slowly, with his ponderous, rolling gait, he approached againaccompanied by Gardner, and followed by the lady and the Governor. 

On they came until the Colonel was abreast of Blood. He would havepassed on, but that the lady tapped his arm with her whip. 

"But this is the man I meant, " she said. 

"This one?" Contempt rang in the voice. Peter Blood found himselfstaring into a pair of beady brown eyes sunk into a yellow, fleshly facelike currants into a dumpling. He felt the colour creeping into his faceunder the insult of that contemptuous inspection. "Bah! A bag of bones. What should I do with him?"

He was turning away when Gardner interposed. 

"He maybe lean, but he's tough; tough and healthy. When half of them wassick and the other half sickening, this rogue kept his legs and doctoredhis fellows. But for him there'd ha' been more deaths than there was. Say fifteen pounds for him, Colonel. That's cheap enough. He's tough, Itell your honour--tough and strong, though he be lean. And he's just theman to bear the heat when it comes. The climate'll never kill him. "

There came a chuckle from Governor Steed. "You hear, Colonel. Trustyour niece. Her sex knows a man when it sees one. " And he laughed, wellpleased with his wit. 

But he laughed alone. A cloud of annoyance swept across the face ofthe Colonel's niece, whilst the Colonel himself was too absorbed in theconsideration of this bargain to heed the Governor's humour. He twistedhis lip a little, stroking his chin with his hand the while. Jeremy Pitthad almost ceased to breathe. 

"I'll give you ten pounds for him, " said the Colonel at last. 

Peter Blood prayed that the offer might be rejected. For no reason thathe could have given you, he was taken with repugnance at the thoughtof becoming the property of this gross animal, and in some sort theproperty of that hazel-eyed young girl. But it would need more thanrepugnance to save him from his destiny. A slave is a slave, and hasno power to shape his fate. Peter Blood was sold to Colonel Bishop--adisdainful buyer--for the ignominious sum of ten pounds. 

CHAPTER V. ARABELLA BISHOP

One sunny morning in January, about a month after the arrival of theJamaica Merchant at Bridgetown, Miss Arabella Bishop rode out from heruncle's fine house on the heights to the northwest of the city. She wasattended by two negroes who trotted after her at a respectful distance, and her destination was Government House, whither she went to visit theGovernor's lady, who had lately been ailing. Reaching the summit ofa gentle, grassy slope, she met a tall, lean man dressed in a sober, gentlemanly fashion, who was walking in the opposite direction. He wasa stranger to her, and strangers were rare enough in the island. And yetin some vague way he did not seem quite a stranger. 

Miss Arabella drew rein, affecting to pause that she might admire theprospect, which was fair enough to warrant it. Yet out of the cornerof those hazel eyes she scanned this fellow very attentively as he camenearer. She corrected her first impression of his dress. It wassober enough, but hardly gentlemanly. Coat and breeches were of plainhomespun; and if the former sat so well upon him it was more by virtueof his natural grace than by that of tailoring. His stockings were ofcotton, harsh and plain, and the broad castor, which he respectfullydoffed as he came up with her, was an old one unadorned by band orfeather. What had seemed to be a periwig at a little distance was nowrevealed for the man's own lustrous coiling black hair. 

Out of a brown, shaven, saturnine face two eyes that were startlinglyblue considered her gravely. The man would have passed on but that shedetained him. 

"I think I know you, sir, " said she. 

Her voice was crisp and boyish, and there was something of boyishnessin her manner--if one can apply the term to so dainty a lady. It aroseperhaps from an ease, a directness, which disdained the artifices of hersex, and set her on good terms with all the world. To this it may bedue that Miss Arabella had reached the age of five and twenty not merelyunmarried but unwooed. She used with all men a sisterly frankness whichin itself contains a quality of aloofness, rendering it difficult forany man to become her lover. 

Her negroes had halted at some distance in the rear, and they squattednow upon the short grass until it should be her pleasure to proceed uponher way. 

The stranger came to a standstill upon being addressed. 

"A lady should know her own property, " said he. 

"My property?"

"Your uncle's, leastways. Let me present myself. I am called PeterBlood, and I am worth precisely ten pounds. I know it because thatis the sum your uncle paid for me. It is not every man has the sameopportunities of ascertaining his real value. "

She recognized him then. She had not seen him since that day upon themole a month ago, and that she should not instantly have known himagain despite the interest he had then aroused in her is not surprising, considering the change he had wrought in his appearance, which now washardly that of a slave. 

"My God!" said she. "And you can laugh!"

"It's an achievement, " he admitted. "But then, I have not fared as illas I might. "

"I have heard of that, " said she. 

What she had heard was that this rebel-convict had been discovered tobe a physician. The thing had come to the ears of Governor Steed, whosuffered damnably from the gout, and Governor Steed had borrowed thefellow from his purchaser. Whether by skill or good fortune, Peter Bloodhad afforded the Governor that relief which his excellency had failed toobtain from the ministrations of either of the two physicians practisingin Bridgetown. Then the Governor's lady had desired him to attend herfor the megrims. Mr. Blood had found her suffering from nothing worsethan peevishness--the result of a natural petulance aggravated by thedulness of life in Barbados to a lady of her social aspirations. But hehad prescribed for her none the less, and she had conceived herself thebetter for his prescription. After that the fame of him had gone throughBridgetown, and Colonel Bishop had found that there was more profit tobe made out of this new slave by leaving him to pursue his professionthan by setting him to work on the plantations, for which purpose he hadbeen originally acquired. 

"It is yourself, madam, I have to thank for my comparatively easyand clean condition, " said Mr. Blood, "and I am glad to take thisopportunity of doing so. "

The gratitude was in his words rather than in his tone. Was he mocking, she wondered, and looked at him with the searching frankness thatanother might have found disconcerting. He took the glance for aquestion, and answered it. 

"If some other planter had bought me, " he explained, "it is odds thatthe facts of my shining abilities might never have been brought tolight, and I should be hewing and hoeing at this moment like the poorwretches who were landed with me. "

"And why do you thank me for that? It was my uncle who bought you. "

"But he would not have done so had you not urged him. I perceived yourinterest. At the time I resented it. "

"You resented it?" There was a challenge in her boyish voice. 

"I have had no lack of experiences of this mortal life; but to bebought and sold was a new one, and I was hardly in the mood to love mypurchaser. "

"If I urged you upon my uncle, sir, it was that I commiserated you. "There was a slight severity in her tone, as if to reprove the mixture ofmockery and flippancy in which he seemed to be speaking. 

She proceeded to explain herself. "My uncle may appear to you a hardman. No doubt he is. They are all hard men, these planters. It is thelife, I suppose. But there are others here who are worse. There is Mr. Crabston, for instance, up at Speightstown. He was there on the mole, waiting to buy my uncle's leavings, and if you had fallen into hishands... A dreadful man. That is why. "

He was a little bewildered. 

"This interest in a stranger... " he began. Then changed the direction ofhis probe. "But there were others as deserving of commiseration. "

"You did not seem quite like the others. "

"I am not, " said he. 

"Oh!" She stared at him, bridling a little. "You have a good opinion ofyourself. "

"On the contrary. The others are all worthy rebels. I am not. Thatis the difference. I was one who had not the wit to see that Englandrequires purifying. I was content to pursue a doctor's trade inBridgewater whilst my betters were shedding their blood to drive out anunclean tyrant and his rascally crew. "

"Sir!" she checked him. "I think you are talking treason. "

"I hope I am not obscure, " said he. 

"There are those here who would have you flogged if they heard you. "

"The Governor would never allow it. He has the gout, and his lady hasthe megrims. "

"Do you depend upon that?" She was frankly scornful. 

"You have certainly never had the gout; probably not even the megrims, "said he. 

She made a little impatient movement with her hand, and looked away fromhim a moment, out to sea. Quite suddenly she looked at him again; andnow her brows were knit. 

"But if you are not a rebel, how come you here?"

He saw the thing she apprehended, and he laughed. "Faith, now, it's along story, " said he. 

"And one perhaps that you would prefer not to tell?"

Briefly on that he told it her. 

"My God! What an infamy!" she cried, when he had done. 

"Oh, it's a sweet country England under King James! There's no need tocommiserate me further. All things considered I prefer Barbados. Here atleast one can believe in God. "

He looked first to right, then to left as he spoke, from the distantshadowy bulk of Mount Hillbay to the limitless ocean ruffled by thewinds of heaven. Then, as if the fair prospect rendered him consciousof his own littleness and the insignificance of his woes, he fellthoughtful. 

"Is that so difficult elsewhere?" she asked him, and she was very grave. 

"Men make it so. "

"I see. " She laughed a little, on a note of sadness, it seemed tohim. "I have never deemed Barbados the earthly mirror of heaven, " sheconfessed. "But no doubt you know your world better than I. " She touchedher horse with her little silver-hilted whip. "I congratulate you onthis easing of your misfortunes. "

He bowed, and she moved on. Her negroes sprang up, and went trottingafter her. 

Awhile Peter Blood remained standing there, where she left him, conningthe sunlit waters of Carlisle Bay below, and the shipping in thatspacious haven about which the gulls were fluttering noisily. 

It was a fair enough prospect, he reflected, but it was a prison, and inannouncing that he preferred it to England, he had indulged that almostlaudable form of boasting which lies in belittling our misadventures. 

He turned, and resuming his way, went off in long, swinging stridestowards the little huddle of huts built of mud and wattles--a miniaturevillage enclosed in a stockade which the plantation slaves inhabited, and where he, himself, was lodged with them. 

Through his mind sang the line of Lovelace:

 "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage. "

But he gave it a fresh meaning, the very converse of that which itsauthor had intended. A prison, he reflected, was a prison, though it hadneither walls nor bars, however spacious it might be. And as he realizedit that morning so he was to realize it increasingly as time sped on. Daily he came to think more of his clipped wings, of his exclusion fromthe world, and less of the fortuitous liberty he enjoyed. Nor did thecontrasting of his comparatively easy lot with that of his unfortunatefellow-convicts bring him the satisfaction a differently constitutedmind might have derived from it. Rather did the contemplation of theirmisery increase the bitterness that was gathering in his soul. 

Of the forty-two who had been landed with him from the Jamaica Merchant, Colonel Bishop had purchased no less than twenty-five. The remainder hadgone to lesser planters, some of them to Speightstown, and others stillfarther north. What may have been the lot of the latter he could nottell, but amongst Bishop's slaves Peter Blood came and went freely, sleeping in their quarters, and their lot he knew to be a brutalizingmisery. They toiled in the sugar plantations from sunrise to sunset, andif their labours flagged, there were the whips of the overseer and hismen to quicken them. They went in rags, some almost naked; they dweltin squalor, and they were ill-nourished on salted meat and maizedumplings--food which to many of them was for a season at least sonauseating that two of them sickened and died before Bishop rememberedthat their lives had a certain value in labour to him and yielded toBlood's intercessions for a better care of such as fell ill. To curbinsubordination, one of them who had rebelled against Kent, the brutaloverseer, was lashed to death by negroes under his comrades' eyes, andanother who had been so misguided as to run away into the woods wastracked, brought back, flogged, and then branded on the forehead withthe letters "F. T. , " that all might know him for a fugitive traitoras long as he lived. Fortunately for him the poor fellow died as aconsequence of the flogging. 

After that a dull, spiritless resignation settled down upon theremainder. The most mutinous were quelled, and accepted theirunspeakable lot with the tragic fortitude of despair. 

Peter Blood alone, escaping these excessive sufferings, remainedoutwardly unchanged, whilst inwardly the only change in him was a dailydeeper hatred of his kind, a daily deeper longing to escape from thisplace where man defiled so foully the lovely work of his Creator. It wasa longing too vague to amount to a hope. Hope here was inadmissible. And yet he did not yield to despair. He set a mask of laughter on hissaturnine countenance and went his way, treating the sick to theprofit of Colonel Bishop, and encroaching further and further upon thepreserves of the two other men of medicine in Bridgetown. 

Immune from the degrading punishments and privations of hisfellow-convicts, he was enabled to keep his self-respect, and wastreated without harshness even by the soulless planter to whom he hadbeen sold. He owed it all to gout and megrims. He had won the esteem ofGovernor Steed, and--what is even more important--of Governor Steed'slady, whom he shamelessly and cynically flattered and humoured. 

Occasionally he saw Miss Bishop, and they seldom met but that she pausedto hold him in conversation for some moments, evincing her interestin him. Himself, he was never disposed to linger. He was not, he toldhimself, to be deceived by her delicate exterior, her sapling grace, hereasy, boyish ways and pleasant, boyish voice. In all his life--and ithad been very varied--he had never met a man whom he accounted morebeastly than her uncle, and he could not dissociate her from the man. She was his niece, of his own blood, and some of the vices of it, someof the remorseless cruelty of the wealthy planter must, he argued, inhabit that pleasant body of hers. He argued this very often tohimself, as if answering and convincing some instinct that pleadedotherwise, and arguing it he avoided her when it was possible, and wasfrigidly civil when it was not. 

Justifiable as his reasoning was, plausible as it may seem, yet he wouldhave done better to have trusted the instinct that was in conflictwith it. Though the same blood ran in her veins as in those of ColonelBishop, yet hers was free of the vices that tainted her uncle's, forthese vices were not natural to that blood; they were, in hiscase, acquired. Her father, Tom Bishop--that same Colonel Bishop'sbrother--had been a kindly, chivalrous, gentle soul, who, broken-heartedby the early death of a young wife, had abandoned the Old World andsought an anodyne for his grief in the New. He had come out to theAntilles, bringing with him his little daughter, then five years of age, and had given himself up to the life of a planter. He had prosperedfrom the first, as men sometimes will who care nothing for prosperity. Prospering, he had bethought him of his younger brother, a soldier athome reputed somewhat wild. He had advised him to come out to Barbados;and the advice, which at another season William Bishop might havescorned, reached him at a moment when his wildness was beginning to bearsuch fruit that a change of climate was desirable. William came, andwas admitted by his generous brother to a partnership in the prosperousplantation. Some six years later, when Arabella was fifteen, her fatherdied, leaving her in her uncle's guardianship. It was perhaps his onemistake. But the goodness of his own nature coloured his views of othermen; moreover, himself, he had conducted the education of his daughter, giving her an independence of character upon which perhaps he countedunduly. As things were, there was little love between uncle and niece. But she was dutiful to him, and he was circumspect in his behaviourbefore her. All his life, and for all his wildness, he had gone in acertain awe of his brother, whose worth he had the wit to recognize;and now it was almost as if some of that awe was transferred to hisbrother's child, who was also, in a sense, his partner, although shetook no active part in the business of the plantations. 

Peter Blood judged her--as we are all too prone to judge--uponinsufficient knowledge. 

He was very soon to have cause to correct that judgment. One day towardsthe end of May, when the heat was beginning to grow oppressive, therecrawled into Carlisle Bay a wounded, battered English ship, the Pride ofDevon, her freeboard scarred and broken, her coach a gaping wreck, hermizzen so shot away that only a jagged stump remained to tell the placewhere it had stood. She had been in action off Martinique with twoSpanish treasure ships, and although her captain swore that theSpaniards had beset him without provocation, it is difficult to avoid asuspicion that the encounter had been brought about quite otherwise. Oneof the Spaniards had fled from the combat, and if the Pride of Devon hadnot given chase it was probably because she was by then in no case todo so. The other had been sunk, but not before the English ship hadtransferred to her own hold a good deal of the treasure aboard theSpaniard. It was, in fact, one of those piratical affrays which were aperpetual source of trouble between the courts of St. James's and theEscurial, complaints emanating now from one and now from the other side. 

Steed, however, after the fashion of most Colonial governors, waswilling enough to dull his wits to the extent of accepting the Englishseaman's story, disregarding any evidence that might belie it. He sharedthe hatred so richly deserved by arrogant, overbearing Spain thatwas common to men of every other nation from the Bahamas to the Main. Therefore he gave the Pride of Devon the shelter she sought in hisharbour and every facility to careen and carry out repairs. 

But before it came to this, they fetched from her hold over a score ofEnglish seamen as battered and broken as the ship herself, and togetherwith these some half-dozen Spaniards in like case, the only survivors ofa boarding party from the Spanish galleon that had invaded the Englishship and found itself unable to retreat. These wounded men were conveyedto a long shed on the wharf, and the medical skill of Bridgetown wassummoned to their aid. Peter Blood was ordered to bear a hand in thiswork, and partly because he spoke Castilian--and he spoke it as fluentlyas his own native tongue--partly because of his inferior condition as aslave, he was given the Spaniards for his patients. 

Now Blood had no cause to love Spaniards. His two years in a Spanishprison and his subsequent campaigning in the Spanish Netherlands hadshown him a side of the Spanish character which he had found anythingbut admirable. Nevertheless he performed his doctor's duties zealouslyand painstakingly, if emotionlessly, and even with a certain superficialfriendliness towards each of his patients. These were so surprised athaving their wounds healed instead of being summarily hanged that theymanifested a docility very unusual in their kind. They were shunned, however, by all those charitably disposed inhabitants of Bridgetown whoflocked to the improvised hospital with gifts of fruit and flowers anddelicacies for the injured English seamen. Indeed, had the wishes ofsome of these inhabitants been regarded, the Spaniards would have beenleft to die like vermin, and of this Peter Blood had an example almostat the very outset. 

With the assistance of one of the negroes sent to the shed for thepurpose, he was in the act of setting a broken leg, when a deep, gruffvoice, that he had come to know and dislike as he had never disliked thevoice of living man, abruptly challenged him. 

"What are you doing there?"

Blood did not look up from his task. There was not the need. He knew thevoice, as I have said. 

"I am setting a broken leg, " he answered, without pausing in hislabours. 

"I can see that, fool. " A bulky body interposed between Peter Blood andthe window. The half-naked man on the straw rolled his black eyes tostare up fearfully out of a clay-coloured face at this intruder. Aknowledge of English was unnecessary to inform him that here came anenemy. The harsh, minatory note of that voice sufficiently expressed thefact. "I can see that, fool; just as I can see what the rascal is. Whogave you leave to set Spanish legs?"

"I am a doctor, Colonel Bishop. The man is wounded. It is not for me todiscriminate. I keep to my trade. "

"Do you, by God! If you'd done that, you wouldn't now be here. "

"On the contrary, it is because I did it that I am here. "

"Aye, I know that's your lying tale. " The Colonel sneered; and then, observing Blood to continue his work unmoved, he grew really angry. "Will you cease that, and attend to me when I am speaking?"

Peter Blood paused, but only for an instant. "The man is in pain, " hesaid shortly, and resumed his work. 

"In pain, is he? I hope he is, the damned piratical dog. But will youheed me, you insubordinate knave?"

The Colonel delivered himself in a roar, infuriated by what he conceivedto be defiance, and defiance expressing itself in the most unruffleddisregard of himself. His long bamboo cane was raised to strike. PeterBlood's blue eyes caught the flash of it, and he spoke quickly to arrestthe blow. 

"Not insubordinate, sir, whatever I may be. I am acting upon the expressorders of Governor Steed. "

The Colonel checked, his great face empurpling. His mouth fell open. 

"Governor Steed!" he echoed. Then he lowered his cane, swung round, andwithout another word to Blood rolled away towards the other end of theshed where the Governor was standing at the moment. 

Peter Blood chuckled. But his triumph was dictated less by humanitarianconsiderations than by the reflection that he had baulked his brutalowner. 

The Spaniard, realizing that in this altercation, whatever its nature, the doctor had stood his friend, ventured in a muted voice to ask himwhat had happened. But the doctor shook his head in silence, and pursuedhis work. His ears were straining to catch the words now passing betweenSteed and Bishop. The Colonel was blustering and storming, the greatbulk of him towering above the wizened little overdressed figure of theGovernor. But the little fop was not to be browbeaten. His excellencywas conscious that he had behind him the force of public opinion tosupport him. Some there might be, but they were not many, who held suchruthless views as Colonel Bishop. His excellency asserted his authority. It was by his orders that Blood had devoted himself to the woundedSpaniards, and his orders were to be carried out. There was no more tobe said. 

Colonel Bishop was of another opinion. In his view there was agreat deal to be said. He said it, with great circumstance, loudly, vehemently, obscenely--for he could be fluently obscene when moved toanger. 

"You talk like a Spaniard, Colonel, " said the Governor, and thus dealtthe Colonel's pride a wound that was to smart resentfully for many aweek. At the moment it struck him silent, and sent him stamping out ofthe shed in a rage for which he could find no words. 

It was two days later when the ladies of Bridgetown, the wives anddaughters of her planters and merchants, paid their first visit ofcharity to the wharf, bringing their gifts to the wounded seamen. 

Again Peter Blood was there, ministering to the sufferers in his care, moving among those unfortunate Spaniards whom no one heeded. All thecharity, all the gifts were for the members of the crew of the Prideof Devon. And this Peter Blood accounted natural enough. But risingsuddenly from the re-dressing of a wound, a task in which he hadbeen absorbed for some moments, he saw to his surprise that one lady, detached from the general throng, was placing some plantains and abundle of succulent sugar cane on the cloak that served one of hispatients for a coverlet. She was elegantly dressed in lavender silk andwas followed by a half-naked negro carrying a basket. 

Peter Blood, stripped of his coat, the sleeves of his coarse shirtrolled to the elbow, and holding a bloody rag in his hand, stood at gazea moment. The lady, turning now to confront him, her lips parting in asmile of recognition, was Arabella Bishop. 

"The man's a Spaniard, " said he, in the tone of one who corrects amisapprehension, and also tinged never so faintly by something of thederision that was in his soul. 

The smile with which she had been greeting him withered on her lips. Shefrowned and stared at him a moment, with increasing haughtiness. 

"So I perceive. But he's a human being none the less, " said she. 

That answer, and its implied rebuke, took him by surprise. 

"Your uncle, the Colonel, is of a different opinion, " said he, when hehad recovered. "He regards them as vermin to be left to languish and dieof their festering wounds. "

She caught the irony now more plainly in his voice. She continued tostare at him. 

"Why do you tell me this?"

"To warn you that you may be incurring the Colonel's displeasure. Ifhe had had his way, I should never have been allowed to dress theirwounds. "

"And you thought, of course, that I must be of my uncle's mind?" Therewas a crispness about her voice, an ominous challenging sparkle in herhazel eyes. 

"I'd not willingly be rude to a lady even in my thoughts, " said he. "Butthat you should bestow gifts on them, considering that if your unclecame to hear of it.... " He paused, leaving the sentence unfinished. "Ah, well--there it is!" he concluded. 

But the lady was not satisfied at all. 

"First you impute to me inhumanity, and then cowardice. Faith! For aman who would not willingly be rude to a lady even in his thoughts, it'snone so bad. " Her boyish laugh trilled out, but the note of it jarredhis ears this time. 

He saw her now, it seemed to him, for the first time, and saw how he hadmisjudged her. 

"Sure, now, how was I to guess that... That Colonel Bishop could havean angel for his niece?" said he recklessly, for he was reckless as menoften are in sudden penitence. 

"You wouldn't, of course. I shouldn't think you often guess aright. "Having withered him with that and her glance, she turned to her negroand the basket that he carried. From this she lifted now the fruits anddelicacies with which it was laden, and piled them in such heaps uponthe beds of the six Spaniards that by the time she had so served thelast of them her basket was empty, and there was nothing left for herown fellow-countrymen. These, indeed, stood in no need of her bounty--asshe no doubt observed--since they were being plentifully supplied byothers. 

Having thus emptied her basket, she called her negro, and withoutanother word or so much as another glance at Peter Blood, swept out ofthe place with her head high and chin thrust forward. 

Peter watched her departure. Then he fetched a sigh. 

It startled him to discover that the thought that he had incurred heranger gave him concern. It could not have been so yesterday. It becameso only since he had been vouchsafed this revelation of her true nature. "Bad cess to it now, it serves me right. It seems I know nothing at allof human nature. But how the devil was I to guess that a family that canbreed a devil like Colonel Bishop should also breed a saint like this?"

CHAPTER VI. PLANS OF ESCAPE

After that Arabella Bishop went daily to the shed on the wharf withgifts of fruit, and later of money and of wearing apparel for theSpanish prisoners. But she contrived so to time her visits that PeterBlood never again met her there. Also his own visits were growingshorter in a measure as his patients healed. That they all throve andreturned to health under his care, whilst fully one third of the woundedin the care of Whacker and Bronson--the two other surgeons--diedof their wounds, served to increase the reputation in which thisrebel-convict stood in Bridgetown. It may have been no more than thefortune of war. But the townsfolk did not choose so to regard it. Itled to a further dwindling of the practices of his free colleagues and afurther increase of his own labours and his owner's profit. Whackerand Bronson laid their heads together to devise a scheme by which thisintolerable state of things should be brought to an end. But that is toanticipate. 

One day, whether by accident or design, Peter Blood came striding downthe wharf a full half-hour earlier than usual, and so met Miss Bishopjust issuing from the shed. He doffed his hat and stood aside to giveher passage. She took it, chin in the air, and eyes which disdained tolook anywhere where the sight of him was possible. 

"Miss Arabella, " said he, on a coaxing, pleading note. 

She grew conscious of his presence, and looked him over with an air thatwas faintly, mockingly searching. 

"La!" said she. "It's the delicate-minded gentleman!"

Peter groaned. "Am I so hopelessly beyond forgiveness? I ask it veryhumbly. "

"What condescension!"

"It is cruel to mock me, " said he, and adopted mock-humility. "Afterall, I am but a slave. And you might be ill one of these days. "

"What, then?"

"It would be humiliating to send for me if you treat me like an enemy. "

"You are not the only doctor in Bridgetown. "

"But I am the least dangerous. "

She grew suddenly suspicious of him, aware that he was permittinghimself to rally her, and in a measure she had already yielded to it. She stiffened, and looked him over again. 

"You make too free, I think, " she rebuked him. 

"A doctor's privilege. "

"I am not your patient. Please to remember it in future. " And on that, unquestionably angry, she departed. 

"Now is she a vixen or am I a fool, or is it both?" he asked the bluevault of heaven, and then went into the shed. 

It was to be a morning of excitements. As he was leaving an hour or solater, Whacker, the younger of the other two physicians, joined him--anunprecedented condescension this, for hitherto neither of them hadaddressed him beyond an occasional and surly "good-day!"

"If you are for Colonel Bishop's, I'll walk with you a little way, Doctor Blood, " said he. He was a short, broad man of five-and-forty withpendulous cheeks and hard blue eyes. 

Peter Blood was startled. But he dissembled it. 

"I am for Government House, " said he. 

"Ah! To be sure! The Governor's lady. " And he laughed; or perhaps hesneered. Peter Blood was not quite certain. "She encroaches a deal uponyour time, I hear. Youth and good looks, Doctor Blood! Youth andgood looks! They are inestimable advantages in our profession as inothers--particularly where the ladies are concerned. "

Peter stared at him. "If you mean what you seem to mean, you had bettersay it to Governor Steed. It may amuse him. "

"You surely misapprehend me. "

"I hope so. "

"You're so very hot, now!" The doctor linked his arm through Peter's. "I protest I desire to be your friend--to serve you. Now, listen. "Instinctively his voice grew lower. "This slavery in which you findyourself must be singularly irksome to a man of parts such as yourself. "

"What intuitions!" cried sardonic Mr. Blood. But the doctor took himliterally. 

"I am no fool, my dear doctor. I know a man when I see one, and often Ican tell his thoughts. "

"If you can tell me mine, you'll persuade me of it, " said Mr. Blood. 

Dr. Whacker drew still closer to him as they stepped along the wharf. Helowered his voice to a still more confidential tone. His hard blue eyespeered up into the swart, sardonic face of his companion, who was a headtaller than himself. 

"How often have I not seen you staring out over the sea, your soul inyour eyes! Don't I know what you are thinking? If you could escape fromthis hell of slavery, you could exercise the profession of which youare an ornament as a free man with pleasure and profit to yourself. Theworld is large. There are many nations besides England where a man ofyour parts would be warmly welcomed. There are many colonies besidesthese English ones. " Lower still came the voice until it was no morethan a whisper. Yet there was no one within earshot. "It is none so farnow to the Dutch settlement of Curacao. At this time of the year thevoyage may safely be undertaken in a light craft. And Curacao need be nomore than a stepping-stone to the great world, which would lie open toyou once you were delivered from this bondage. "

Dr. Whacker ceased. He was pale and a little out of breath. But his hardeyes continued to study his impassive companion. 

"Well?" he said alter a pause. "What do you say to that?"

Yet Blood did not immediately answer. His mind was heaving in tumult, and he was striving to calm it that he might take a proper survey ofthis thing flung into it to create so monstrous a disturbance. He beganwhere another might have ended. 

"I have no money. And for that a handsome sum would be necessary. "

"Did I not say that I desired to be your friend?"

"Why?" asked Peter Blood at point-blank range. 

But he never heeded the answer. Whilst Dr. Whacker was professing thathis heart bled for a brother doctor languishing in slavery, denied theopportunity which his gifts entitled him to make for himself, PeterBlood pounced like a hawk upon the obvious truth. Whacker and hiscolleague desired to be rid of one who threatened to ruin them. Sluggishness of decision was never a fault of Blood's. He leapt whereanother crawled. And so this thought of evasion never entertained untilplanted there now by Dr. Whacker sprouted into instant growth. 

"I see, I see, " he said, whilst his companion was still talking, explaining, and to save Dr. Whacker's face he played the hypocrite. "Itis very noble in you--very brotherly, as between men of medicine. It iswhat I myself should wish to do in like case. "

The hard eyes flashed, the husky voice grew tremulous as the other askedalmost too eagerly:

"You agree, then? You agree?"

"Agree?" Blood laughed. "If I should be caught and brought back, they'dclip my wings and brand me for life. "

"Surely the thing is worth a little risk?" More tremulous than ever wasthe tempter's voice. 

"Surely, " Blood agreed. "But it asks more than courage. It asks money. Asloop might be bought for twenty pounds, perhaps. "

"It shall be forthcoming. It shall be a loan, which you shall repayus--repay me, when you can. "

That betraying "us" so hastily retrieved completed Blood'sunderstanding. The other doctor was also in the business. 

They were approaching the peopled part of the mole. Quickly, buteloquently, Blood expressed his thanks, where he knew that no thankswere due. 

"We will talk of this again, sir--to-morrow, " he concluded. "You haveopened for me the gates of hope. "

In that at least he tittered no more than the bare truth, and expressedit very baldly. It was, indeed, as if a door had been suddenly flungopen to the sunlight for escape from a dark prison in which a man hadthought to spend his life. 

He was in haste now to be alone, to straighten out his agitated mindand plan coherently what was to be done. Also he must consult another. Already he had hit upon that other. For such a voyage a navigator wouldbe necessary, and a navigator was ready to his hand in Jeremy Pitt. Thefirst thing was to take counsel with the young shipmaster, who must beassociated with him in this business if it were to be undertaken. Allthat day his mind was in turmoil with this new hope, and he was sickwith impatience for night and a chance to discuss the matter withhis chosen partner. As a result Blood was betimes that evening in thespacious stockade that enclosed the huts of the slaves together with thebig white house of the overseer, and he found an opportunity of a fewwords with Pitt, unobserved by the others. 

"To-night when all are asleep, come to my cabin. I have something to sayto you. "

The young man stared at him, roused by Blood's pregnant tone out of themental lethargy into which he had of late been lapsing as a result ofthe dehumanizing life he lived. Then he nodded understanding and assent, and they moved apart. 

The six months of plantation life in Barbados had made an almost tragicmark upon the young seaman. His erstwhile bright alertness wasall departed. His face was growing vacuous, his eyes were dull andlack-lustre, and he moved in a cringing, furtive manner, like anover-beaten dog. He had survived the ill-nourishment, the excessivework on the sugar plantation under a pitiless sun, the lashes of theoverseer's whip when his labours flagged, and the deadly, unrelievedanimal life to which he was condemned. But the price he was paying forsurvival was the usual price. He was in danger of becoming no betterthan an animal, of sinking to the level of the negroes who sometimestoiled beside him. The man, however, was still there, not yet dormant, but merely torpid from a surfeit of despair; and the man in him promptlyshook off that torpidity and awoke at the first words Blood spoke to himthat night--awoke and wept. 

"Escape?" he panted. "O God!" He took his head in his hands, and fell tosobbing like a child. 

"Sh! Steady now! Steady!" Blood admonished him in a whisper, alarmed bythe lad's blubbering. He crossed to Pitt's side, and set a restraininghand upon his shoulder. "For God's sake, command yourself. If we'reoverheard we shall both be flogged for this. "

Among the privileges enjoyed by Blood was that of a hut to himself, andthey were alone in this. But, after all, it was built of wattles thinlyplastered with mud, and its door was composed of bamboos, through whichsound passed very easily. Though the stockade was locked for the night, and all within it asleep by now--it was after midnight--yet a prowlingoverseer was not impossible, and a sound of voices must lead todiscovery. Pitt realized this, and controlled his outburst of emotion. 

Sitting close thereafter they talked in whispers for an hour or more, and all the while those dulled wits of Pitt's were sharpening themselvesanew upon this precious whetstone of hope. They would need to recruitothers into their enterprise, a half-dozen at least, a half-score ifpossible, but no more than that. They must pick the best out of thatscore of survivors of the Monmouth men that Colonel Bishop had acquired. Men who understood the sea were desirable. But of these there were onlytwo in that unfortunate gang, and their knowledge was none too full. They were Hagthorpe, a gentleman who had served in the Royal Navy, andNicholas Dyke, who had been a petty officer in the late king's time, andthere was another who had been a gunner, a man named Ogle. 

It was agreed before they parted that Pitt should begin with these threeand then proceed to recruit some six or eight others. He was to movewith the utmost caution, sounding his men very carefully before makinganything in the nature of a disclosure, and even then avoid renderingthat disclosure so full that its betrayal might frustrate the planswhich as yet had to be worked out in detail. Labouring with them inthe plantations, Pitt would not want for opportunities of broaching thematter to his fellow-slaves. 

"Caution above everything, " was Blood's last recommendation to him atparting. "Who goes slowly, goes safely, as the Italians have it. Andremember that if you betray yourself, you ruin all, for you are the onlynavigator amongst us, and without you there is no escaping. "

Pitt reassured him, and slunk off back to his own hut and the straw thatserved him for a bed. 

Coming next morning to the wharf, Blood found Dr. Whacker in a generousmood. Having slept on the matter, he was prepared to advance the convictany sum up to thirty pounds that would enable him to acquire a boatcapable of taking him away from the settlement. Blood expressed histhanks becomingly, betraying no sign that he saw clearly into the truereason of the other's munificence. 

"It's not money I'll require, " said he, "but the boat itself. Forwho will be selling me a boat and incurring the penalties in GovernorSteed's proclamation? Ye'll have read it, no doubt?"

Dr. Whacker's heavy face grew overcast. Thoughtfully he rubbed his chin. "I've read it--yes. And I dare not procure the boat for you. It would bediscovered. It must be. And the penalty is a fine of two hundred poundsbesides imprisonment. It would ruin me. You'll see that?"

The high hopes in Blood's soul, began to shrink. And the shadow of hisdespair overcast his face. 

"But then... " he faltered. "There is nothing to be done. "

"Nay, nay: things are not so desperate. " Dr. Whacker smiled a littlewith tight lips. "I've thought of it. You will see that the man who buysthe boat must be one of those who goes with you--so that he is not hereto answer questions afterwards. "

"But who is to go with me save men in my own case? What I cannot do, they cannot. "

"There are others detained on the island besides slaves. There areseveral who are here for debt, and would be glad enough to spreadtheir wings. There's a fellow Nuttall, now, who follows the trade ofa shipwright, whom I happen to know would welcome such a chance as youmight afford him. "

"But how should a debtor come with money to buy a boat? The questionwill be asked. "

"To be sure it will. But if you contrive shrewdly, you'll all be gonebefore that happens. "

Blood nodded understanding, and the doctor, setting a hand upon hissleeve, unfolded the scheme he had conceived. 

"You shall have the money from me at once. Having received it, you'llforget that it was I who supplied it to you. You have friends inEngland--relatives, perhaps--who sent it out to you through the agencyof one of your Bridgetown patients, whose name as a man of honour youwill on no account divulge lest you bring trouble upon him. That is yourtale if there are questions. "

He paused, looking hard at Blood. Blood nodded understanding and assent. Relieved, the doctor continued:

"But there should be no questions if you go carefully to work. Youconcert matters With Nuttall. You enlist him as one of your companionsand a shipwright should be a very useful member of your crew. You engagehim to discover a likely sloop whose owner is disposed to sell. Then letyour preparations all be made before the purchase is effected, so thatyour escape may follow instantly upon it before the inevitable questionscome to be asked. You take me?"

So well did Blood take him that within an hour he contrived to seeNuttall, and found the fellow as disposed to the business as Dr. Whackerhad predicted. When he left the shipwright, it was agreed that Nuttallshould seek the boat required, for which Blood would at once produce themoney. 

The quest took longer than was expected by Blood, who waited impatientlywith the doctor's gold concealed about his person. But at the end ofsome three weeks, Nuttall--whom he was now meeting daily--informed himthat he had found a serviceable wherry, and that its owner was disposedto sell it for twenty-two pounds. That evening, on the beach, remotefrom all eyes, Peter Blood handed that sum to his new associate, andNuttall went off with instructions to complete the purchase late on thefollowing day. He was to bring the boat to the wharf, where under coverof night Blood and his fellow-convicts would join him and make off. 

Everything was ready. In the shed, from which all the wounded men hadnow been removed and which had since remained untenanted, Nuttall hadconcealed the necessary stores: a hundredweight of bread, a quantityof cheese, a cask of water and some few bottles of Canary, a compass, quadrant, chart, half-hour glass, log and line, a tarpaulin, somecarpenter's tools, and a lantern and candles. And in the stockade, allwas likewise in readiness. Hagthorpe, Dyke, and Ogle had agreed to jointhe venture, and eight others had been carefully recruited. In Pitt'shut, which he shared with five other rebels-convict, all of whom wereto join in this bid for liberty, a ladder had been constructed in secretduring those nights of waiting. With this they were to surmount thestockade and gain the open. The risk of detection, so that they madelittle noise, was negligible. Beyond locking them all into that stockadeat night, there was no great precaution taken. Where, after all, couldany so foolish as to attempt escape hope to conceal himself in thatisland? The chief risk lay in discovery by those of their companionswho were to be left behind. It was because of these that they must gocautiously and in silence. 

The day that was to have been their last in Barbados was a day of hopeand anxiety to the twelve associates in that enterprise, no less than toNuttall in the town below. 

Towards sunset, having seen Nuttall depart to purchase and fetchthe sloop to the prearranged moorings at the wharf, Peter Blood camesauntering towards the stockade, just as the slaves were being drivenin from the fields. He stood aside at the entrance to let them pass, andbeyond the message of hope flashed by his eyes, he held no communicationwith them. 

He entered the stockade in their wake, and as they broke their ranksto seek their various respective huts, he beheld Colonel Bishop in talkwith Kent, the overseer. The pair were standing by the stocks, plantedin the middle of that green space for the punishment of offendingslaves. 

As he advanced, Bishop turned to regard him, scowling. "Where have youbeen this while?" he bawled, and although a minatory note was normal tothe Colonel's voice, yet Blood felt his heart tightening apprehensively. 

"I've been at my work in the town, " he answered. "Mrs. Patch has a feverand Mr. Dekker has sprained his ankle. "

"I sent for you to Dekker's, and you were not there. You are given toidling, my fine fellow. We shall have to quicken you one of these daysunless you cease from abusing the liberty you enjoy. D'ye forget thatye're a rebel convict?"

"I am not given the chance, " said Blood, who never could learn to curbhis tongue. 

"By God! Will you be pert with me?"

Remembering all that was at stake, growing suddenly conscious thatfrom the huts surrounding the enclosure anxious ears were listening, heinstantly practised an unusual submission. 

"Not pert, sir. I... I am sorry I should have been sought.... "

"Aye, and you'll be sorrier yet. There's the Governor with an attack ofgout, screaming like a wounded horse, and you nowhere to be found. Beoff, man--away with you at speed to Government House! You're awaited, I tell you. Best lend him a horse, Kent, or the lout'll be all nightgetting there. "

They bustled him away, choking almost from a reluctance that he darednot show. The thing was unfortunate; but after all not beyond remedy. The escape was set for midnight, and he should easily be back by then. He mounted the horse that Kent procured him, intending to make allhaste. 

"How shall I reenter the stockade, sir?" he enquired at parting. 

"You'll not reenter it, " said Bishop. "When they've done with you atGovernment House, they may find a kennel for you there until morning. "

Peter Blood's heart sank like a stone through water. 

"But... " he began. 

"Be off, I say. Will you stand there talking until dark? His excellencyis waiting for you. " And with his cane Colonel Bishop slashed thehorse's quarters so brutally that the beast bounded forward all butunseating her rider. 

Peter Blood went off in a state of mind bordering on despair. Andthere was occasion for it. A postponement of the escape at least untilto-morrow night was necessary now, and postponement must mean thediscovery of Nuttall's transaction and the asking of questions it wouldbe difficult to answer. 

It was in his mind to slink back in the night, once his work atGovernment House were done, and from the outside of the stockade makeknown to Pitt and the others his presence, and so have them join himthat their project might still be carried out. But in this he reckonedwithout the Governor, whom he found really in the thrall of a severeattack of gout, and almost as severe an attack of temper nourished byBlood's delay. 

The doctor was kept in constant attendance upon him until long aftermidnight, when at last he was able to ease the sufferer a little by ableeding. Thereupon he would have withdrawn. But Steed would not hear ofit. Blood must sleep in his own chamber to be at hand in case of need. It was as if Fate made sport of him. For that night at least the escapemust be definitely abandoned. 

Not until the early hours of the morning did Peter Blood succeed inmaking a temporary escape from Government House on the ground that herequired certain medicaments which he must, himself, procure from theapothecary. 

On that pretext, he made an excursion into the awakening town, andwent straight to Nuttall, whom he found in a state of livid panic. Theunfortunate debtor, who had sat up waiting through the night, conceivedthat all was discovered and that his own ruin would be involved. PeterBlood quieted his fears. 

"It will be for to-night instead, " he said, with more assurance thanhe felt, "if I have to bleed the Governor to death. Be ready as lastnight. "

"But if there are questions meanwhile?" bleated Nuttall. He was a thin, pale, small-featured, man with weak eyes that now blinked desperately. 

"Answer as best you can. Use your wits, man. I can stay no longer. " AndPeter went off to the apothecary for his pretexted drugs. 

Within an hour of his going came an officer of the Secretary's toNuttall's miserable hovel. The seller of the boat had--as by lawrequired since the coming of the rebels-convict--duly reported the saleat the Secretary's office, so that he might obtain the reimbursementof the ten-pound surety into which every keeper of a small boat wascompelled to enter. The Secretary's office postponed this reimbursementuntil it should have obtained confirmation of the transaction. 

"We are informed that you have bought a wherry from Mr. Robert Farrell, "said the officer. 

"That is so, " said Nuttall, who conceived that for him this was the endof the world. 

"You are in no haste, it seems, to declare the same at the Secretary'soffice. " The emissary had a proper bureaucratic haughtiness. 

Nuttall's weak eyes blinked at a redoubled rate. 

"To... To declare it?"

"Ye know it's the law. "

"I... I didn't, may it please you. "

"But it's in the proclamation published last January. "

"I... I can't read, sir. I... I didn't know. "

"Faugh!" The messenger withered him with his disdain. 

"Well, now you're informed. See to it that you are at the Secretary'soffice before noon with the ten pounds surety into which you are obligedto enter. "

The pompous officer departed, leaving Nuttall in a cold perspirationdespite the heat of the morning. He was thankful that the fellow had notasked the question he most dreaded, which was how he, a debtor, shouldcome by the money to buy a wherry. But this he knew was only a respite. The question would presently be asked of a certainty, and then hellwould open for him. He cursed the hour in which he had been such a foolas to listen to Peter Blood's chatter of escape. He thought it verylikely that the whole plot would be discovered, and that he wouldprobably be hanged, or at least branded and sold into slavery likethose other damned rebels-convict, with whom he had been so mad asto associate himself. If only he had the ten pounds for thisinfernal surety, which until this moment had never entered into theircalculations, it was possible that the thing might be done quicklyand questions postponed until later. As the Secretary's messenger hadoverlooked the fact that he was a debtor, so might the others at theSecretary's office, at least for a day or two; and in that time hewould, he hoped, be beyond the reach of their questions. But in themeantime what was to be done about this money? And it was to be foundbefore noon!

Nuttall snatched up his hat, and went out in quest of Peter Blood. But where look for him? Wandering aimlessly up the irregular, unpavedstreet, he ventured to enquire of one or two if they had seen Dr. Bloodthat morning. He affected to be feeling none so well, and indeed hisappearance bore out the deception. None could give him information; andsince Blood had never told him of Whacker's share in this business, hewalked in his unhappy ignorance past the door of the one man in Barbadoswho would eagerly have saved him in this extremity. 

Finally he determined to go up to Colonel Bishop's plantation. ProbablyBlood would be there. If he were not, Nuttall would find Pitt, and leavea message with him. He was acquainted with Pitt and knew of Pitt's sharein this business. His pretext for seeking Blood must still be that heneeded medical assistance. 

And at the same time that he set out, insensitive in his anxiety to thebroiling heat, to climb the heights to the north of the town, Bloodwas setting out from Government House at last, having so far eased theGovernor's condition as to be permitted to depart. Being mounted, hewould, but for an unexpected delay, have reached the stockade ahead ofNuttall, in which case several unhappy events might have been averted. The unexpected delay was occasioned by Miss Arabella Bishop. 

They met at the gate of the luxuriant garden of Government House, andMiss Bishop, herself mounted, stared to see Peter Blood on horseback. It happened that he was in good spirits. The fact that the Governor'scondition had so far improved as to restore him his freedom of movementhad sufficed to remove the depression under which he had been labouringfor the past twelve hours and more. In its rebound the mercury of hismood had shot higher far than present circumstances warranted. He wasdisposed to be optimistic. What had failed last night would certainlynot fail again to-night. What was a day, after all? The Secretary'soffice might be troublesome, but not really troublesome for anothertwenty-four hours at least; and by then they would be well away. 

This joyous confidence of his was his first misfortune. The next wasthat his good spirits were also shared by Miss Bishop, and that shebore no rancour. The two things conjoined to make the delay that in itsconsequences was so deplorable. 

"Good-morning, sir, " she hailed him pleasantly. "It's close upon a monthsince last I saw you. "

"Twenty-one days to the hour, " said he. "I've counted them. "

"I vow I was beginning to believe you dead. "

"I have to thank you for the wreath. "

"The wreath?"

"To deck my grave, " he explained. 

"Must you ever be rallying?" she wondered, and looked at him gravely, remembering that it was his rallying on the last occasion had driven heraway in dudgeon. 

"A man must sometimes laugh at himself or go mad, " said he. "Few realizeit. That is why there are so many madmen in the world. "

"You may laugh at yourself all you will, sir. But sometimes I think youlaugh at me, which is not civil. "

"Then, faith, you're wrong. I laugh only at the comic, and you are notcomic at all. "

"What am I, then?" she asked him, laughing. 

A moment he pondered her, so fair and fresh to behold, so entirelymaidenly and yet so entirely frank and unabashed. 

"You are, " he said, "the niece of the man who owns me his slave. " But hespoke lightly. So lightly that she was encouraged to insistence. 

"Nay, sir, that is an evasion. You shall answer me truthfully thismorning. "

"Truthfully? To answer you at all is a labour. But to answer truthfully!Oh, well, now, I should say of you that he'll be lucky who counts youhis friend. " It was in his mind to add more. But he left it there. 

"That's mighty civil, " said she. "You've a nice taste in compliments, Mr. Blood. Another in your place.... "

"Faith, now, don't I know what another would have said? Don't I know myfellow-man at all?"

"Sometimes I think you do, and sometimes I think you don't. Anyway, youdon't know your fellow-woman. There was that affair of the Spaniards. "

"Will ye never forget it?"

"Never. "

"Bad cess to your memory. Is there no good in me at all that you couldbe dwelling on instead?"

"Oh, several things. "

"For instance, now?" He was almost eager. 

"You speak excellent Spanish. "

"Is that all?" He sank back into dismay. 

"Where did you learn it? Have you been in Spain?"

"That I have. I was two years in a Spanish prison. "

"In prison?" Her tone suggested apprehensions in which he had no desireto leave her. 

"As a prisoner of war, " he explained. "I was taken fighting with theFrench--in French service, that is. "

"But you're a doctor!" she cried. 

"That's merely a diversion, I think. By trade I am a soldier--at least, it's a trade I followed for ten years. It brought me no great gear, but it served me better than medicine, which, as you may observe, hasbrought me into slavery. I'm thinking it's more pleasing in the sight ofHeaven to kill men than to heal them. Sure it must be. "

"But how came you to be a soldier, and to serve the French?"

"I am Irish, you see, and I studied medicine. Therefore--since it's aperverse nation we are--.... Oh, but it's a long story, and the Colonelwill be expecting my return. " She was not in that way to be defraudedof her entertainment. If he would wait a moment they would ride backtogether. She had but come to enquire of the Governor's health at heruncle's request. 

So he waited, and so they rode back together to Colonel Bishop's house. They rode very slowly, at a walking pace, and some whom they passedmarvelled to see the doctor-slave on such apparently intimate terms withhis owner's niece. One or two may have promised themselves that theywould drop a hint to the Colonel. But the two rode oblivious of allothers in the world that morning. He was telling her the story of hisearly turbulent days, and at the end of it he dwelt more fully thanhitherto upon the manner of his arrest and trial. 

The tale was barely done when they drew up at the Colonel's door, anddismounted, Peter Blood surrendering his nag to one of the negro grooms, who informed them that the Colonel was from home at the moment. 

Even then they lingered a moment, she detaining him. 

"I am sorry, Mr. Blood, that I did not know before, " she said, and therewas a suspicion of moisture in those clear hazel eyes. With a compellingfriendliness she held out her hand to him. 

"Why, what difference could it have made?" he asked. 

"Some, I think. You have been very hardly used by Fate. "

"Och, now.... " He paused. His keen sapphire eyes considered her steadilya moment from under his level black brows. "It might have been worse, "he said, with a significance which brought a tinge of colour to hercheeks and a flutter to her eyelids. 

He stooped to kiss her hand before releasing it, and she did not denyhim. Then he turned and strode off towards the stockade a half-mileaway, and a vision of her face went with him, tinted with a rising blushand a sudden unusual shyness. He forgot in that little moment that hewas a rebel-convict with ten years of slavery before him; he forgotthat he had planned an escape, which was to be carried into effectthat night; forgot even the peril of discovery which as a result of theGovernor's gout now overhung him. 

CHAPTER VII. PIRATES

Mr. James Nuttall made all speed, regardless of the heat, in his journeyfrom Bridgetown to Colonel Bishop's plantation, and if ever man wasbuilt for speed in a hot climate that man was Mr. James Nuttall, withhis short, thin body, and his long, fleshless legs. So withered washe that it was hard to believe there were any juices left in him, yetjuices there must have been, for he was sweating violently by the timehe reached the stockade. 

At the entrance he almost ran into the overseer Kent, a squat, bow-legged animal with the arms of a Hercules and the jowl of a bulldog. 

"I am seeking Doctor Blood, " he announced breathlessly. 

"You are in a rare haste, " growled Kent. "What the devil is it? Twins?"

"Eh? Oh! Nay, nay. I'm not married, sir. It's a cousin of mine, sir. "

"What is?"

"He is taken bad, sir, " Nuttall lied promptly upon the cue that Kenthimself had afforded him. "Is the doctor here?"

"That's his hut yonder. " Kent pointed carelessly. "If he's not there, he'll be somewhere else. " And he took himself off. He was a surly, ungracious beast at all times, readier with the lash of his whip thanwith his tongue. 

Nuttall watched him go with satisfaction, and even noted the directionthat he took. Then he plunged into the enclosure, to verify inmortification that Dr. Blood was not at home. A man of sense might havesat down and waited, judging that to be the quickest and surest way inthe end. But Nuttall had no sense. He flung out of the stockade again, hesitated a moment as to which direction he should take, and finallydecided to go any way but the way that Kent had gone. He sped acrossthe parched savannah towards the sugar plantation which stood solid asa rampart and gleaming golden in the dazzling June sunshine. Avenuesintersected the great blocks of ripening amber cane. In the distancedown one of these he espied some slaves at work. Nuttall entered theavenue and advanced upon them. They eyed him dully, as he passed them. Pitt was not of their number, and he dared not ask for him. He continuedhis search for best part of an hour, up one of those lanes and thendown another. Once an overseer challenged him, demanding to know hisbusiness. He was looking, he said, for Dr. Blood. His cousin wastaken ill. The overseer bade him go to the devil, and get out of theplantation. Blood was not there. If he was anywhere he would be in hishut in the stockade. 

Nuttall passed on, upon the understanding that he would go. But he wentin the wrong direction; he went on towards the side of the plantationfarthest from the stockade, towards the dense woods that fringed itthere. The overseer was too contemptuous and perhaps too languid in thestifling heat of approaching noontide to correct his course. 

Nuttall blundered to the end of the avenue, and round the corner ofit, and there ran into Pitt, alone, toiling with a wooden spade upon anirrigation channel. A pair of cotton drawers, loose and ragged, clothedhim from waist to knee; above and below he was naked, save for a broadhat of plaited straw that sheltered his unkempt golden head from therays of the tropical sun. At sight of him Nuttall returned thanks aloudto his Maker. Pitt stared at him, and the shipwright poured out hisdismal news in a dismal tone. The sum of it was that he must have tenpounds from Blood that very morning or they were all undone. And all hegot for his pains and his sweat was the condemnation of Jeremy Pitt. 

"Damn you for a fool!" said the slave. "If it's Blood you're seeking, why are you wasting your time here?"

"I can't find him, " bleated Nuttall. He was indignant at his reception. He forgot the jangled state of the other's nerves after a night ofanxious wakefulness ending in a dawn of despair. "I thought thatyou.... "

"You thought that I could drop my spade and go and seek him for you? Isthat what you thought? My God! that our lives should depend upon such adummerhead. While you waste your time here, the hours are passing! Andif an overseer should catch you talking to me? How'll you explain it?"

For a moment Nuttall was bereft of speech by such ingratitude. Then heexploded. 

"I would to Heaven I had never had no hand in this affair. I would so! Iwish that.... "

What else he wished was never known, for at that moment round the blockof cane came a big man in biscuit-coloured taffetas followed by twonegroes in cotton drawers who were armed with cutlasses. He was notten yards away, but his approach over the soft, yielding marl had beenunheard. 

Mr. Nuttall looked wildly this way and that a moment, then bolted likea rabbit for the woods, thus doing the most foolish and betraying thingthat in the circumstances it was possible for him to do. Pitt groanedand stood still, leaning upon his spade. 

"Hi, there! Stop!" bawled Colonel Bishop after the fugitive, and addedhorrible threats tricked out with some rhetorical indecencies. 

But the fugitive held amain, and never so much as turned his head. Itwas his only remaining hope that Colonel Bishop might not have seen hisface; for the power and influence of Colonel Bishop was quite sufficientto hang any man whom he thought would be better dead. 

Not until the runagate had vanished into the scrub did the plantersufficiently recover from his indignant amazement to remember the twonegroes who followed at his heels like a brace of hounds. It was abodyguard without which he never moved in his plantations since a slavehad made an attack upon him and all but strangled him a couple of yearsago. 

"After him, you black swine!" he roared at them. But as they started hechecked them. "Wait! Get to heel, damn you!"

It occurred to him that to catch and deal with the fellow there was notthe need to go after him, and perhaps spend the day hunting him in thatcursed wood. There was Pitt here ready to his hand, and Pitt should tellhim the identity of his bashful friend, and also the subject of thatclose and secret talk he had disturbed. Pitt might, of course, bereluctant. So much the worse for Pitt. The ingenious Colonel Bishop knewa dozen ways--some of them quite diverting--of conquering stubbornnessin these convict dogs. 

He turned now upon the slave a countenance that was inflamed by heatinternal and external, and a pair of heady eyes that were alight withcruel intelligence. He stepped forward swinging his light bamboo cane. 

"Who was that runagate?" he asked with terrible suavity. Leaning over onhis spade, Jeremy Pitt hung his head a little, and shifted uncomfortablyon his bare feet. Vainly he groped for an answer in a mind that could donothing but curse the idiocy of Mr. James Nuttall. 

The planter's bamboo cane fell on the lad's naked shoulders withstinging force. 

"Answer me, you dog! What's his name?"

Jeremy looked at the burly planter out of sullen, almost defiant eyes. 

"I don't know, " he said, and in his voice there was a faint note atleast of the defiance aroused in him by a blow which he dared not, forhis life's sake, return. His body had remained unyielding under it, butthe spirit within writhed now in torment. 

"You don't know? Well, here's to quicken your wits. " Again the canedescended. "Have you thought of his name yet?"

"I have not. "

"Stubborn, eh?" For a moment the Colonel leered. Then his passionmastered him. "'Swounds! You impudent dog! D'you trifle with me? D'youthink I'm to be mocked?"

Pitt shrugged, shifted sideways on his feet again, and settled intodogged silence. Few things are more provocative; and Colonel Bishop'stemper was never one that required much provocation. Brute fury nowawoke in him. Fiercely now he lashed those defenceless shoulders, accompanying each blow by blasphemy and foul abuse, until, stung beyondendurance, the lingering embers of his manhood fanned into momentaryflame, Pitt sprang upon his tormentor. 

But as he sprang, so also sprang the watchful blacks. Muscular bronzearms coiled crushingly about the frail white body, and in a moment theunfortunate slave stood powerless, his wrists pinioned behind him in aleathern thong. 

Breathing hard, his face mottled, Bishop pondered him a moment. Then:"Fetch him along, " he said. 

Down the long avenue between those golden walls of cane standing someeight feet high, the wretched Pitt was thrust by his black captors inthe Colonel's wake, stared at with fearful eyes by his fellow-slaves atwork there. Despair went with him. What torments might immediately awaithim he cared little, horrible though he knew they would be. The realsource of his mental anguish lay in the conviction that the elaboratelyplanned escape from this unutterable hell was frustrated now in the verymoment of execution. 

They came out upon the green plateau and headed for the stockade andthe overseer's white house. Pitt's eyes looked out over Carlisle Bay, ofwhich this plateau commanded a clear view from the fort on one side tothe long sheds of the wharf on the other. Along this wharf a few shallowboats were moored, and Pitt caught himself wondering which of these wasthe wherry in which with a little luck they might have been now at sea. Out over that sea his glance ranged miserably. 

In the roads, standing in for the shore before a gentle breeze thatscarcely ruffled the sapphire surface of the Caribbean, came a statelyred-hulled frigate, flying the English ensign. 

Colonel Bishop halted to consider her, shading his eyes with his fleshlyhand. Light as was the breeze, the vessel spread no canvas to it beyondthat of her foresail. Furled was her every other sail, leaving a clearview of the majestic lines of her hull, from towering stern castle togilded beakhead that was aflash in the dazzling sunshine. 

So leisurely an advance argued a master indifferently acquainted withthese waters, who preferred to creep forward cautiously, sounding hisway. At her present rate of progress it would be an hour, perhaps, before she came to anchorage within the harbour. And whilst the Colonelviewed her, admiring, perhaps, the gracious beauty of her, Pitt washurried forward into the stockade, and clapped into the stocks thatstood there ready for slaves who required correction. 

Colonel Bishop followed him presently, with leisurely, rolling gait. 

"A mutinous cur that shows his fangs to his master must learn goodmanners at the cost of a striped hide, " was all he said before settingabout his executioner's job. 

That with his own hands he should do that which most men of his stationwould, out of self-respect, have relegated to one of the negroes, givesyou the measure of the man's beastliness. It was almost as if withrelish, as if gratifying some feral instinct of cruelty, that he nowlashed his victim about head and shoulders. Soon his cane was reduced, to splinters by his violence. You know, perhaps, the sting of a flexiblebamboo cane when it is whole. But do you realize its murderous qualitywhen it has been split into several long lithe blades, each with an edgethat is of the keenness of a knife?

When, at last, from very weariness, Colonel Bishop flung away the stumpand thongs to which his cane had been reduced, the wretched slave's backwas bleeding pulp from neck to waist. 

As long as full sensibility remained, Jeremy Pitt had made no sound. But in a measure as from pain his senses were mercifully dulled, he sankforward in the stocks, and hung there now in a huddled heap, faintlymoaning. 

Colonel Bishop set his foot upon the crossbar, and leaned over hisvictim, a cruel smile on his full, coarse face. 

"Let that teach you a proper submission, " said he. "And now touchingthat shy friend of yours, you shall stay here without meat ordrink--without meat or drink, d' ye hear me?--until you please to tellme his name and business. " He took his foot from the bar. "When you'vehad enough of this, send me word, and we'll have the branding-irons toyou. "

On that he swung on his heel, and strode out of the stockade, hisnegroes following. 

Pitt had heard him, as we hear things in our dreams. At the moment sospent was he by his cruel punishment, and so deep was the despair intowhich he had fallen, that he no longer cared whether he lived or died. 

Soon, however, from the partial stupor which pain had mercifullyinduced, a new variety of pain aroused him. The stocks stood in theopen under the full glare of the tropical sun, and its blistering raysstreamed down upon that mangled, bleeding back until he felt as ifflames of fire were searing it. And, soon, to this was added a tormentstill more unspeakable. Flies, the cruel flies of the Antilles, drawn bythe scent of blood, descended in a cloud upon him. 

Small wonder that the ingenious Colonel Bishop, who so well understoodthe art of loosening stubborn tongues, had not deemed it necessary tohave recourse to other means of torture. Not all his fiendish crueltycould devise a torment more cruel, more unendurable than the tormentsNature would here procure a man in Pitt's condition. 

The slave writhed in his stocks until he was in danger of breaking hislimbs, and writhing, screamed in agony. 

Thus was he found by Peter Blood, who seemed to his troubled visionto materialize suddenly before him. Mr. Blood carried a large palmettoleaf. Having whisked away with this the flies that were devouringJeremy's back, he slung it by a strip of fibre from the lad's neck, sothat it protected him from further attacks as well as from the rays ofthe sun. Next, sitting down beside him, he drew the sufferer's head downon his own shoulder, and bathed his face from a pannikin of cold water. Pitt shuddered and moaned on a long, indrawn breath. 

"Drink!" he gasped. "Drink, for the love of Christ!" The pannikin washeld to his quivering lips. He drank greedily, noisily, nor ceaseduntil he had drained the vessel. Cooled and revived by the draught, heattempted to sit up. 

"My back!" he screamed. 

There was an unusual glint in Mr. Blood's eyes; his lips werecompressed. But when he parted them to speak, his voice came cool andsteady. 

"Be easy, now. One thing at a time. Your back's taking no harm at allfor the present, since I've covered it up. I'm wanting to know what'shappened to you. D' ye think we can do without a navigator that ye goand provoke that beast Bishop until he all but kills you?"

Pitt sat up and groaned again. But this time his anguish was mentalrather than physical. 

"I don't think a navigator will be needed this time, Peter. "

"What's that?" cried Mr. Blood. 

Pitt explained the situation as briefly as he could, in a halting, gasping speech. "I'm to rot here until I tell him the identity of myvisitor and his business. "

Mr. Blood got up, growling in his throat. "Bad cess to the filthyslaver!" said he. "But it must be contrived, nevertheless. To the devilwith Nuttall! Whether he gives surety for the boat or not, whether heexplains it or not, the boat remains, and we're going, and you're comingwith us. "

"You're dreaming, Peter, " said the prisoner. "We're not going this time. The magistrates will confiscate the boat since the surety's not paid, even if when they press him Nuttall does not confess the whole plan andget us all branded on the forehead. "

Mr. Blood turned away, and with agony in his eyes looked out to sea overthe blue water by which he had so fondly hoped soon to be travellingback to freedom. 

The great red ship had drawn considerably nearer shore by now. Slowly, majestically, she was entering the bay. Already one or two wherries wereputting off from the wharf to board her. From where he stood, Mr. Bloodcould see the glinting of the brass cannons mounted on the prow abovethe curving beak-head, and he could make out the figure of a seaman inthe forechains on her larboard side, leaning out to heave the lead. 

An angry voice aroused him from his unhappy thoughts. 

"What the devil are you doing here?"

The returning Colonel Bishop came striding into the stockade, hisnegroes following ever. 

Mr. Blood turned to face him, and over that swarthy countenance--which, indeed, by now was tanned to the golden brown of a half-caste Indian--amask descended. 

"Doing?" said he blandly. "Why, the duties of my office. "

The Colonel, striding furiously forward, observed two things. Theempty pannikin on the seat beside the prisoner, and the palmetto leafprotecting his back. "Have you dared to do this?" The veins on theplanter's forehead stood out like cords. 

"Of course I have. " Mr. Blood's tone was one of faint surprise. 

"I said he was to have neither meat nor drink until I ordered it. "

"Sure, now, I never heard ye. "

"You never heard me? How should you have heard me when you weren'there?"

"Then how did ye expect me to know what orders ye'd given?" Mr. Blood'stone was positively aggrieved. "All that I knew was that one of yourslaves was being murthered by the sun and the flies. And I says tomyself, this is one of the Colonel's slaves, and I'm the Colonel'sdoctor, and sure it's my duty to be looking after the Colonel'sproperty. So I just gave the fellow a spoonful of water and covered hisback from the sun. And wasn't I right now?"

"Right?" The Colonel was almost speechless. 

"Be easy, now, be easy!" Mr. Blood implored him. "It's an apoplexy ye'llbe contacting if ye give way to heat like this. "

The planter thrust him aside with an imprecation, and stepping forwardtore the palmetto leaf from the prisoner's back. 

"In the name of humanity, now.... " Mr. Blood was beginning. 

The Colonel swung upon him furiously. "Out of this!" he commanded. "Anddon't come near him again until I send for you, unless you want to beserved in the same way. "

He was terrific in his menace, in his bulk, and in the power of him. ButMr. Blood never flinched. It came to the Colonel, as he found himselfsteadily regarded by those light-blue eyes that looked so arrestinglyodd in that tawny face--like pale sapphires set in copper--that thisrogue had for some time now been growing presumptuous. It was a matterthat he must presently correct. Meanwhile Mr. Blood was speaking again, his tone quietly insistent. 

"In the name of humanity, " he repeated, "ye'll allow me to do what I canto ease his sufferings, or I swear to you that I'll forsake at once theduties of a doctor, and that it's devil another patient will I attend inthis unhealthy island at all. "

For an instant the Colonel was too amazed to speak. Then--

"By God!" he roared. "D'ye dare take that tone with me, you dog? D'yedare to make terms with me?"

"I do that. " The unflinching blue eyes looked squarely into theColonel's, and there was a devil peeping out of them, the devil ofrecklessness that is born of despair. 

Colonel Bishop considered him for a long moment in silence. "I've beentoo soft with you, " he said at last. "But that's to be mended. " And hetightened his lips. "I'll have the rods to you, until there's not aninch of skin left on your dirty back. "

"Will ye so? And what would Governor Steed do, then?"

"Ye're not the only doctor on the island. "

Mr. Blood actually laughed. "And will ye tell that to his excellency, him with the gout in his foot so bad that he can't stand? Ye know verywell it's devil another doctor will he tolerate, being an intelligentman that knows what's good for him. "

But the Colonel's brute passion thoroughly aroused was not so easily tobe baulked. "If you're alive when my blacks have done with you, perhapsyou'll come to your senses. "

He swung to his negroes to issue an order. But it was never issued. Atthat moment a terrific rolling thunderclap drowned his voice and shookthe very air. Colonel Bishop jumped, his negroes jumped with him, and soeven did the apparently imperturbable Mr. Blood. Then the four of themstared together seawards. 

Down in the bay all that could be seen of the great ship, standing nowwithin a cable's-length of the fort, were her topmasts thrusting abovea cloud of smoke in which she was enveloped. From the cliffs a flightof startled seabirds had risen to circle in the blue, giving tongue totheir alarm, the plaintive curlew noisiest of all. 

As those men stared from the eminence on which they stood, not yetunderstanding what had taken place, they saw the British Jack dip fromthe main truck and vanish into the rising cloud below. A moment more, and up through that cloud to replace the flag of England soared the goldand crimson banner of Castile. And then they understood. 

"Pirates!" roared the Colonel, and again, "Pirates!"

Fear and incredulity were blent in his voice. He had paled under his tanuntil his face was the colour of clay, and there was a wild fury in hisbeady eyes. His negroes looked at him, grinning idiotically, all teethand eyeballs. 

CHAPTER VIII. SPANIARDS

The stately ship that had been allowed to sail so leisurely intoCarlisle Bay under her false colours was a Spanish privateer, coming topay off some of the heavy debt piled up by the predaceous Brethren ofthe Coast, and the recent defeat by the Pride of Devon of two treasuregalleons bound for Cadiz. It happened that the galleon which escaped ina more or less crippled condition was commanded by Don Diego de Espinosay Valdez, who was own brother to the Spanish Admiral Don Miguel deEspinosa, and who was also a very hasty, proud, and hot-temperedgentleman. 

Galled by his defeat, and choosing to forget that his own conduct hadinvited it, he had sworn to teach the English a sharp lesson which theyshould remember. He would take a leaf out of the book of Morgan andthose other robbers of the sea, and make a punitive raid upon an Englishsettlement. Unfortunately for himself and for many others, his brotherthe Admiral was not at hand to restrain him when for this purpose hefitted out the Cinco Llagas at San Juan de Porto Rico. He chose forhis objective the island of Barbados, whose natural strength was apt torender her defenders careless. He chose it also because thither had thePride of Devon been tracked by his scouts, and he desired a measure ofpoetic justice to invest his vengeance. And he chose a moment when therewere no ships of war at anchor in Carlisle Bay. 

He had succeeded so well in his intentions that he had aroused nosuspicion until he saluted the fort at short range with a broadside oftwenty guns. 

And now the four gaping watchers in the stockade on the headland beheldthe great ship creep forward under the rising cloud of smoke, her mainsail unfurled to increase her steering way, and go aboutclose-hauled to bring her larboard guns to bear upon the unready fort. 

With the crashing roar of that second broadside, Colonel Bishop awokefrom stupefaction to a recollection of where his duty lay. In the townbelow drums were beating frantically, and a trumpet was bleating, asif the peril needed further advertising. As commander of the BarbadosMilitia, the place of Colonel Bishop was at the head of his scantytroops, in that fort which the Spanish guns were pounding into rubble. 

Remembering it, he went off at the double, despite his bulk and theheat, his negroes trotting after him. 

Mr. Blood turned to Jeremy Pitt. He laughed grimly. "Now that, " said he, "is what I call a timely interruption. Though what'll come of it, " headded as an afterthought, "the devil himself knows. "

As a third broadside was thundering forth, he picked up the palmettoleaf and carefully replaced it on the back of his fellow-slave. 

And then into the stockade, panting and sweating, came Kent followed bybest part of a score of plantation workers, some of whom were black andall of whom were in a state of panic. He led them into the low whitehouse, to bring them forth again, within a moment, as it seemed, armednow with muskets and hangers and some of them equipped with bandoleers. 

By this time the rebels-convict were coming in, in twos and threes, having abandoned their work upon finding themselves unguarded and uponscenting the general dismay. 

Kent paused a moment, as his hastily armed guard dashed forth, to flingan order to those slaves. 

"To the woods!" he bade them. "Take to the woods, and lie close there, until this is over, and we've gutted these Spanish swine. "

On that he went off in haste after his men, who were to be added tothose massing in the town, so as to oppose and overwhelm the Spanishlanding parties. 

The slaves would have obeyed him on the instant but for Mr. Blood. 

"What need for haste, and in this heat?" quoth he. He was surprisinglycool, they thought. "Maybe there'll be no need to take to the woods atall, and, anyway, it will be time enough to do so when the Spaniards aremasters of the town. "

And so, joined now by the other stragglers, and numbering in all around score--rebels-convict all--they stayed to watch from theirvantage-ground the fortunes of the furious battle that was being wagedbelow. 

The landing was contested by the militia and by every islander capableof bearing arms with the fierce resoluteness of men who knew thatno quarter was to be expected in defeat. The ruthlessness of Spanishsoldiery was a byword, and not at his worst had Morgan or L'Ollonaisever perpetrated such horrors as those of which these Castiliangentlemen were capable. 

But this Spanish commander knew his business, which was more than couldtruthfully be said for the Barbados Militia. Having gained the advantageof a surprise blow, which had put the fort out of action, he soon showedthem that he was master of the situation. His guns turned now upon theopen space behind the mole, where the incompetent Bishop had marshalledhis men, tore the militia into bloody rags, and covered the landingparties which were making the shore in their own boats and in severalof those which had rashly gone out to the great ship before her identitywas revealed. 

All through the scorching afternoon the battle went on, the rattle andcrack of musketry penetrating ever deeper into the town to show thatthe defenders were being driven steadily back. By sunset two hundred andfifty Spaniards were masters of Bridgetown, the islanders were disarmed, and at Government House, Governor Steed--his gout forgotten in hispanic--supported by Colonel Bishop and some lesser officers, was beinginformed by Don Diego, with an urbanity that was itself a mockery, ofthe sum that would be required in ransom. 

For a hundred thousand pieces of eight and fifty head of cattle, DonDiego would forbear from reducing the place to ashes. And what timethat suave and courtly commander was settling these details with theapoplectic British Governor, the Spaniards were smashing and looting, feasting, drinking, and ravaging after the hideous manner of their kind. 

Mr. Blood, greatly daring, ventured down at dusk into the town. Whathe saw there is recorded by Jeremy Pitt to whom he subsequently relatedit--in that voluminous log from which the greater part of my narrativeis derived. I have no intention of repeating any of it here. It isall too loathsome and nauseating, incredible, indeed, that men howeverabandoned could ever descend such an abyss of bestial cruelty and lust. 

What he saw was fetching him in haste and white-faced out of that hellagain, when in a narrow street a girl hurtled into him, wild-eyed, herunbound hair streaming behind her as she ran. After her, laughing andcursing in a breath, came a heavy-booted Spaniard. Almost he was uponher, when suddenly Mr. Blood got in his way. The doctor had taken asword from a dead man's side some little time before and armed himselfwith it against an emergency. 

As the Spaniard checked in anger and surprise, he caught in the dusk thelivid gleam of that sword which Mr. Blood had quickly unsheathed. 

"Ah, perro ingles!" he shouted, and flung forward to his death. 

"It's hoping I am ye're in a fit state to meet your Maker, " said Mr. Blood, and ran him through the body. He did the thing skilfully: withthe combined skill of swordsman and surgeon. The man sank in a hideousheap without so much as a groan. 

Mr. Blood swung to the girl, who leaned panting and sobbing against awall. He caught her by the wrist. 

"Come!" he said. 

But she hung back, resisting him by her weight. "Who are you?" shedemanded wildly. 

"Will ye wait to see my credentials?" he snapped. Steps were clatteringtowards them from beyond the corner round which she had fled fromthat Spanish ruffian. "Come, " he urged again. And this time, reassuredperhaps by his clear English speech, she went without further questions. 

They sped down an alley and then up another, by great good fortunemeeting no one, for already they were on the outskirts of the town. Theywon out of it, and white-faced, physically sick, Mr. Blood dragged heralmost at a run up the hill towards Colonel Bishop's house. He told herbriefly who and what he was, and thereafter there was no conversationbetween them until they reached the big white house. It was all indarkness, which at least was reassuring. If the Spaniards had reachedit, there would be lights. He knocked, but had to knock again and yetagain before he was answered. Then it was by a voice from a windowabove. 

"Who is there?" The voice was Miss Bishop's, a little tremulous, butunmistakably her own. 

Mr. Blood almost fainted in relief. He had been imagining theunimaginable. He had pictured her down in that hell out of which he hadjust come. He had conceived that she might have followed her uncle intoBridgetown, or committed some other imprudence, and he turned cold fromhead to foot at the mere thought of what might have happened to her. 

"It is I--Peter Blood, " he gasped. 

"What do you want?"

It is doubtful whether she would have come down to open. For at sucha time as this it was no more than likely that the wretched plantationslaves might be in revolt and prove as great a danger as the Spaniards. But at the sound of her voice, the girl Mr. Blood had rescued peered upthrough the gloom. 

"Arabella!" she called. "It is I, Mary Traill. "

"Mary!" The voice ceased above on that exclamation, the head waswithdrawn. After a brief pause the door gaped wide. Beyond it inthe wide hall stood Miss Arabella, a slim, virginal figure in white, mysteriously revealed in the gleam of a single candle which she carried. 

Mr. Blood strode in followed by his distraught companion, who, fallingupon Arabella's slender bosom, surrendered herself to a passion oftears. But he wasted no time. 

"Whom have you here with you? What servants?" he demanded sharply. 

The only male was James, an old negro groom. 

"The very man, " said Blood. "Bid him get out horses. Then away with youto Speightstown, or even farther north, where you will be safe. Here youare in danger--in dreadful danger. "

"But I thought the fighting was over... " she was beginning, pale andstartled. 

"So it is. But the deviltry's only beginning. Miss Traill will tell youas you go. In God's name, madam, take my word for it, and do as I bidyou. "

"He... He saved me, " sobbed Miss Traill. 

"Saved you?" Miss Bishop was aghast. "Saved you from what, Mary?"

"Let that wait, " snapped Mr. Blood almost angrily. "You've all the nightfor chattering when you're out of this, and away beyond their reach. Will you please call James, and do as I say--and at once!"

"You are very peremptory.... "

"Oh, my God! I am peremptory! Speak, Miss Trail!, tell her whether I'vecause to be peremptory. "

"Yes, yes, " the girl cried, shuddering. "Do as he says--Oh, for pity'ssake, Arabella. "

Miss Bishop went off, leaving Mr. Blood and Miss Traill alone again. 

"I... I shall never forget what you did, sir, " said she, through herdiminishing tears. She was a slight wisp of a girl, a child, no more. 

"I've done better things in my time. That's why I'm here, " said Mr. Blood, whose mood seemed to be snappy. 

She didn't pretend to understand him, and she didn't make the attempt. 

"Did you... Did you kill him?" she asked, fearfully. 

He stared at her in the flickering candlelight. "I hope so. It is veryprobable, and it doesn't matter at all, " he said. "What matters is thatthis fellow James should fetch the horses. " And he was stamping off toaccelerate these preparations for departure, when her voice arrestedhim. 

"Don't leave me! Don't leave me here alone!" she cried in terror. 

He paused. He turned and came slowly back. Standing above her he smiledupon her. 

"There, there! You've no cause for alarm. It's all over now. You'll beaway soon--away to Speightstown, where you'll be quite safe. "

The horses came at last--four of them, for in addition to James who wasto act as her guide, Miss Bishop had her woman, who was not to be leftbehind. 

Mr. Blood lifted the slight weight of Mary Traill to her horse, thenturned to say good-bye to Miss Bishop, who was already mounted. Hesaid it, and seemed to have something to add. But whatever it was, itremained unspoken. The horses started, and receded into the sapphirestarlit night, leaving him standing there before Colonel Bishop's door. The last he heard of them was Mary Traill's childlike voice calling backon a quavering note--

"I shall never forget what you did, Mr. Blood. I shall never forget. "

But as it was not the voice he desired to hear, the assurance broughthim little satisfaction. He stood there in the dark watching thefireflies amid the rhododendrons, till the hoofbeats had faded. Then hesighed and roused himself. He had much to do. His journey into the townhad not been one of idle curiosity to see how the Spaniards conductedthemselves in victory. It had been inspired by a very different purpose, and he had gained in the course of it all the information he desired. Hehad an extremely busy night before him, and must be moving. 

He went off briskly in the direction of the stockade, where hisfellow-slaves awaited him in deep anxiety and some hope. 

CHAPTER IX. THE REBELS-CONVICT

There were, when the purple gloom of the tropical night descended uponthe Caribbean, not more than ten men on guard aboard the Cinco Llagas, so confident--and with good reason--were the Spaniards of the completesubjection of the islanders. And when I say that there were ten men onguard, I state rather the purpose for which they were left aboard thanthe duty which they fulfilled. As a matter of fact, whilst the main bodyof the Spaniards feasted and rioted ashore, the Spanish gunner and hiscrew--who had so nobly done their duty and ensured the easy victory ofthe day--were feasting on the gun-deck upon the wine and the fresh meatsfetched out to them from shore. Above, two sentinels only kept vigil, atstem and stern. Nor were they as vigilant as they should have been, orelse they must have observed the two wherries that under cover of thedarkness came gliding from the wharf, with well-greased rowlocks, tobring up in silence under the great ship's quarter. 

From the gallery aft still hung the ladder by which Don Diego haddescended to the boat that had taken him ashore. The sentry on guard inthe stern, coming presently round this gallery, was suddenly confrontedby the black shadow of a man standing before him at the head of theladder. 

"Who's there?" he asked, but without alarm, supposing it one of hisfellows. 

"It is I, " softly answered Peter Blood in the fluent Castillan of whichhe was master. 

"Is it you, Pedro?" The Spaniard came a step nearer. 

"Peter is my name; but I doubt I'll not be the Peter you're expecting. "

"How?" quoth the sentry, checking. 

"This way, " said Mr. Blood. 

The wooden taffrail was a low one, and the Spaniard was taken completelyby surprise. Save for the splash he made as he struck the water, narrowly missing one of the crowded boats that waited under the counter, not a sound announced his misadventure. Armed as he was with corselet, cuissarts, and headpiece, he sank to trouble them no more. 

"Whist!" hissed Mr. Blood to his waiting rebels-convict. "Come on, now, and without noise. "

Within five minutes they had swarmed aboard, the entire twenty of themoverflowing from that narrow gallery and crouching on the quarter-deckitself. Lights showed ahead. Under the great lantern in the prow theysaw the black figure of the other sentry, pacing on the forecastle. Frombelow sounds reached them of the orgy on the gun-deck: a rich male voicewas singing an obscene ballad to which the others chanted in chorus:

"Y estos son los usos de Castilla y de Leon!"

"From what I've seen to-day I can well believe it, " said Mr. Blood, andwhispered: "Forward--after me. "

Crouching low, they glided, noiseless as shadows, to the quarter-deckrail, and thence slipped without sound down into the waist. Two thirdsof them were armed with muskets, some of which they had found in theoverseer's house, and others supplied from the secret hoard that Mr. Blood had so laboriously assembled against the day of escape. Theremainder were equipped with knives and cutlasses. 

In the vessel's waist they hung awhile, until Mr. Blood had satisfiedhimself that no other sentinel showed above decks but that inconvenientfellow in the prow. Their first attention must be for him. Mr. Blood, himself, crept forward with two companions, leaving the others in thecharge of that Nathaniel Hagthorpe whose sometime commission in theKing's Navy gave him the best title to this office. 

Mr. Blood's absence was brief. When he rejoined his comrades there wasno watch above the Spaniards' decks. 

Meanwhile the revellers below continued to make merry at their easein the conviction of complete security. The garrison of Barbados wasoverpowered and disarmed, and their companions were ashore in completepossession of the town, glutting themselves hideously upon the fruitsof victory. What, then, was there to fear? Even when their quarters wereinvaded and they found themselves surrounded by a score of wild, hairy, half-naked men, who--save that they appeared once to have beenwhite--looked like a horde of savages, the Spaniards could not believetheir eyes. 

Who could have dreamed that a handful of forgotten plantation-slaveswould have dared to take so much upon themselves?

The half-drunken Spaniards, their laughter suddenly quenched, the songperishing on their lips, stared, stricken and bewildered at the levelledmuskets by which they were checkmated. 

And then, from out of this uncouth pack of savages that beset them, stepped a slim, tall fellow with light-blue eyes in a tawny face, eyesin which glinted the light of a wicked humour. He addressed them in thepurest Castilian. 

"You will save yourselves pain and trouble by regarding yourselves myprisoners, and suffering yourselves to be quietly bestowed out of harm'sway. "

"Name of God!" swore the gunner, which did no justice at all to anamazement beyond expression. 

"If you please, " said Mr. Blood, and thereupon those gentlemen of Spainwere induced without further trouble beyond a musket prod or two to dropthrough a scuttle to the deck below. 

After that the rebels-convict refreshed themselves with the good thingsin the consumption of which they had interrupted the Spaniards. To tastepalatable Christian food after months of salt fish and maize dumplingswas in itself a feast to these unfortunates. But there were no excesses. Mr. Blood saw to that, although it required all the firmness of which hewas capable. 

Dispositions were to be made without delay against that which mustfollow before they could abandon themselves fully to the enjoyment oftheir victory. This, after all, was no more than a preliminary skirmish, although it was one that afforded them the key to the situation. Itremained to dispose so that the utmost profit might be drawn from it. Those dispositions occupied some very considerable portion of thenight. But, at least, they were complete before the sun peeped overthe shoulder of Mount Hilibay to shed his light upon a day of somesurprises. 

It was soon after sunrise that the rebel-convict who paced thequarter-deck in Spanish corselet and headpiece, a Spanish musket on hisshoulder, announced the approach of a boat. It was Don Diego de Espinosay Valdez coming aboard with four great treasure-chests, containing eachtwenty-five thousand pieces of eight, the ransom delivered to him atdawn by Governor Steed. He was accompanied by his son, Don Esteban, andby six men who took the oars. 

Aboard the frigate all was quiet and orderly as it should be. Sherode at anchor, her larboard to the shore, and the main ladder on herstarboard side. Round to this came the boat with Don Diego and histreasure. Mr. Blood had disposed effectively. It was not for nothingthat he had served under de Ruyter. The swings were waiting, and thewindlass manned. Below, a gun-crew held itself in readiness under thecommand of Ogle, who--as I have said--had been a gunner in the RoyalNavy before he went in for politics and followed the fortunes ofthe Duke of Monmouth. He was a sturdy, resolute fellow who inspiredconfidence by the very confidence he displayed in himself. 

Don Diego mounted the ladder and stepped upon the deck, alone, andentirely unsuspicious. What should the poor man suspect?

Before he could even look round, and survey this guard drawn up toreceive him, a tap over the head with a capstan bar efficiently handledby Hagthorpe put him to sleep without the least fuss. 

He was carried away to his cabin, whilst the treasure-chests, handledby the men he had left in the boat, were being hauled to the deck. Thatbeing satisfactorily accomplished, Don Esteban and the fellows who hadmanned the boat came up the ladder, one by one, to be handled with thesame quiet efficiency. Peter Blood had a genius for these things, andalmost, I suspect, an eye for the dramatic. Dramatic, certainly, was thespectacle now offered to the survivors of the raid. 

With Colonel Bishop at their head, and gout-ridden Governor Steedsitting on the ruins of a wall beside him, they glumly watched thedeparture of the eight boats containing the weary Spanish ruffians whohad glutted themselves with rapine, murder, and violences unspeakable. 

They looked on, between relief at this departure of their remorselessenemies, and despair at the wild ravages which, temporarily at least, had wrecked the prosperity and happiness of that little colony. 

The boats pulled away from the shore, with their loads of laughing, jeering Spaniards, who were still flinging taunts across the water attheir surviving victims. They had come midway between the wharf and theship, when suddenly the air was shaken by the boom of a gun. 

A round shot struck the water within a fathom of the foremost boat, sending a shower of spray over its occupants. They paused at their oars, astounded into silence for a moment. Then speech burst from them likean explosion. Angrily voluble they anathematized this dangerouscarelessness on the part of their gunner, who should know better thanto fire a salute from a cannon loaded with shot. They were still cursinghim when a second shot, better aimed than the first, came to crumple oneof the boats into splinters, flinging its crew, dead and living, intothe water. 

But if it silenced these, it gave tongue, still more angry, vehement, and bewildered to the crews of the other seven boats. From each thesuspended oars stood out poised over the water, whilst on their feet inthe excitement the Spaniards screamed oaths at the ship, begging Heavenand Hell to inform them what madman had been let loose among her guns. 

Plump into their middle came a third shot, smashing a second boat withfearful execution. Followed again a moment of awful silence, then amongthose Spanish pirates all was gibbering and jabbering and splashing ofoars, as they attempted to pull in every direction at once. Some werefor going ashore, others for heading straight to the vessel and therediscovering what might be amiss. That something was very gravely amissthere could be no further doubt, particularly as whilst they discussedand fumed and cursed two more shots came over the water to account foryet a third of their boats. 

The resolute Ogle was making excellent practice, and fully justifyinghis claims to know something of gunnery. In their consternation theSpaniards had simplified his task by huddling their boats together. 

After the fourth shot, opinion was no longer divided amongst them. Aswith one accord they went about, or attempted to do so, for before theyhad accomplished it two more of their boats had been sunk. 

The three boats that remained, without concerning themselves with theirmore unfortunate fellows, who were struggling in the water, headed backfor the wharf at speed. 

If the Spaniards understood nothing of all this, the forlorn islandersashore understood still less, until to help their wits they saw the flagof Spain come down from the mainmast of the Cinco Llagas, and theflag of England soar to its empty place. Even then some bewildermentpersisted, and it was with fearful eyes that they observed the returnof their enemies, who might vent upon them the ferocity aroused by theseextraordinary events. 

Ogle, however, continued to give proof that his knowledge of gunnery wasnot of yesterday. After the fleeing Spaniards went his shots. The lastof their boats flew into splinters as it touched the wharf, and itsremains were buried under a shower of loosened masonry. 

That was the end of this pirate crew, which not ten minutes ago hadbeen laughingly counting up the pieces of eight that would fall tothe portion of each for his share in that act of villainy. Close uponthreescore survivors contrived to reach the shore. Whether they hadcause for congratulation, I am unable to say in the absence of anyrecords in which their fate may be traced. That lack of records is initself eloquent. We know that they were made fast as they landed, andconsidering the offence they had given I am not disposed to doubt thatthey had every reason to regret the survival. 

The mystery of the succour that had come at the eleventh hour towreak vengeance upon the Spaniards, and to preserve for the island theextortionate ransom of a hundred thousand pieces of eight, remained yetto be probed. That the Cinco Llagas was now in friendly hands could nolonger be doubted after the proofs it had given. But who, the peopleof Bridgetown asked one another, were the men in possession of her, andwhence had they come? The only possible assumption ran the truth veryclosely. A resolute party of islanders must have got aboard duringthe night, and seized the ship. It remained to ascertain the preciseidentity of these mysterious saviours, and do them fitting honour. 

Upon this errand--Governor Steed's condition not permitting him to goin person--went Colonel Bishop as the Governor's deputy, attended by twoofficers. 

As he stepped from the ladder into the vessel's waist, the Colonelbeheld there, beside the main hatch, the four treasure-chests, thecontents of one of which had been contributed almost entirely byhimself. It was a gladsome spectacle, and his eyes sparkled in beholdingit. 

Ranged on either side, athwart the deck, stood a score of men in twowell-ordered files, with breasts and backs of steel, polished Spanishmorions on their heads, overshadowing their faces, and muskets orderedat their sides. 

Colonel Bishop could not be expected to recognize at a glance in theseupright, furbished, soldierly figures the ragged, unkempt scarecrowsthat but yesterday had been toiling in his plantations. Still less couldhe be expected to recognize at once the courtly gentleman who advancedto greet him--a lean, graceful gentleman, dressed in the Spanishfashion, all in black with silver lace, a gold-hilted sword danglingbeside him from a gold embroidered baldrick, a broad castor with asweeping plume set above carefully curled ringlets of deepest black. 

"Be welcome aboard the Cinco Llagas, Colonel, darling, " a voice vaguelyfamiliar addressed the planter. "We've made the best of the Spaniards'wardrobe in honour of this visit, though it was scarcely yourself we haddared hope to expect. You find yourself among friends--old friends ofyours, all. " The Colonel stared in stupefaction. Mr. Blood tricked outin all this splendour--indulging therein his natural taste--his facecarefully shaven, his hair as carefully dressed, seemed transformed intoa younger man. The fact is he looked no more than the thirty-three yearshe counted to his age. 

"Peter Blood!" It was an ejaculation of amazement. Satisfaction followedswiftly. "Was it you, then... ?"

"Myself it was--myself and these, my good friends and yours. " Mr. Bloodtossed back the fine lace from his wrist, to wave a hand towards thefile of men standing to attention there. 

The Colonel looked more closely. "Gad's my life!" he crowed on a noteof foolish jubilation. "And it was with these fellows that you tookthe Spaniard and turned the tables on those dogs! Oddswounds! It washeroic!"

"Heroic, is it? Bedad, it's epic! Ye begin to perceive the breadth anddepth of my genius. "

Colonel Bishop sat himself down on the hatch-coaming, took off his broadhat, and mopped his brow. 

"Y'amaze me!" he gasped. "On my soul, y'amaze me! To have recovered thetreasure and to have seized this fine ship and all she'll hold! It willbe something to set against the other losses we have suffered. As Gad'smy life, you deserve well for this. "

"I am entirely of your opinion. "

"Damme! You all deserve well, and damme, you shall find me grateful. "

"That's as it should be, " said Mr. Blood. "The question is how well wedeserve, and how grateful shall we find you?"

Colonel Bishop considered him. There was a shadow of surprise in hisface. 

"Why--his excellency shall write home an account of your exploit, andmaybe some portion of your sentences shall be remitted. "

"The generosity of King James is well known, " sneered NathanielHagthorpe, who was standing by, and amongst the ranged rebels-convictsome one ventured to laugh. 

Colonel Bishop started up. He was pervaded by the first pang ofuneasiness. It occurred to him that all here might not be as friendly asappeared. 

"And there's another matter, " Mr. Blood resumed. "There's a matter ofa flogging that's due to me. Ye're a man of your word in such matters, Colonel--if not perhaps in others--and ye said, I think, that ye'd notleave a square inch of skin on my back. "

The planter waved the matter aside. Almost it seemed to offend him. 

"Tush! Tush! After this splendid deed of yours, do you suppose I can bethinking of such things?"

"I'm glad ye feel like that about it. But I'm thinking it's mighty luckyfor me the Spaniards didn't come to-day instead of yesterday, or it'sin the same plight as Jeremy Pitt I'd be this minute. And in that casewhere was the genius that would have turned the tables on these rascallySpaniards?"

"Why speak of it now?"

Mr. Blood resumed: "ye'll please to understand that I must, Colonel, darling. Ye've worked a deal of wickedness and cruelty in your time, andI want this to be a lesson to you, a lesson that ye'll remember--forthe sake of others who may come after us. There's Jeremy up there in theround-house with a back that's every colour of the rainbow; and the poorlad'll not be himself again for a month. And if it hadn't been for theSpaniards maybe it's dead he'd be by now, and maybe myself with him. "

Hagthorpe lounged forward. He was a fairly tall, vigorous man with aclear-cut, attractive face which in itself announced his breeding. 

"Why will you be wasting words on the hog?" wondered that sometimeofficer in the Royal Navy. "Fling him overboard and have done with him. "

The Colonel's eyes bulged in his head. "What the devil do you mean?" heblustered. 

"It's the lucky man ye are entirely, Colonel, though ye don't guess thesource of your good fortune. "

And now another intervened--the brawny, one-eyed Wolverstone, lessmercifully disposed than his more gentlemanly fellow-convict. 

"String him up from the yardarm, " he cried, his deep voice harsh andangry, and more than one of the slaves standing to their arms made echo. 

Colonel Bishop trembled. Mr. Blood turned. He was quite calm. 

"If you please, Wolverstone, " said he, "I conduct affairs in my own way. That is the pact. You'll please to remember it. " His eyes looked alongthe ranks, making it plain that he addressed them all. "I desire thatColonel Bishop should have his life. One reason is that I require him asa hostage. If ye insist on hanging him, ye'll have to hang me with him, or in the alternative I'll go ashore. "

He paused. There was no answer. But they stood hang-dog andhalf-mutinous before him, save Hagthorpe, who shrugged and smiledwearily. 

Mr. Blood resumed: "Ye'll please to understand that aboard a ship thereis one captain. So. " He swung again to the startled Colonel. "ThoughI promise you your life, I must--as you've heard--keep you aboard as ahostage for the good behaviour of Governor Steed and what's left of thefort until we put to sea. "

"Until you... " Horror prevented Colonel Bishop from echoing theremainder of that incredible speech. 

"Just so, " said Peter Blood, and he turned to the officers who hadaccompanied the Colonel. "The boat is waiting, gentlemen. You'll haveheard what I said. Convey it with my compliments to his excellency. "

"But, sir... " one of them began. 

"There is no more to be said, gentlemen. My name is Blood--CaptainBlood, if you please, of this ship the Cinco Llagas, taken as a prize ofwar from Don Diego de Espinosa y Valdez, who is my prisoner aboard. You are to understand that I have turned the tables on more than theSpaniards. There's the ladder. You'll find it more convenient than beingheaved over the side, which is what'll happen if you linger. "

They went, though not without some hustling, regardless of thebellowings of Colonel Bishop, whose monstrous rage was fanned by terrorat finding himself at the mercy of these men of whose cause to hate himhe was very fully conscious. 

A half-dozen of them, apart from Jeremy Pitt, who was utterlyincapacitated for the present, possessed a superficial knowledgeof seamanship. Hagthorpe, although he had been a fighting officer, untrained in navigation, knew how to handle a ship, and under hisdirections they set about getting under way. 

The anchor catted, and the mainsail unfurled, they stood out for theopen before a gentle breeze, without interference from the fort. 

As they were running close to the headland east of the bay, PeterBlood returned to the Colonel, who, under guard and panic-stricken, haddejectedly resumed his seat on the coamings of the main batch. 

"Can ye swim, Colonel?"

Colonel Bishop looked up. His great face was yellow and seemed in thatmoment of a preternatural flabbiness; his beady eyes were beadier thanever. 

"As your doctor, now, I prescribe a swim to cool the excessive heatof your humours. " Blood delivered the explanation pleasantly, and, receiving still no answer from the Colonel, continued: "It's a mercy foryou I'm not by nature as bloodthirsty as some of my friends here. Andit's the devil's own labour I've had to prevail upon them not to bevindictive. I doubt if ye're worth the pains I've taken for you. "

He was lying. He had no doubt at all. Had he followed his own wishes andinstincts, he would certainly have strung the Colonel up, and accountedit a meritorious deed. It was the thought of Arabella Bishop that hadurged him to mercy, and had led him to oppose the natural vindictivenessof his fellow-slaves until he had been in danger of precipitating amutiny. It was entirely to the fact that the Colonel was her uncle, although he did not even begin to suspect such a cause, that he owedsuch mercy as was now being shown him. 

"You shall have a chance to swim for it, " Peter Blood continued. "It'snot above a quarter of a mile to the headland yonder, and with ordinaryluck ye should manage it. Faith, you're fat enough to float. Come on!Now, don't be hesitating or it's a long voyage ye'll be going with us, and the devil knows what may happen to you. You're not loved any morethan you deserve. "

Colonel Bishop mastered himself, and rose. A merciless despot, who hadnever known the need for restraint in all these years, he was doomed byironic fate to practise restraint in the very moment when his feelingshad reached their most violent intensity. 

Peter Blood gave an order. A plank was run out over the gunwale, andlashed down. 

"If you please, Colonel, " said he, with a graceful flourish ofinvitation. 

The Colonel looked at him, and there was hell in his glance. Then, taking his resolve, and putting the best face upon it, since no othercould help him here, he kicked off his shoes, peeled off his fine coatof biscuit-coloured taffetas, and climbed upon the plank. 

A moment he paused, steadied by a hand that clutched the ratlines, looking down in terror at the green water rushing past somefive-and-twenty feet below. 

"Just take a little walk, Colonel, darling, " said a smooth, mockingvoice behind him. 

Still clinging, Colonel Bishop looked round in hesitation, and saw thebulwarks lined with swarthy faces--the faces of men that as lately asyesterday would have turned pale under his frown, faces that were nowall wickedly agrin. 

For a moment rage stamped out his fear. He cursed them aloud venomouslyand incoherently, then loosed his hold and stepped out upon the plank. Three steps he took before he lost his balance and went tumbling intothe green depths below. 

When he came to the surface again, gasping for air, the Cinco Llagaswas already some furlongs to leeward. But the roaring cheer of mockingvalediction from the rebels-convict reached him across the water, todrive the iron of impotent rage deeper into his soul. 

CHAPTER X. DON DIEGO

Don Diego de Espinosa y Valdez awoke, and with languid eyes in achinghead, he looked round the cabin, which was flooded with sunlight fromthe square windows astern. Then he uttered a moan, and closed his eyesagain, impelled to this by the monstrous ache in his head. Lying thus, he attempted to think, to locate himself in time and space. But betweenthe pain in his head and the confusion in his mind, he found coherentthought impossible. 

An indefinite sense of alarm drove him to open his eyes again, and oncemore to consider his surroundings. 

There could be no doubt that he lay in the great cabin of his ownship, the Cinco Llagas, so that his vague disquiet must be, surely, ill-founded. And yet, stirrings of memory coming now to the assistanceof reflection, compelled him uneasily to insist that here something wasnot as it should be. The low position of the sun, flooding the cabinwith golden light from those square ports astern, suggested to him atfirst that it was early morning, on the assumption that the vessel washeaded westward. Then the alternative occurred to him. They might besailing eastward, in which case the time of day would be late afternoon. That they were sailing he could feel from the gentle forward heave ofthe vessel under him. But how did they come to be sailing, and he, themaster, not to know whether their course lay east or west, not to beable to recollect whither they were bound?

His mind went back over the adventure of yesterday, if of yesterday itwas. He was clear on the matter of the easily successful raid upon theIsland of Barbados; every detail stood vividly in his memory up to themoment at which, returning aboard, he had stepped on to his own deckagain. There memory abruptly and inexplicably ceased. 

He was beginning to torture his mind with conjecture, when the dooropened, and to Don Diego's increasing mystification he beheld his bestsuit of clothes step into the cabin. It was a singularly elegant andcharacteristically Spanish suit of black taffetas with silver lace thathad been made for him a year ago in Cadiz, and he knew each detail of itso well that it was impossible he could now be mistaken. 

The suit paused to close the door, then advanced towards the couch onwhich Don Diego was extended, and inside the suit came a tall, slendergentleman of about Don Diego's own height and shape. Seeing the wide, startled eyes of the Spaniard upon him, the gentleman lengthened hisstride. 

"Awake, eh?" said he in Spanish. 

The recumbent man looked up bewildered into a pair of light-blue eyesthat regarded him out of a tawny, sardonic face set in a cluster ofblack ringlets. But he was too bewildered to make any answer. 

The stranger's fingers touched the top of Don Diego's head, whereuponDon Diego winced and cried out in pain. 

"Tender, eh?" said the stranger. He took Don Diego's wrist between thumband second finger. And then, at last, the intrigued Spaniard spoke. 

"Are you a doctor?"

"Among other things. " The swarthy gentleman continued his study of thepatient's pulse. "Firm and regular, " he announced at last, and droppedthe wrist. "You've taken no great harm. "

Don Diego struggled up into a sitting position on the red velvet couch. 

"Who the devil are you?" he asked. "And what the devil are you doing inmy clothes and aboard my ship?"

The level black eyebrows went up, a faint smile curled the lips of thelong mouth. 

"You are still delirious, I fear. This is not your ship. This is myship, and these are my clothes. "

"Your ship?" quoth the other, aghast, and still more aghast he added:"Your clothes? But... Then.... " Wildly his eyes looked about him. Theyscanned the cabin once again, scrutinizing each familiar object. "Am Imad?" he asked at last. "Surely this ship is the Cinco Llagas?"

"The Cinco Llagas it is. "

"Then.... " The Spaniard broke off. His glance grew still more troubled. "Valga me Dios!" he cried out, like a man in anguish. "Will you tell mealso that you are Don Diego de Espinosa?"

"Oh, no, my name is Blood--Captain Peter Blood. This ship, like thishandsome suit of clothes, is mine by right of conquest. Just as you, DonDiego, are my prisoner. "

Startling as was the explanation, yet it proved soothing to Don Diego, being so much less startling than the things he was beginning toimagine. 

"But... Are you not Spanish, then?"

"You flatter my Castilian accent. I have the honour to be Irish. Youwere thinking that a miracle had happened. So it has--a miracle wroughtby my genius, which is considerable. "

Succinctly now Captain Blood dispelled the mystery by a relation ofthe facts. It was a narrative that painted red and white by turns theSpaniard's countenance. He put a hand to the back of his head, and therediscovered, in confirmation of the story, a lump as large as a pigeon'segg. Lastly, he stared wild-eyed at the sardonic Captain Blood. 

"And my son? What of my son?" he cried out. "He was in the boat thatbrought me aboard. "

"Your son is safe; he and the boat's crew together with your gunner andhis men are snugly in irons under hatches. "

Don Diego sank back on the couch, his glittering dark eyes fixed uponthe tawny face above him. He composed himself. After all, he possessedthe stoicism proper to his desperate trade. The dice had fallen againsthim in this venture. The tables had been turned upon him in the verymoment of success. He accepted the situation with the fortitude of afatalist. 

With the utmost calm he enquired:

"And now, Senior Capitan?"

"And now, " said Captain Blood--to give him the title he hadassumed--"being a humane man, I am sorry to find that ye're not deadfrom the tap we gave you. For it means that you'll be put to the troubleof dying all over again. "

"Ah!" Don Diego drew a deep breath. "But is that necessary?" he asked, without apparent perturbation. 

Captain Blood's blue eyes approved his bearing. "Ask yourself, " said he. "Tell me, as an experienced and bloody pirate, what in my place wouldyou do, yourself?"

"Ah, but there is a difference. " Don Diego sat up to argue the matter. "It lies in the fact that you boast yourself a humane man. "

Captain Blood perched himself on the edge of the long oak table. "ButI am not a fool, " said he, "and I'll not allow a natural Irishsentimentality to stand in the way of my doing what is necessary andproper. You and your ten surviving scoundrels are a menace on this ship. More than that, she is none so well found in water and provisions. True, we are fortunately a small number, but you and your party inconvenientlyincrease it. So that on every hand, you see, prudence suggests tous that we should deny ourselves the pleasure of your company, and, steeling our soft hearts to the inevitable, invite you to be so obligingas to step over the side. "

"I see, " said the Spaniard pensively. He swung his legs from the couch, and sat now upon the edge of it, his elbows on his knees. He had takenthe measure of his man, and met him with a mock-urbanity and a suavedetachment that matched his own. "I confess, " he admitted, "that thereis much force in what you say. "

"You take a load from my mind, " said Captain Blood. "I would not appearunnecessarily harsh, especially since I and my friends owe you so verymuch. For, whatever it may have been to others, to us your raid uponBarbados was most opportune. I am glad, therefore, that you agree the Ihave no choice. "

"But, my friend, I did not agree so much. "

"If there is any alternative that you can suggest, I shall be most happyto consider it. "

Don Diego stroked his pointed black beard. 

"Can you give me until morning for reflection? My head aches so damnablythat I am incapable of thought. And this, you will admit, is a matterthat asks serious thought. "

Captain Blood stood up. From a shelf he took a half-hour glass, reversedit so that the bulb containing the red sand was uppermost, and stood iton the table. 

"I am sorry to press you in such a matter, Don Diego, but one glass isall that I can give you. If by the time those sands have run out you canpropose no acceptable alternative, I shall most reluctantly be driven toask you to go over the side with your friends. "

Captain Blood bowed, went out, and locked the door. Elbows on his kneesand face in his hands, Don Diego sat watching the rusty sands as theyfiltered from the upper to the lower bulb. And what time he watched, thelines in his lean brown face grew deeper. Punctually as the last grainsran out, the door reopened. 

The Spaniard sighed, and sat upright to face the returning Captain Bloodwith the answer for which he came. 

"I have thought of an alternative, sir captain; but it depends uponyour charity. It is that you put us ashore on one of the islands of thispestilent archipelago, and leave us to shift for ourselves. "

Captain Blood pursed his lips. "It has its difficulties, " said heslowly. 

"I feared it would be so. " Don Diego sighed again, and stood up. "Let ussay no more. "

The light-blue eyes played over him like points of steel. 

"You are not afraid to die, Don Diego?"

The Spaniard threw back his head, a frown between his eyes. 

"The question is offensive, sir. "

"Then let me put it in another way--perhaps more happily: You do notdesire to live?"

"Ah, that I can answer. I do desire to live; and even more do I desirethat my son may live. But the desire shall not make a coward of me foryour amusement, master mocker. " It was the first sign he had shown ofthe least heat or resentment. 

Captain Blood did not directly answer. As before he perched himself onthe corner of the table. 

"Would you be willing, sir, to earn life and liberty--for yourself, yourson, and the other Spaniards who are on board?"

"To earn it?" said Don Diego, and the watchful blue eyes did not missthe quiver that ran through him. "To earn it, do you say? Why, if theservice you would propose is one that cannot hurt my honour.... "

"Could I be guilty of that?" protested the Captain. "I realize that evena pirate has his honour. " And forthwith he propounded his offer. "If youwill look from those windows, Don Diego, you will see what appears to bea cloud on the horizon. That is the island of Barbados well astern. Allday we have been sailing east before the wind with but one intent--toset as great a distance between Barbados and ourselves as possible. Butnow, almost out of sight of land, we are in a difficulty. The only manamong us schooled in the art of navigation is fevered, delirious, infact, as a result of certain ill-treatment he received ashore before wecarried him away with us. I can handle a ship in action, and there areone or two men aboard who can assist me; but of the higher mysteries ofseamanship and of the art of finding a way over the trackless wastes ofocean, we know nothing. To hug the land, and go blundering aboutwhat you so aptly call this pestilent archipelago, is for us to courtdisaster, as you can perhaps conceive. And so it comes to this: Wedesire to make for the Dutch settlement of Curacao as straightly aspossible. Will you pledge me your honour, if I release you upon parole, that you will navigate us thither? If so, we will release you and yoursurviving men upon arrival there. "

Don Diego bowed his head upon his breast, and strode away in thought tothe stern windows. There he stood looking out upon the sunlit sea andthe dead water in the great ship's wake--his ship, which these Englishdogs had wrested from him; his ship, which he was asked to bring safelyinto a port where she would be completely lost to him and refittedperhaps to make war upon his kin. That was in one scale; in the otherwere the lives of sixteen men. Fourteen of them mattered little to him, but the remaining two were his own and his son's. 

He turned at length, and his back being to the light, the Captain couldnot see how pale his face had grown. 

"I accept, " he said. 

CHAPTER XI. FILIAL PIETY

By virtue of the pledge he had given, Don Diego de Espinosa enjoyed thefreedom of the ship that had been his, and the navigation which he hadundertaken was left entirely in his hands. And because those who mannedher were new to the seas of the Spanish Main, and because even thethings that had happened in Bridgetown were not enough to teach them toregard every Spaniard as a treacherous, cruel dog to be slain at sight, they used him with the civility which his own suave urbanity invited. He took his meals in the great cabin with Blood and the three officerselected to support him: Hagthorpe, Wolverstone, and Dyke. 

They found Don Diego an agreeable, even an amusing companion, and theirfriendly feeling towards him was fostered by his fortitude and braveequanimity in this adversity. 

That Don Diego was not playing fair it was impossible to suspect. Moreover, there was no conceivable reason why he should not. And he hadbeen of the utmost frankness with them. He had denounced their mistakein sailing before the wind upon leaving Barbados. They should have leftthe island to leeward, heading into the Caribbean and away from thearchipelago. As it was, they would now be forced to pass through thisarchipelago again so as to make Curacao, and this passage was not to beaccomplished without some measure of risk to themselves. At any pointbetween the islands they might come upon an equal or superior craft;whether she were Spanish or English would be equally bad for them, andbeing undermanned they were in no case to fight. To lessen this riskas far as possible, Don Diego directed at first a southerly and thena westerly course; and so, taking a line midway between the islands ofTobago and Grenada, they won safely through the danger-zone and cameinto the comparative security of the Caribbean Sea. 

"If this wind holds, " he told them that night at supper, after he hadannounced to them their position, "we should reach Curacao inside threedays. "

For three days the wind held, indeed it freshened a little on thesecond, and yet when the third night descended upon them they had stillmade no landfall. The Cinco Llagas was ploughing through a sea containedon every side by the blue bowl of heaven. Captain Blood uneasilymentioned it to Don Diego. 

"It will be for to-morrow morning, " he was answered with calmconviction. 

"By all the saints, it is always 'to-morrow morning' with you Spaniards;and to-morrow never comes, my friend. "

"But this to-morrow is coming, rest assured. However early you may beastir, you shall see land ahead, Don Pedro. "

Captain Blood passed on, content, and went to visit Jerry Pitt, hispatient, to whose condition Don Diego owed his chance of life. Fortwenty-four hours now the fever had left the sufferer, and underPeter Blood's dressings, his lacerated back was beginning to healsatisfactorily. So far, indeed, was he recovered that he complained ofhis confinement, of the heat in his cabin. To indulge him Captain Bloodconsented that he should take the air on deck, and so, as the last ofthe daylight was fading from the sky, Jeremy Pitt came forth upon theCaptain's arm. 

Seated on the hatch-coamings, the Somersetshire lad gratefully filledhis lungs with the cool night air, and professed himself revivedthereby. Then with the seaman's instinct his eyes wandered to thedarkling vault of heaven, spangled already with a myriad golden pointsof light. Awhile he scanned it idly, vacantly; then, his attentionbecame sharply fixed. He looked round and up at Captain Blood, who stoodbeside him. 

"D'ye know anything of astronomy, Peter?" quoth he. 

"Astronomy, is it? Faith, now, I couldn't tell the Belt of Orion fromthe Girdle of Venus. "

"Ah! And I suppose all the others of this lubberly crew share yourignorance. "

"It would be more amiable of you to suppose that they exceed it. "

Jeremy pointed ahead to a spot of light in the heavens over thestarboard bow. "That is the North Star, " said he. 

"Is it now? Glory be, I wonder ye can pick it out from the rest. "

"And the North Star ahead almost over your starboard bow means thatwe're steering a course, north, northwest, or maybe north by west, for Idoubt if we are standing more than ten degrees westward. "

"And why shouldn't we?" wondered Captain Blood. 

"You told me--didn't you?--that we came west of the archipelago betweenTobago and Grenada, steering for Curacao. If that were our presentcourse, we should have the North Star abeam, out yonder. "

On the instant Mr. Blood shed his laziness. He stiffened withapprehension, and was about to speak when a shaft of light clove thegloom above their heads, coming from the door of the poop cabin whichhad just been opened. It closed again, and presently there was a stepon the companion. Don Diego was approaching. Captain Blood's fingerspressed Jerry's shoulder with significance. Then he called the Don, and spoke to him in English as had become his custom when others werepresent. 

"Will ye settle a slight dispute for us, Don Diego?" said he lightly. "We are arguing, Mr. Pitt and I, as to which is the North Star. "

"So?" The Spaniard's tone was easy; there was almost a suggestion thatlaughter lurked behind it, and the reason for this was yielded by hisnext sentence. "But you tell me Mr. Pitt he is your navigant?"

"For lack of a better, " laughed the Captain, good-humouredlycontemptuous. "Now I am ready to wager him a hundred pieces of eightthat that is the North Star. " And he flung out an arm towards a pointof light in the heavens straight abeam. He afterwards told Pitt thathad Don Diego confirmed him, he would have run him through upon thatinstant. Far from that, however, the Spaniard freely expressed hisscorn. 

"You have the assurance that is of ignorance, Don Pedro; and you lose. The North Star is this one. " And he indicated it. 

"You are sure?"

"But my dear Don Pedro!" The Spaniard's tone was one of amused protest. "But is it possible that I mistake? Besides, is there not the compass?Come to the binnacle and see there what course we make. "

His utter frankness, and the easy manner of one who has nothing toconceal resolved at once the doubt that had leapt so suddenly in themind of Captain Blood. Pitt was satisfied less easily. 

"In that case, Don Diego, will you tell me, since Curacao is ourdestination, why our course is what it is?"

Again there was no faintest hesitation on Don Diego's part. "You havereason to ask, " said he, and sighed. "I had hope' it would not beobserve'. I have been careless--oh, of a carelessness very culpable. Ineglect observation. Always it is my way. I make too sure. I count toomuch on dead reckoning. And so to-day I find when at last I take outthe quadrant that we do come by a half-degree too much south, so thatCuracao is now almost due north. That is what cause the delay. But wewill be there to-morrow. "

The explanation, so completely satisfactory, and so readily and candidlyforthcoming, left no room for further doubt that Don Diego should havebeen false to his parole. And when presently Don Diego had withdrawnagain, Captain Blood confessed to Pitt that it was absurd to havesuspected him. Whatever his antecedents, he had proved his quality whenhe announced himself ready to die sooner than enter into any undertakingthat could hurt his honour or his country. 

New to the seas of the Spanish Main and to the ways of the adventurerswho sailed it, Captain Blood still entertained illusions. But the nextdawn was to shatter them rudely and for ever. 

Coming on deck before the sun was up, he saw land ahead, as the Spaniardhad promised them last night. Some ten miles ahead it lay, a longcoast-line filling the horizon east and west, with a massive headlandjutting forward straight before them. Staring at it, he frowned. He hadnot conceived that Curacao was of such considerable dimensions. Indeed, this looked less like an island than the main itself. 

Beating out aweather, against the gentle landward breeze he beheld agreat ship on their starboard bow, that he conceived to be some three orfour miles off, and--as well as he could judge her at that distance--ofa tonnage equal if not superior to their own. Even as he watched hershe altered her course, and going about came heading towards them, close-hauled. 

A dozen of his fellows were astir on the forecastle, looking eagerlyahead, and the sound of their voices and laughter reached him across thelength of the stately Cinco Llagas. 

"There, " said a soft voice behind him in liquid Spanish, "is thePromised Land, Don Pedro. "

It was something in that voice, a muffled note of exultation, thatawoke suspicion in him, and made whole the half-doubt he had beenentertaining. He turned sharply to face Don Diego, so sharply that thesly smile was not effaced from the Spaniard's countenance before CaptainBlood's eyes had flashed upon it. 

"You find an odd satisfaction in the sight of it--all thingsconsidered, " said Mr. Blood. 

"Of course. " The Spaniard rubbed his hands, and Mr. Blood observed thatthey were unsteady. "The satisfaction of a mariner. "

"Or of a traitor--which?" Blood asked him quietly. And as the Spaniardfell back before him with suddenly altered countenance that confirmedhis every suspicion, he flung an arm out in the direction of the distantshore. "What land is that?" he demanded. "Will you have the effronteryto tell me that is the coast of Curacao?"

He advanced upon Don Diego suddenly, and Don Diego, step by step, fellback. "Shall I tell you what land it is? Shall I?" His fierce assumptionof knowledge seemed to dazzle and daze the Spaniard. For still Don Diegomade no answer. And then Captain Blood drew a bow at a venture--ornot quite at a venture. Such a coast-line as that, if not of the mainitself, and the main he knew it could not be, must belong to either Cubaor Hispaniola. Now knowing Cuba to lie farther north and west of thetwo, it followed, he reasoned swiftly, that if Don Diego meant betrayalhe would steer for the nearer of these Spanish territories. "That land, you treacherous, forsworn Spanish dog, is the island of Hispaniola. "

Having said it, he closely watched the swarthy face now overspread withpallor, to see the truth or falsehood of his guess reflected there. Butnow the retreating Spaniard had come to the middle of the quarter-deck, where the mizzen sail made a screen to shut them off from the eyes ofthe Englishmen below. His lips writhed in a snarling smile. 

"Ah, perro ingles! You know too much, " he said under his breath, andsprang for the Captain's throat. 

Tight-locked in each other's arms, they swayed a moment, then togetherwent down upon the deck, the Spaniard's feet jerked from under himby the right leg of Captain Blood. The Spaniard had depended upon hisstrength, which was considerable. But it proved no match for thesteady muscles of the Irishman, tempered of late by the vicissitudesof slavery. He had depended upon choking the life out of Blood, and sogaining the half-hour that might be necessary to bring up that fineship that was beating towards them--a Spanish ship, perforce, sincenone other would be so boldly cruising in these Spanish waters offHispaniola. But all that Don Diego had accomplished was to betrayhimself completely, and to no purpose. This he realized when he foundhimself upon his back, pinned down by Blood, who was kneeling on hischest, whilst the men summoned by their Captain's shout came clatteringup the companion. 

"Will I say a prayer for your dirty soul now, whilst I am in thisposition?" Captain Blood was furiously mocking him. 

But the Spaniard, though defeated, now beyond hope for himself, forcedhis lips to smile, and gave back mockery for mockery. 

"Who will pray for your soul, I wonder, when that galleon comes to lieboard and board with you?"

"That galleon!" echoed Captain Blood with sudden and awful realizationthat already it was too late to avoid the consequences of Don Diego'sbetrayal of them. 

"That galleon, " Don Diego repeated, and added with a deepening sneer:"Do you know what ship it is? I will tell you. It is the Encarnacion, the flagship of Don Miguel de Espinosa, the Lord Admiral of Castile, and Don Miguel is my brother. It is a very fortunate encounter. TheAlmighty, you see, watches over the destinies of Catholic Spain. "

There was no trace of humour or urbanity now in Captain Blood. His lighteyes blazed: his face was set. 

He rose, relinquishing the Spaniard to his men. "Make him fast, " he badethem. "Truss him, wrist and heel, but don't hurt him--not so much as ahair of his precious head. "

The injunction was very necessary. Frenzied by the thought that theywere likely to exchange the slavery from which they had so latelyescaped for a slavery still worse, they would have torn the Spaniardlimb from limb upon the spot. And if they now obeyed their Captainand refrained, it was only because the sudden steely note in his voicepromised for Don Diego Valdez something far more exquisite than death. 

"You scum! You dirty pirate! You man of honour!" Captain Bloodapostrophized his prisoner. 

But Don Diego looked up at him and laughed. 

"You underrated me. " He spoke English, so that all might hear. "I tellyou that I was not fear death, and I show you that I was not fear it. You no understand. You just an English dog. "

"Irish, if you please, " Captain Blood corrected him. "And your parole, you tyke of Spain?"

"You think I give my parole to leave you sons of filth with thisbeautiful Spanish ship, to go make war upon other Spaniards! Ha!" DonDiego laughed in his throat. "You fool! You can kill me. Pish! It isvery well. I die with my work well done. In less than an hour you willbe the prisoners of Spain, and the Cinco Llagas will go belong to Spainagain. "

Captain Blood regarded him steadily out of a face which, if impassive, had paled under its deep tan. About the prisoner, clamant, infuriated, ferocious, the rebels-convict surged, almost literally "athirst for hisblood. "

"Wait, " Captain Blood imperiously commanded, and turning on his heel, hewent aside to the rail. As he stood there deep in thought, he was joinedby Hagthorpe, Wolverstone, and Ogle the gunner. In silence they staredwith him across the water at that other ship. She had veered a pointaway from the wind, and was running now on a line that must in the endconverge with that of the Cinco Llagas. 

"In less than half-an-hour, " said Blood presently, "we shall have herathwart our hawse, sweeping our decks with her guns. "

"We can fight, " said the one-eyed giant with an oath. 

"Fight!" sneered Blood. "Undermanned as we are, mustering a bare twentymen, in what case are we to fight? No, there would be only one way. Topersuade her that all is well aboard, that we are Spaniards, so that shemay leave us to continue on our course. "

"And how is that possible?" Hagthorpe asked. 

"It isn't possible, " said Blood. "If it.... " And then he broke off, and stood musing, his eyes upon the green water. Ogle, with a bent forsarcasm, interposed a suggestion bitterly. 

"We might send Don Diego de Espinosa in a boat manned by his Spaniardsto assure his brother the Admiral that we are all loyal subjects of hisCatholic Majesty. "

The Captain swung round, and for an instant looked as if he would havestruck the gunner. Then his expression changed: the light of inspirationWas in his glance. 

"Bedad! ye've said it. He doesn't fear death, this damned pirate; buthis son may take a different view. Filial piety's mighty strong inSpain. " He swung on his heel abruptly, and strode back to the knot ofmen about his prisoner. "Here!" he shouted to them. "Bring him below. "And he led the way down to the waist, and thence by the booby hatch tothe gloom of the 'tween-decks, where the air was rank with the smellof tar and spun yarn. Going aft he threw open the door of the spaciouswardroom, and went in followed by a dozen of the hands with the pinionedSpaniard. Every man aboard would have followed him but for his sharpcommand to some of them to remain on deck with Hagthorpe. 

In the ward-room the three stern chasers were in position, loaded, their muzzles thrusting through the open ports, precisely as the Spanishgunners had left them. 

"Here, Ogle, is work for you, " said Blood, and as the burly gunner camethrusting forward through the little throng of gaping men, Blood pointedto the middle chaser; "Have that gun hauled back, " he ordered. 

When this was done, Blood beckoned those who held Don Diego. 

"Lash him across the mouth of it, " he bade them, and whilst, assisted byanother two, they made haste to obey, he turned to the others. "To theroundhouse, some of you, and fetch the Spanish prisoners. And you, Dyke, go up and bid them set the flag of Spain aloft. "

Don Diego, with his body stretched in an arc across the cannon's mouth, legs and arms lashed to the carriage on either side of it, eyeballsrolling in his head, glared maniacally at Captain Blood. A man may notfear to die, and yet be appalled by the form in which death comes tohim. 

From frothing lips he hurled blasphemies and insults at his tormentor. 

"Foul barbarian! Inhuman savage! Accursed heretic! Will it not contentyou to kill me in some Christian fashion?" Captain Blood vouchsafed hima malignant smile, before he turned to meet the fifteen manacled Spanishprisoners, who were thrust into his presence. 

Approaching, they had heard Don Diego's outcries; at close quarters nowthey beheld with horror-stricken eyes his plight. From amongst them acomely, olive-skinned stripling, distinguished in bearing and apparelfrom his companions, started forward with an anguished cry of "Father!"

Writhing in the arms that made haste to seize and hold him, he calledupon heaven and hell to avert this horror, and lastly, addressed toCaptain Blood an appeal for mercy that was at once fierce and piteous. Considering him, Captain Blood thought with satisfaction that hedisplayed the proper degree of filial piety. 

He afterwards confessed that for a moment he was in danger of weakening, that for a moment his mind rebelled against the pitiless thing it hadplanned. But to correct the sentiment he evoked a memory of what theseSpaniards had performed in Bridgetown. Again he saw the white face ofthat child Mary Traill as she fled in horror before the jeering ruffianwhom he had slain, and other things even more unspeakable seen on thatdreadful evening rose now before the eyes of his memory to stiffen hisfaltering purpose. The Spaniards had shown themselves without mercyor sentiment or decency of any kind; stuffed with religion, they werewithout a spark of that Christianity, the Symbol of which was mounted onthe mainmast of the approaching ship. A moment ago this cruel, viciousDon Diego had insulted the Almighty by his assumption that He kept aspecially benevolent watch over the destinies of Catholic Spain. DonDiego should be taught his error. 

Recovering the cynicism in which he had approached his task, thecynicism essential to its proper performance, he commanded Ogle tokindle a match and remove the leaden apron from the touch-hole of thegun that bore Don Diego. Then, as the younger Espinosa broke into freshintercessions mingled with imprecations, he wheeled upon him sharply. 

"Peace!" he snapped. "Peace, and listen! It is no part of my intentionto blow your father to hell as he deserves, or indeed to take his lifeat all. "

Having surprised the lad into silence by that promise--a promisesurprising enough in all the circumstances--he proceeded to explain hisaims in that faultless and elegant Castilian of which he was fortunatelymaster--as fortunately for Don Diego as for himself. 

"It is your father's treachery that has brought us into this plight anddeliberately into risk of capture and death aboard that ship of Spain. Just as your father recognized his brother's flagship, so will hisbrother have recognized the Cinco Llagas. So far, then, all is well. Butpresently the Encarnacion will be sufficiently close to perceive thathere all is not as it should be. Sooner or later, she must guess ordiscover what is wrong, and then she will open fire or lay us board andboard. Now, we are in no case to fight, as your father knew when he ranus into this trap. But fight we will, if we are driven to it. We make notame surrender to the ferocity of Spain. "

He laid his hand on the breech of the gun that bore Don Diego. 

"Understand this clearly: to the first shot from the Encarnacion thisgun will fire the answer. I make myself clear, I hope?"

White-faced and trembling, young Espinosa stared into the pitiless blueeyes that so steadily regarded him. 

"If it is clear?" he faltered, breaking the utter silence in which allwere standing. "But, name of God, how should it be clear? How shouldI understand? Can you avert the fight? If you know a way, and if I, orthese, can help you to it--if that is what you mean--in Heaven's namelet me hear it. "

"A fight would be averted if Don Diego de Espinosa were to go aboard hisbrother's ship, and by his presence and assurances inform the Admiralthat all is well with the Cinco Llagas, that she is indeed still a shipof Spain as her flag now announces. But of course Don Diego cannot goin person, because he is... Otherwise engaged. He has a slight touch offever--shall we say?--that detains him in his cabin. But you, his son, may convey all this and some other matters together with his homageto your uncle. You shall go in a boat manned by six of these Spanishprisoners, and I--a distinguished Spaniard delivered from captivityin Barbados by your recent raid--will accompany you to keep you incountenance. If I return alive, and without accident of any kind tohinder our free sailing hence, Don Diego shall have his life, as shallevery one of you. But if there is the least misadventure, be it fromtreachery or ill-fortune--I care not which--the battle, as I have hadthe honour to explain, will be opened on our side by this gun, and yourfather will be the first victim of the conflict. "

He paused a moment. There was a hum of approval from his comrades, an anxious stirring among the Spanish prisoners. Young Espinosa stoodbefore him, the colour ebbing and flowing in his cheeks. He waited forsome direction from his father. But none came. Don Diego's courage, it seemed, had sadly waned under that rude test. He hung limply in hisfearful bonds, and was silent. Evidently he dared not encourage his sonto defiance, and presumably was ashamed to urge him to yield. Thus, heleft decision entirely with the youth. 

"Come, " said Blood. "I have been clear enough, I think. What do yousay?"

Don Esteban moistened his parched lips, and with the back of his handmopped the anguish-sweat from his brow. His eyes gazed wildly a momentupon the shoulders of his father, as if beseeching guidance. But hisfather remained silent. Something like a sob escaped the boy. 

"I... I accept, " he answered at last, and swung to the Spaniards. "Andyou--you will accept too, " he insisted passionately. "For Don Diego'ssake and for your own--for all our sakes. If you do not, this man willbutcher us all without mercy. "

Since he yielded, and their leader himself counselled no resistance, why should they encompass their own destruction by a gesture of futileheroism? They answered without much hesitation that they would do as wasrequired of them. 

Blood turned, and advanced to Don Diego. 

"I am sorry to inconvenience you in this fashion, but... " For a secondhe checked and frowned as his eyes intently observed the prisoner. Then, after that scarcely perceptible pause, he continued, "but I do not thinkthat you have anything beyond this inconvenience to apprehend, and youmay depend upon me to shorten it as far as possible. " Don Diego made himno answer. 

Peter Blood waited a moment, observing him; then he bowed and steppedback. 

CHAPTER XII. DON PEDRO SANGRE

The Cinco Llagas and the Encarnacion, after a proper exchange ofsignals, lay hove to within a quarter of a mile of each other, andacross the intervening space of gently heaving, sunlit waters sped aboat from the former, manned by six Spanish seamen and bearing in herstern sheets Don Esteban de Espinosa and Captain Peter Blood. 

She also bore two treasure-chests containing fifty thousand pieces ofeight. Gold has at all times been considered the best of testimonies ofgood faith, and Blood was determined that in all respects appearancesshould be entirely on his side. His followers had accounted thisa supererogation of pretence. But Blood's will in the matter hadprevailed. He carried further a bulky package addressed to a grandeof Spain, heavily sealed with the arms of Espinosa--another piece ofevidence hastily manufactured in the cabin of the Cinco Llagas--and hewas spending these last moments in completing his instructions to hisyoung companion. 

Don Esteban expressed his last lingering uneasiness:

"But if you should betray yourself?" he cried. 

"It will be unfortunate for everybody. I advised your father to say aprayer for our success. I depend upon you to help me more materially. "

"I will do my best. God knows I will do my best, " the boy protested. 

Blood nodded thoughtfully, and no more was said until they bumpedalongside the towering mass of the Encarnadon. Up the ladder wentDon Esteban closely followed by Captain Blood. In the waist stood theAdmiral himself to receive them, a handsome, self-sufficient man, very tall and stiff, a little older and greyer than Don Diego, whom heclosely resembled. He was supported by four officers and a friar in theblack and white habit of St. Dominic. 

Don Miguel opened his arms to his nephew, whose lingering panic hemistook for pleasurable excitement, and having enfolded him to his bosomturned to greet Don Esteban's companion. 

Peter Blood bowed gracefully, entirely at his ease, so far as might bejudged from appearances. 

"I am, " he announced, making a literal translation of his name, "DonPedro Sangre, an unfortunate gentleman of Leon, lately delivered fromcaptivity by Don Esteban's most gallant father. " And in a few wordshe sketched the imagined conditions of his capture by, and deliverancefrom, those accursed heretics who held the island of Barbados. "Benedicamus Domino, " said the friar to his tale. 

"Ex hoc nunc et usque in seculum, " replied Blood, the occasional papist, with lowered eyes. 

The Admiral and his attending officers gave him a sympathetic hearingand a cordial welcome. Then came the dreaded question. 

"But where is my brother? Why has he not come, himself, to greet me?"

It was young Espinosa who answered this:

"My father is afflicted at denying himself that honour and pleasure. Butunfortunately, sir uncle, he is a little indisposed--oh, nothing grave;merely sufficient to make him keep his cabin. It is a little fever, theresult of a slight wound taken in the recent raid upon Barbados, whichresulted in this gentleman's happy deliverance. "

"Nay, nephew, nay, " Don Miguel protested with ironic repudiation. "I canhave no knowledge of these things. I have the honour to represent uponthe seas His Catholic Majesty, who is at peace with the King of England. Already you have told me more than it is good for me to know. I willendeavour to forget it, and I will ask you, sirs, " he added, glancing athis officers, "to forget it also. " But he winked into the twinklingeyes of Captain Blood; then added matter that at once extinguished thattwinkle. "But since Diego cannot come to me, why, I will go across tohim. "

For a moment Don Esteban's face was a mask of pallid fear. Then Bloodwas speaking in a lowered, confidential voice that admirably blendedsuavity, impressiveness, and sly mockery. 

"If you please, Don Miguel, but that is the very thing you must notdo--the very thing Don Diego does not wish you to do. You must not seehim until his wounds are healed. That is his own wish. That is the realreason why he is not here. For the truth is that his wounds are notso grave as to have prevented his coming. It was his consideration ofhimself and the false position in which you would be placed if you haddirect word from him of what has happened. As your excellency has said, there is peace between His Catholic Majesty and the King of England, andyour brother Don Diego.... " He paused a moment. "I am sure that I needsay no more. What you hear from us is no more than a mere rumour. Yourexcellency understands. "

His excellency frowned thoughtfully. "I understand... In part, " said he. 

Captain Blood had a moment's uneasiness. Did the Spaniard doubt his bonafides? Yet in dress and speech he knew himself to be impeccably Spanish, and was not Don Esteban there to confirm him? He swept on to affordfurther confirmation before the Admiral could say another word. 

"And we have in the boat below two chests containing fifty thousandpieces of eight, which we are to deliver to your excellency. "

His excellency jumped; there was a sudden stir among his officers. 

"They are the ransom extracted by Don Diego from the Governor of.... "

"Not another word, in the name of Heaven!" cried the Admiral in alarm. "My brother wishes me to assume charge of this money, to carry it toSpain for him? Well, that is a family matter between my brother andmyself. So, it can be done. But I must not know.... " He broke off. "Hum!A glass of Malaga in my cabin, if you please, " he invited them, "whilstthe chests are being hauled aboard. "

He gave his orders touching the embarkation of these chests, then ledthe way to his regally appointed cabin, his four officers and the friarfollowing by particular invitation. 

Seated at table there, with the tawny wine before them, and the servantwho had poured it withdrawn, Don Miguel laughed and stroked his pointed, grizzled beard. 

"Virgen santisima! That brother of mine has a mind that thinks ofeverything. Left to myself, I might have committed a fine indiscretionby venturing aboard his ship at such a moment. I might have seen thingswhich as Admiral of Spain it would be difficult for me to ignore. "

Both Esteban and Blood made haste to agree with him, and then Bloodraised his glass, and drank to the glory of Spain and the damnation ofthe besotted James who occupied the throne of England. The latter partof his toast was at least sincere. 

The Admiral laughed. 

"Sir, sir, you need my brother here to curb your imprudences. You shouldremember that His Catholic Majesty and the King of England are very goodfriends. That is not a toast to propose in this cabin. But since it hasbeen proposed, and by one who has such particular personal cause to hatethese English hounds, why, we will honour it--but unofficially. "

They laughed, and drank the damnation of King James--quite unofficially, but the more fervently on that account. Then Don Esteban, uneasy on thescore of his father, and remembering that the agony of Don Diego wasbeing protracted with every moment that they left him in his dreadfulposition, rose and announced that they must be returning. 

"My father, " he explained, "is in haste to reach San Domingo. He desiredme to stay no longer than necessary to embrace you. If you will give usleave, then, sir uncle. "

In the circumstances "sir uncle" did not insist. 

As they returned to the ship's side, Blood's eyes anxiously scanned theline of seamen leaning over the bulwarks in idle talk with the Spaniardsin the cock-boat that waited at the ladder's foot. But their mannershowed him that there was no ground for his anxiety. The boat's crew hadbeen wisely reticent. 

The Admiral took leave of them--of Esteban affectionately, of Bloodceremoniously. 

"I regret to lose you so soon, Don Pedro. I wish that you could havemade a longer visit to the Encarnacion. "

"I am indeed unfortunate, " said Captain Blood politely. 

"But I hope that we may meet again. "

"That is to flatter me beyond all that I deserve. "

They reached the boat; and she cast off from the great ship. As theywere pulling away, the Admiral waving to them from the taffrail, they heard the shrill whistle of the bo'sun piping the hands to theirstations, and before they had reached the Cinco Llagas, they beheld theEncarnacion go about under sail. She dipped her flag to them, and fromher poop a gun fired a salute. 

Aboard the Cinco Llagas some one--it proved afterwards to beHagthorpe--had the wit to reply in the same fashion. The comedy wasended. Yet there was something else to follow as an epilogue, a thingthat added a grim ironic flavour to the whole. 

As they stepped into the waist of the Cinco Llagas, Hagthorpe advancedto receive them. Blood observed the set, almost scared expression on hisface. 

"I see that you've found it, " he said quietly. 

Hagthorpe's eyes looked a question. But his mind dismissed whateverthought it held. 

"Don Diego... " he was beginning, and then stopped, and looked curiouslyat Blood. 

Noting the pause and the look, Esteban bounded forward, his face livid. 

"Have you broken faith, you curs? Has he come to harm?" he cried--andthe six Spaniards behind him grew clamorous with furious questionings. 

"We do not break faith, " said Hagthorpe firmly, so firmly that hequieted them. "And in this case there was not the need. Don Diego diedin his bonds before ever you reached the Encarnacion. "

Peter Blood said nothing. 

"Died?" screamed Esteban. "You killed him, you mean. Of what did hedie?"

Hagthorpe looked at the boy. "If I am a judge, " he said, "Don Diego diedof fear. "

Don Esteban struck Hagthorpe across the face at that, and Hagthorpewould have struck back, but that Blood got between, whilst his followersseized the lad. 

"Let be, " said Blood. "You provoked the boy by your insult to hisfather. "

"I was not concerned to insult, " said Hagthorpe, nursing his cheek. "Itis what has happened. Come and look. "

"I have seen, " said Blood. "He died before I left the Cinco Llagas. Hewas hanging dead in his bonds when I spoke to him before leaving. "

"What are you saying?" cried Esteban. 

Blood looked at him gravely. Yet for all his gravity he seemed almost tosmile, though without mirth. 

"If you had known that, eh?" he asked at last. For a moment Don Estebanstared at him wide-eyed, incredulous. "I don't believe you, " he said atlast. 

"Yet you may. I am a doctor, and I know death when I see it. "

Again there came a pause, whilst conviction sank into the lad's mind. 

"If I had known that, " he said at last in a thick voice, "you would behanging from the yardarm of the Encarnacion at this moment. "

"I know, " said Blood. "I am considering it--the profit that a man mayfind in the ignorance of others. "

"But you'll hang there yet, " the boy raved. 

Captain Blood shrugged, and turned on his heel. But he did not on thataccount disregard the words, nor did Hagthorpe, nor yet the otherswho overheard them, as they showed at a council held that night in thecabin. 

This council was met to determine what should be done with the Spanishprisoners. Considering that Curacao now lay beyond their reach, asthey were running short of water and provisions, and also that Pitt washardly yet in case to undertake the navigation of the vessel, it hadbeen decided that, going east of Hispaniola, and then sailing alongits northern coast, they should make for Tortuga, that haven of thebuccaneers, in which lawless port they had at least no danger ofrecapture to apprehend. It was now a question whether they should conveythe Spaniards thither with them, or turn them off in a boat to make thebest of their way to the coast of Hispaniola, which was but ten milesoff. This was the course urged by Blood himself. 

"There's nothing else to be done, " he insisted. "In Tortuga they wouldbe flayed alive. "

"Which is less than the swine deserve, " growled Wolverstone. 

"And you'll remember, Peter, " put in Hagthorpe, "that boy's threat toyou this morning. If he escapes, and carries word of all this to hisuncle, the Admiral, the execution of that threat will become more thanpossible. "

It says much for Peter Blood that the argument should have left himunmoved. It is a little thing, perhaps, but in a narrative in whichthere is so much that tells against him, I cannot--since my story isin the nature of a brief for the defence--afford to slur a circumstancethat is so strongly in his favour, a circumstance revealing that thecynicism attributed to him proceeded from his reason and from a broodingover wrongs rather than from any natural instincts. "I care nothing forhis threats. "

"You should, " said Wolverstone. "The wise thing'd be to hang him, alongo' all the rest. "

"It is not human to be wise, " said Blood. "It is much more human toerr, though perhaps exceptional to err on the side of mercy. We'll beexceptional. Oh, faugh! I've no stomach for cold-blooded killing. Atdaybreak pack the Spaniards into a boat with a keg of water and a sackof dumplings, and let them go to the devil. "

That was his last word on the subject, and it prevailed by virtue of theauthority they had vested in him, and of which he had taken so firm agrip. At daybreak Don Esteban and his followers were put off in a boat. 

Two days later, the Cinco Llagas sailed into the rock-bound bay ofCayona, which Nature seemed to have designed for the stronghold of thosewho had appropriated it. 

CHAPTER XIII. TORTUGA

It is time fully to disclose the fact that the survival of the story ofCaptain Blood's exploits is due entirely to the industry of Jeremy Pitt, the Somersetshire shipmaster. In addition to his ability as a navigator, this amiable young man appears to have wielded an indefatigable pen, andto have been inspired to indulge its fluency by the affection he veryobviously bore to Peter Blood. 

He kept the log of the forty-gun frigate Arabella, on which he served asmaster, or, as we should say to-day, navigating officer, as no logthat I have seen was ever kept. It runs into some twenty-odd volumes ofassorted sizes, some of which are missing altogether and others of whichare so sadly depleted of leaves as to be of little use. But if at timesin the laborious perusal of them--they are preserved in the library ofMr. James Speke of Comerton--I have inveighed against these lacunae, atothers I have been equally troubled by the excessive prolixity of whatremains and the difficulty of disintegrating from the confused whole thereally essential parts. 

I have a suspicion that Esquemeling--though how or where I can make nosurmise--must have obtained access to these records, and that he pluckedfrom them the brilliant feathers of several exploits to stick them intothe tail of his own hero, Captain Morgan. But that is by the way. Imention it chiefly as a warning, for when presently I come to relate theaffair of Maracaybo, those of you who have read Esquemeling may be indanger of supposing that Henry Morgan really performed those thingswhich here are veraciously attributed to Peter Blood. I think, however, that when you come to weigh the motives actuating both Blood and theSpanish Admiral, in that affair, and when you consider how integrallythe event is a part of Blood's history--whilst merely a detachedincident in Morgan's--you will reach my own conclusion as to which isthe real plagiarist. 

The first of these logs of Pitt's is taken up almost entirely with aretrospective narrative of the events up to the time of Blood's firstcoming to Tortuga. This and the Tannatt Collection of State Trials arethe chief--though not the only--sources of my history so far. 

Pitt lays great stress upon the fact that it was the circumstances uponwhich I have dwelt, and these alone, that drove Peter Blood to seekan anchorage at Tortuga. He insists at considerable length, and with avehemence which in itself makes it plain that an opposite opinion washeld in some quarters, that it was no part of the design of Blood or ofany of his companions in misfortune to join hands with the buccaneerswho, under a semi-official French protection, made of Tortuga a lairwhence they could sally out to drive their merciless piratical tradechiefly at the expense of Spain. 

It was, Pitt tells us, Blood's original intention to make his way toFrance or Holland. But in the long weeks of waiting for a ship to conveyhim to one or the other of these countries, his resources dwindled andfinally vanished. Also, his chronicler thinks that he detected signs ofsome secret trouble in his friend, and he attributes to this the abusesof the potent West Indian spirit of which Blood became guilty in thosedays of inaction, thereby sinking to the level of the wild adventurerswith whom ashore he associated. 

I do not think that Pitt is guilty in this merely of special pleading, that he is putting forward excuses for his hero. I think that in thosedays there was a good deal to oppress Peter Blood. There was the thoughtof Arabella Bishop--and that this thought loomed large in his mind weare not permitted to doubt. He was maddened by the tormenting lure ofthe unattainable. He desired Arabella, yet knew her beyond his reachirrevocably and for all time. Also, whilst he may have desired to go toFrance or Holland, he had no clear purpose to accomplish when he reachedone or the other of these countries. He was, when all is said, anescaped slave, an outlaw in his own land and a homeless outcast in anyother. There remained the sea, which is free to all, and particularlyalluring to those who feel themselves at war with humanity. And so, considering the adventurous spirit that once already had sent hima-roving for the sheer love of it, considering that this spirit washeightened now by a recklessness begotten of his outlawry, that histraining and skill in militant seamanship clamorously supported thetemptations that were put before him, can you wonder, or dare you blamehim, that in the end he succumbed? And remember that these temptationsproceeded not only from adventurous buccaneering acquaintances in thetaverns of that evil haven of Tortuga, but even from M. D'Ogeron, thegovernor of the island, who levied as his harbour dues a percentage ofone tenth of all spoils brought into the bay, and who profited furtherby commissions upon money which he was desired to convert into bills ofexchange upon France. 

A trade that might have worn a repellent aspect when urged by greasy, half-drunken adventurers, boucan-hunters, lumbermen, beach-combers, English, French, and Dutch, became a dignified, almost official form ofprivateering when advocated by the courtly, middle-aged gentleman whoin representing the French West India Company seemed to represent Franceherself. 

Moreover, to a man--not excluding Jeremy Pitt himself, in whose bloodthe call of the sea was insistent and imperative--those who had escapedwith Peter Blood from the Barbados plantations, and who, consequently, like himself, knew not whither to turn, were all resolved upon joiningthe great Brotherhood of the Coast, as those rovers called themselves. And they united theirs to the other voices that were persuading Blood, demanding that he should continue now in the leadership which he hadenjoyed since they had left Barbados, and swearing to follow him loyallywhithersoever he should lead them. 

And so, to condense all that Jeremy has recorded in the matter, Bloodended by yielding to external and internal pressure, abandoned himselfto the stream of Destiny. "Fata viam invenerunt, " is his own expressionof it. 

If he resisted so long, it was, I think, the thought of Arabella Bishopthat restrained him. That they should be destined never to meet againdid not weigh at first, or, indeed, ever. He conceived the scorn withwhich she would come to hear of his having turned pirate, and the scorn, though as yet no more than imagined, hurt him as if it were already areality. And even when he conquered this, still the thought of her wasever present. He compromised with the conscience that her memory kept sodisconcertingly active. He vowed that the thought of her should continueever before him to help him keep his hands as clean as a man might inthis desperate trade upon which he was embarking. And so, although hemight entertain no delusive hope of ever winning her for his own, ofever even seeing her again, yet the memory of her was to abide in hissoul as a bitter-sweet, purifying influence. The love that is never tobe realized will often remain a man's guiding ideal. The resolvebeing taken, he went actively to work. Ogeron, most accommodating ofgovernors, advanced him money for the proper equipment of his ship theCinco Llagas, which he renamed the Arabella. This after some littlehesitation, fearful of thus setting his heart upon his sleeve. But hisBarbados friends accounted it merely an expression of the ever-readyirony in which their leader dealt. 

To the score of followers he already possessed, he added threescoremore, picking his men with caution and discrimination--and he was anexceptional judge of men--from amongst the adventurers of Tortuga. Withthem all he entered into the articles usual among the Brethren of theCoast under which each man was to be paid by a share in the prizescaptured. In other respects, however, the articles were different. Aboard the Arabella there was to be none of the ruffianly indisciplinethat normally prevailed in buccaneering vessels. Those who shipped withhim undertook obedience and submission in all things to himself andto the officers appointed by election. Any to whom this clause in thearticles was distasteful might follow some other leader. 

Towards the end of December, when the hurricane season had blown itselfout, he put to sea in his well-found, well-manned ship, and before hereturned in the following May from a protracted and adventurous cruise, the fame of Captain Peter Blood had run like ripples before the breezeacross the face of the Caribbean Sea. There was a fight in the WindwardPassage at the outset with a Spanish galleon, which had resulted in thegutting and finally the sinking of the Spaniard. There was a daring raideffected by means of several appropriated piraguas upon a Spanish pearlfleet in the Rio de la Hacha, from which they had taken a particularlyrich haul of pearls. There was an overland expedition to the goldfieldsof Santa Maria, on the Main, the full tale of which is hardly credible, and there were lesser adventures through all of which the crew of theArabella came with credit and profit if not entirely unscathed. 

And so it happened that before the Arabella came homing to Tortuga inthe following May to refit and repair--for she was not without scars, asyou conceive--the fame of her and of Peter Blood her captain had sweptfrom the Bahamas to the Windward Isles, from New Providence to Trinidad. 

An echo of it had reached Europe, and at the Court of St. James's angryrepresentations were made by the Ambassador of Spain, to whom it wasanswered that it must not be supposed that this Captain Blood held anycommission from the King of England; that he was, in fact, a proscribedrebel, an escaped slave, and that any measures against him by HisCatholic Majesty would receive the cordial approbation of King James II. 

Don Miguel de Espinosa, the Admiral of Spain in the West Indies, and hisnephew Don Esteban who sailed with him, did not lack the will to bringthe adventurer to the yardarm. With them this business of capturingBlood, which was now an international affair, was also a family matter. 

Spain, through the mouth of Don Miguel, did not spare her threats. The report of them reached Tortuga, and with it the assurance that DonMiguel had behind him not only the authority of his own nation, but thatof the English King as well. 

It was a brutum fulmen that inspired no terrors in Captain Blood. Norwas he likely, on account of it, to allow himself to run to rust in thesecurity of Tortuga. For what he had suffered at the hands of Man he hadchosen to make Spain the scapegoat. Thus he accounted that he served atwofold purpose: he took compensation and at the same time served, notindeed the Stuart King, whom he despised, but England and, for thatmatter, all the rest of civilized mankind which cruel, treacherous, greedy, bigoted Castile sought to exclude from intercourse with the NewWorld. 

One day as he sat with Hagthorpe and Wolverstone over a pipe anda bottle of rum in the stifling reek of tar and stale tobacco of awaterside tavern, he was accosted by a splendid ruffian in a gold-lacedcoat of dark-blue satin with a crimson sash, a foot wide, about thewaist. 

"C'est vous qu'on appelle Le Sang?" the fellow hailed him. 

Captain Blood looked up to consider the questioner before replying. The man was tall and built on lines of agile strength, with a swarthy, aquiline face that was brutally handsome. A diamond of great priceflamed on the indifferently clean hand resting on the pummel of his longrapier, and there were gold rings in his ears, half-concealed by longringlets of oily chestnut hair. 

Captain Blood took the pipe-stem from between his lips. 

"My name, " he said, "is Peter Blood. The Spaniards know me for Don PedroSangre and a Frenchman may call me Le Sang if he pleases. "

"Good, " said the gaudy adventurer in English, and without furtherinvitation he drew up a stool and sat down at that greasy table. "Myname, " he informed the three men, two of whom at least were eyeing himaskance, "it is Levasseur. You may have heard of me. "

They had, indeed. He commanded a privateer of twenty guns that haddropped anchor in the bay a week ago, manned by a crew mainly composedof French boucanhunters from Northern Hispaniola, men who had good causeto hate the Spaniard with an intensity exceeding that of the English. Levasseur had brought them back to Tortuga from an indifferentlysuccessful cruise. It would need more, however, than lack of successto abate the fellow's monstrous vanity. A roaring, quarrelsome, hard-drinking, hard-gaming scoundrel, his reputation as a buccaneerstood high among the wild Brethren of the Coast. He enjoyed also areputation of another sort. There was about his gaudy, swaggeringraffishness something that the women found singularly alluring. Thathe should boast openly of his bonnes fortunes did not seem strange toCaptain Blood; what he might have found strange was that there appearedto be some measure of justification for these boasts. 

It was current gossip that even Mademoiselle d'Ogeron, the Governor'sdaughter, had been caught in the snare of his wild attractiveness, andthat Levasseur had gone the length of audacity of asking her hand inmarriage of her father. M. D'Ogeron had made him the only possibleanswer. He had shown him the door. Levasseur had departed in a rage, swearing that he would make mademoiselle his wife in the teeth of allthe fathers in Christendom, and that M. D'Ogeron should bitterly rue theaffront he had put upon him. 

This was the man who now thrust himself upon Captain Blood with aproposal of association, offering him not only his sword, but his shipand the men who sailed in her. 

A dozen years ago, as a lad of barely twenty, Levasseur had sailed withthat monster of cruelty L'Ollonais, and his own subsequent exploitsbore witness and did credit to the school in which he had been reared. Idoubt if in his day there was a greater scoundrel among the Brethren ofthe Coast than this Levasseur. And yet, repulsive though he found him, Captain Blood could not deny that the fellow's proposals displayedboldness, imagination, and resource, and he was forced to admit thatjointly they could undertake operations of a greater magnitude than waspossible singly to either of them. The climax of Levasseur's project wasto be a raid upon the wealthy mainland city of Maracaybo; but for this, he admitted, six hundred men at the very least would be required, andsix hundred men were not to be conveyed in the two bottoms they nowcommanded. Preliminary cruises must take place, having for one of theirobjects the capture of further ships. 

Because he disliked the man, Captain Blood would not commit himself atonce. But because he liked the proposal he consented to consider it. Being afterwards pressed by both Hagthorpe and Wolverstone, who did notshare his own personal dislike of the Frenchman, the end of the matterwas that within a week articles were drawn up between Levasseurand Blood, and signed by them and--as was usual--by the chosenrepresentatives of their followers. 

These articles contained, inter alia, the common provisions that, shouldthe two vessels separate, a strict account must afterwards be renderedof all prizes severally taken, whilst the vessel taking a prize shouldretain three fifths of its value, surrendering two fifths to itsassociate. These shares were subsequently to be subdivided among thecrew of each vessel, in accordance with the articles already obtainingbetween each captain and his own men. For the rest, the articlescontained all the clauses that were usual, among which was the clausethat any man found guilty of abstracting or concealing any part of aprize, be it of the value of no more than a peso, should be summarilyhanged from the yardarm. 

All being now settled they made ready for sea, and on the very eve ofsailing, Levasseur narrowly escaped being shot in a romantic attemptto scale the wall of the Governor's garden, with the object of takingpassionate leave of the infatuated Mademoiselle d'Ogeron. He desistedafter having been twice fired upon from a fragrant ambush of pimentotrees where the Governor's guards were posted, and he departed vowing totake different and very definite measures on his return. 

That night he slept on board his ship, which with characteristicflamboyance he had named La Foudre, and there on the following day hereceived a visit from Captain Blood, whom he greeted half-mockingly ashis admiral. The Irishman came to settle certain final details of whichall that need concern us is an understanding that, in the event of thetwo vessels becoming separated by accident or design, they should rejoineach other as soon as might be at Tortuga. 

Thereafter Levasseur entertained his admiral to dinner, and jointly theydrank success to the expedition, so copiously on the part of Levasseurthat when the time came to separate he was as nearly drunk as it seemedpossible for him to be and yet retain his understanding. 

Finally, towards evening, Captain Blood went over the side and was rowedback to his great ship with her red bulwarks and gilded ports, touchedinto a lovely thing of flame by the setting sun. 

He was a little heavy-hearted. I have said that he was a judge of men, and his judgment of Levasseur filled him with misgivings which weregrowing heavier in a measure as the hour of departure approached. 

He expressed it to Wolverstone, who met him as he stepped aboard theArabella:

"You over persuaded me into those articles, you blackguard; and it'llsurprise me if any good comes of this association. "

The giant rolled his single bloodthirsty eye, and sneered, thrusting outhis heavy jaw. "We'll wring the dog's neck if there's any treachery. "

"So we will--if we are there to wring it by then. " And on that, dismissing the matter: "We sail in the morning, on the first of theebb, " he announced, and went off to his cabin. 

CHAPTER XIV. LEVASSEUR'S HEROICS

It would be somewhere about ten o'clock on the following morning, afull hour before the time appointed for sailing, when a canoe brought upalongside La Foudre, and a half-caste Indian stepped out of her and wentup the ladder. He was clad in drawers of hairy, untanned hide, and a redblanket served him for a cloak. He was the bearer of a folded scrap ofpaper for Captain Levasseur. 

The Captain unfolded the letter, sadly soiled and crumpled by contactwith the half-caste's person. Its contents may be roughly translatedthus:

"My well-beloved--I am in the Dutch brig Jongvrow, which is about tosail. Resolved to separate us for ever, my cruel father is sending me toEurope in my brother's charge. I implore you, come to my rescue. Deliverme, my well-beloved hero!--Your desolated Madeleine, who loves you. "

The well-beloved hero was moved to the soul of him by that passionateappeal. His scowling glance swept the bay for the Dutch brig, whichhe knew had been due to sail for Amsterdam with a cargo of hides andtobacco. 

She was nowhere to be seen among the shipping in that narrow, rock-boundharbour. He roared out the question in his mind. 

In answer the half-caste pointed out beyond the frothing surf thatmarked the position of the reef constituting one of the stronghold'smain defences. Away beyond it, a mile or so distant, a sail was standingout to sea. "There she go, " he said. 

"There!" The Frenchman gazed and stared, his face growing white. Theman's wicked temper awoke, and turned to vent itself upon the messenger. "And where have you been that you come here only now with this? Answerme!"

The half-caste shrank terrified before his fury. His explanation, if hehad one, was paralyzed by fear. Levasseur took him by the throat, shookhim twice, snarling the while, then hurled him into the scuppers. Theman's head struck the gunwale as he fell, and he lay there, quite still, a trickle of blood issuing from his mouth. 

Levasseur dashed one hand against the other, as if dusting them. 

"Heave that muck overboard, " he ordered some of those who stood idlingin the waist. "Then up anchor, and let us after the Dutchman. "

"Steady, Captain. What's that?" There was a restraining hand upon hisshoulder, and the broad face of his lieutenant Cahusac, a burly, callousBreton scoundrel, was stolidly confronting him. 

Levasseur made clear his purpose with a deal of unnecessary obscenity. 

Cahusac shook his head. "A Dutch brig!" said he. "Impossible! We shouldnever be allowed. "

"And who the devil will deny us?" Levasseur was between amazement andfury. 

"For one thing, there's your own crew will be none too willing. Foranother there's Captain Blood. "

"I care nothing for Captain Blood.... "

"But it is necessary that you should. He has the power, the weight ofmetal and of men, and if I know him at all he'll sink us beforehe'll suffer interference with the Dutch. He has his own views ofprivateering, this Captain Blood, as I warned you. "

"Ah!" said Levasseur, showing his teeth. But his eyes, riveted upon thatdistant sail, were gloomily thoughtful. Not for long. The imaginationand resource which Captain Blood had detected in the fellow soonsuggested a course. 

Cursing in his soul, and even before the anchor was weighed, theassociation into which he had entered, he was already studying waysof evasion. What Cahusac implied was true: Blood would never sufferviolence to be done in his presence to a Dutchman; but it might be donein his absence; and, being done, Blood must perforce condone it, sinceit would then be too late to protest. 

Within the hour the Arabella and La Foudre were beating out to seatogether. Without understanding the change of plan involved, CaptainBlood, nevertheless, accepted it, and weighed anchor before theappointed time upon perceiving his associate to do so. 

All day the Dutch brig was in sight, though by evening she had dwindledto the merest speck on the northern horizon. The course prescribedfor Blood and Levasseur lay eastward along the northern shores ofHispaniola. To that course the Arabella continued to hold steadilythroughout the night. When day broke again, she was alone. La Foudreunder cover of the darkness had struck away to The northeast with everyrag of canvas on her yards. 

Cahusac had attempted yet again to protest against this. 

"The devil take you!" Levasseur had answered him. "A ship's a ship, beshe Dutch or Spanish, and ships are our present need. That will sufficefor the men. "

His lieutenant said no more. But from his glimpse of the letter, knowingthat a girl and not a ship was his captain's real objective, he gloomilyshook his head as he rolled away on his bowed legs to give the necessaryorders. 

Dawn found La Foudre close on the Dutchman's heels, not a mile astern, and the sight of her very evidently flustered the Jongvrow. No doubtmademoiselle's brother recognizing Levasseur's ship would be responsiblefor the Dutch uneasiness. They saw the Jongvrow crowding canvas in afutile endeavour to outsail them, whereupon they stood off to starboardand raced on until they were in a position whence they could senda warning shot across her bow. The Jongvrow veered, showed them herrudder, and opened fire with her stern chasers. The small shot wentwhistling through La Foudre's shrouds with some slight damage to hercanvas. Followed a brief running fight in the course of which theDutchman let fly a broadside. 

Five minutes after that they were board and board, the Jongvrow heldtight in the clutches of La Foudre's grapnels, and the buccaneerspouring noisily into her waist. 

The Dutchman's master, purple in the face, stood forward to beard thepirate, followed closely by an elegant, pale-faced young gentleman inwhom Levasseur recognized his brother-in-law elect. 

"Captain Levasseur, this is an outrage for which you shall be made toanswer. What do you seek aboard my ship?"

"At first I sought only that which belongs to me, something of which Iam being robbed. But since you chose war and opened fire on me with somedamage to my ship and loss of life to five of my men, why, war it is, and your ship a prize of war. "

From the quarter rail Mademoiselle d'Ogeron looked down with glowingeyes in breathless wonder upon her well-beloved hero. Gloriously heroiche seemed as he stood towering there, masterful, audacious, beautiful. He saw her, and with a glad shout sprang towards her. The Dutch mastergot in his way with hands upheld to arrest his progress. Levasseur didnot stay to argue with him: he was too impatient to reach his mistress. He swung the poleaxe that he carried, and the Dutchman went down inblood with a cloven skull. The eager lover stepped across the body andcame on, his countenance joyously alight. 

But mademoiselle was shrinking now, in horror. She was a girl upon thethreshold of glorious womanhood, of a fine height and nobly moulded, with heavy coils of glossy black hair above and about a face that was ofthe colour of old ivory. Her countenance was cast in lines of arrogance, stressed by the low lids of her full dark eyes. 

In a bound her well-beloved was beside her, flinging away his bloodypoleaxe, he opened wide his arms to enfold her. But she still shrankeven within his embrace, which would not be denied; a look of dread hadcome to temper the normal arrogance of her almost perfect face. 

"Mine, mine at last, and in spite of all!" he cried exultantly, theatrically, truly heroic. 

But she, endeavouring to thrust him back, her hands against his breast, could only falter: "Why, why did you kill him?"

He laughed, as a hero should; and answered her heroically, with thetolerance of a god for the mortal to whom he condescends: "He stoodbetween us. Let his death be a symbol, a warning. Let all who wouldstand between us mark it and beware. "

It was so splendidly terrific, the gesture of it was so broad and fineand his magnetism so compelling, that she cast her silly tremors andyielded herself freely, intoxicated, to his fond embrace. Thereafter heswung her to his shoulder, and stepping with ease beneath that burden, bore her in a sort of triumph, lustily cheered by his men, to thedeck of his own ship. Her inconsiderate brother might have ruined thatromantic scene but for the watchful Cahusac, who quietly tripped him up, and then trussed him like a fowl. 

Thereafter, what time the Captain languished in his lady's smile withinthe cabin, Cahusac was dealing with the spoils of war. The Dutch crewwas ordered into the longboat, and bidden go to the devil. Fortunately, as they numbered fewer than thirty, the longboat, though perilouslyovercrowded, could yet contain them. Next, Cahusac having inspected thecargo, put a quartermaster and a score of men aboard the Jongvrow, andleft her to follow La Foudre, which he now headed south for the LeewardIslands. 

Cahusac was disposed to be ill-humoured. The risk they had run intaking the Dutch brig and doing violence to members of the family ofthe Governor of Tortuga, was out of all proportion to the value of theirprize. He said so, sullenly, to Levasseur. 

"You'll keep that opinion to yourself, " the Captain answered him. "Don'tthink I am the man to thrust my neck into a noose, without knowing howI am going to take it out again. I shall send an offer of terms to theGovernor of Tortuga that he will be forced to accept. Set a course forthe Virgen Magra. We'll go ashore, and settle things from there. Andtell them to fetch that milksop Ogeron to the cabin. "

Levasseur went back to the adoring lady. 

Thither, too, the lady's brother was presently conducted. The Captainrose to receive him, bending his stalwart height to avoid striking thecabin roof with his head. Mademoiselle rose too. 

"Why this?" she asked Levasseur, pointing to her brother's pinionedwrists--the remains of Cahusac's precautions. 

"I deplore it, " said he. "I desire it to end. Let M. D'Ogeron give mehis parole.... "

"I give you nothing, " flashed the white-faced youth, who did not lackfor spirit. 

"You see. " Levasseur shrugged his deep regret, and mademoiselle turnedprotesting to her brother. 

"Henri, this is foolish! You are not behaving as my friend. You.... "

"Little fool, " her brother answered her--and the "little" was out ofplace; she was the taller of the twain. "Little fool, do you thinkI should be acting as your friend to make terms with this blackguardpirate?"

"Steady, my young cockerel!" Levasseur laughed. But his laugh was notnice. 

"Don't you perceive your wicked folly in the harm it has broughtalready? Lives have been lost--men have died--that this monster mightovertake you. And don't you yet realize where you stand--in the powerof this beast, of this cur born in a kennel and bred in thieving andmurder?"

He might have said more but that Levasseur struck him across the mouth. Levasseur, you see, cared as little as another to hear the truth abouthimself. 

Mademoiselle suppressed a scream, as the youth staggered back under theblow. He came to rest against a bulkhead, and leaned there with bleedinglips. But his spirit was unquenched, and there was a ghastly smile onhis white face as his eyes sought his sister's. 

"You see, " he said simply. "He strikes a man whose hands are bound. "

The simple words, and, more than the words, their tone of ineffabledisdain, aroused the passion that never slumbered deeply in Levasseur. 

"And what should you do, puppy, if your hands were unbound?" He took hisprisoner by the breast of his doublet and shook him. "Answer me! Whatshould you do? Tchah! You empty windbag! You.... " And then came atorrent of words unknown to mademoiselle, yet of whose foulness herintuitions made her conscious. 

With blanched cheeks she stood by the cabin table, and cried out toLevasseur to stop. To obey her, he opened the door, and flung herbrother through it. 

"Put that rubbish under hatches until I call for it again, " he roared, and shut the door. 

Composing himself, he turned to the girl again with a deprecatory smile. But no smile answered him from her set face. She had seen her belovedhero's nature in curl-papers, as it were, and she found the spectacledisgusting and terrifying. It recalled the brutal slaughter of the Dutchcaptain, and suddenly she realized that what her brother had just saidof this man was no more than true. Fear growing to panic was written onher face, as she stood there leaning for support against the table. 

"Why, sweetheart, what is this?" Levasseur moved towards her. Sherecoiled before him. There was a smile on his face, a glitter in hiseyes that fetched her heart into her throat. 

He caught her, as she reached the uttermost limits of the cabin, seizedher in his long arms and pulled her to him. 

"No, no!" she panted. 

"Yes, yes, " he mocked her, and his mockery was the most terrible thingof all. He crushed her to him brutally, deliberately hurtful because sheresisted, and kissed her whilst she writhed in his embrace. Then, hispassion mounting, he grew angry and stripped off the last rag of hero'smask that still may have hung upon his face. "Little fool, did younot hear your brother say that you are in my power? Remember it, andremember that of your own free will you came. I am not the man with whoma woman can play fast and loose. So get sense, my girl, and accept whatyou have invited. " He kissed her again, almost contemptuously, and flungher off. "No more scowls, " he said. "You'll be sorry else. "

Some one knocked. Cursing the interruption, Levasseur strode off toopen. Cahusac stood before him. The Breton's face was grave. He cameto report that they had sprung a leak between wind and water, theconsequence of damage sustained from one of the Dutchman's shots. Inalarm Levasseur went off with him. The leakage was not serious so longas the weather kept fine; but should a storm overtake them it mightspeedily become so. A man was slung overboard to make a partial stoppagewith a sail-cloth, and the pumps were got to work. 

Ahead of them a low cloud showed on the horizon, which Cahusacpronounced one of the northernmost of the Virgin Islands. 

"We must run for shelter there, and careen her, " said Levasseur. "Ido not trust this oppressive heat. A storm may catch us before we makeland. "

"A storm or something else, " said Cahusac grimly. "Have you noticedthat?" He pointed away to starboard. 

Levasseur looked, and caught his breath. Two ships that at the distanceseemed of considerable burden were heading towards them some five milesaway. 

"If they follow us what is to happen?" demanded Cahusac. 

"We'll fight whether we're in case to do so or not, " swore Levasseur. 

"Counsels of despair. " Cahusac was contemptuous. To mark it he spat uponthe deck. "This comes of going to sea with a lovesick madman. Now, keepyour temper, Captain, for the hands will be at the end of theirs if wehave trouble as a result of this Dutchman business. "

For the remainder of that day Levasseur's thoughts were of anything butlove. He remained on deck, his eyes now upon the land, now upon thosetwo slowly gaining ships. To run for the open could avail him nothing, and in his leaky condition would provide an additional danger. He muststand at bay and fight. And then, towards evening, when within threemiles of shore and when he was about to give the order to stripfor battle, he almost fainted from relief to hear a voice from thecrow's-nest above announce that the larger of the two ships was theArabella. Her companion was presumably a prize. 

But the pessimism of Cahusac abated nothing. 

"That is but the lesser evil, " he growled. "What will Blood say aboutthis Dutchman?"

"Let him say what he pleases. " Levasseur laughed in the immensity of hisrelief. 

"And what about the children of the Governor of Tortuga?"

"He must not know. "

"He'll come to know in the end. "

"Aye, but by then, morbleu, the matter will be settled. I shall havemade my peace with the Governor. I tell you I know the way to compelOgeron to come to terms. "

Presently the four vessels lay to off the northern coast of La VirgenMagra, a narrow little island arid and treeless, some twelve milesby three, uninhabited save by birds and turtles and unproductive ofanything but salt, of which there were considerable ponds to the south. 

Levasseur put off in a boat accompanied by Cahusac and two otherofficers, and went to visit Captain Blood aboard the Arabella. 

"Our brief separation has been mighty profitable, " was CaptainBlood's greeting. "It's a busy morning we've both had. " He was in highgood-humour as he led the way to the great cabin for a rendering ofaccounts. 

The tall ship that accompanied the Arabella was a Spanish vessel oftwenty-six guns, the Santiago from Puerto Rico with a hundred and twentythousand weight of cacao, forty thousand pieces of eight, and the valueof ten thousand more in jewels. A rich capture of which two fifths underthe articles went to Levasseur and his crew. Of the money and jewels adivision was made on the spot. The cacao it was agreed should be takento Tortuga to be sold. 

Then it was the turn of Levasseur, and black grew the brow of CaptainBlood as the Frenchman's tale was unfolded. At the end he roundlyexpressed his disapproval. The Dutch were a friendly people whom it wasa folly to alienate, particularly for so paltry a matter as these hidesand tobacco, which at most would fetch a bare twenty thousand pieces. 

But Levasseur answered him, as he had answered Cahusac, that a ship wasa ship, and it was ships they needed against their projected enterprise. Perhaps because things had gone well with him that day, Blood endedby shrugging the matter aside. Thereupon Levasseur proposed that theArabella and her prize should return to Tortuga there to unload thecacao and enlist the further adventurers that could now be shipped. Levasseur meanwhile would effect certain necessary repairs, andthen proceeding south, await his admiral at Saltatudos, an islandconveniently situated--in the latitude of 11 deg. 11' N. --for theirenterprise against Maracaybo. 

To Levasseur's relief, Captain Blood not only agreed, but pronouncedhimself ready to set sail at once. 

No sooner had the Arabella departed than Levasseur brought his shipsinto the lagoon, and set his crew to work upon the erection of temporaryquarters ashore for himself, his men, and his enforced guests during thecareening and repairing of La Foudre. 

At sunset that evening the wind freshened; it grew to a gale, and fromthat to such a hurricane that Levasseur was thankful to find himselfashore and his ships in safe shelter. He wondered a little how it mightbe faring with Captain Blood out there at the mercy of that terrificstorm; but he did not permit concern to trouble him unduly. 

CHAPTER XV. THE RANSOM

In the glory of the following morning, sparkling and clear after thestorm, with an invigorating, briny tang in the air from the salt-pondson the south of the island, a curious scene was played on the beach ofthe Virgen Magra, at the foot of a ridge of bleached dunes, beside thespread of sail from which Levasseur had improvised a tent. 

Enthroned upon an empty cask sat the French filibuster to transactimportant business: the business of making himself safe with theGovernor of Tortuga. 

A guard of honour of a half-dozen officers hung about him; five of themwere rude boucan-hunters, in stained jerkins and leather breeches; thesixth was Cahusac. Before him, guarded by two half-naked negroes, stoodyoung d'Ogeron, in frilled shirt and satin small-clothes and fine shoesof Cordovan leather. He was stripped of doublet, and his hands were tiedbehind him. The young gentleman's comely face was haggard. Near athand, and also under guard, but unpinioned, mademoiselle his sister sathunched upon a hillock of sand. She was very pale, and it was in vainthat she sought to veil in a mask of arrogance the fears by which shewas assailed. 

Levasseur addressed himself to M. D'Ogeron. He spoke at long length. Inthe end--

"I trust, monsieur, " said he, with mock suavity, "that I have mademyself quite clear. So that there may be no misunderstandings, I willrecapitulate. Your ransom is fixed at twenty thousand pieces of eight, and you shall have liberty on parole to go to Tortuga to collect it. In fact, I shall provide the means to convey you thither, and you shallhave a month in which to come and go. Meanwhile, your sister remainswith me as a hostage. Your father should not consider such a sumexcessive as the price of his son's liberty and to provide a dowry forhis daughter. Indeed, if anything, I am too modest, pardi! M. D'Ogeronis reputed a wealthy man. "

M. D'Ogeron the younger raised his head and looked the Captain boldly inthe face. 

"I refuse--utterly and absolutely, do you understand? So do your worst, and be damned for a filthy pirate without decency and without honour. "

"But what words!" laughed Levasseur. "What heat and what foolishness!You have not considered the alternative. When you do, you will notpersist in your refusal. You will not do that in any case. We have spursfor the reluctant. And I warn you against giving me your parole understress, and afterwards playing me false. I shall know how to find andpunish you. Meanwhile, remember your sister's honour is in pawn to me. Should you forget to return with the dowry, you will not consider itunreasonable that I forget to marry her. "

Levasseur's smiling eyes, intent upon the young man's face, saw thehorror that crept into his glance. M. D'Ogeron cast a wild glance atmademoiselle, and observed the grey despair that had almost stamped thebeauty from her face. Disgust and fury swept across his countenance. 

Then he braced himself and answered resolutely:

"No, you dog! A thousand times, no!"

"You are foolish to persist. " Levasseur spoke without anger, with acoldly mocking regret. His fingers had been busy tying knots in a lengthof whipcord. He held it up. "You know this? It is a rosary of pain thathas wrought the conversion of many a stubborn heretic. It is capableof screwing the eyes out of a man's head by way of helping him to seereason. As you please. "

He flung the length of knotted cord to one of the negroes, who in aninstant made it fast about the prisoner's brows. Then between cord andcranium the black inserted a short length of metal, round and slenderas a pipe-stem. That done he rolled his eyes towards Levasseur, awaitingthe Captain's signal. 

Levasseur considered his victim, and beheld him tense and braced, hishaggard face of a leaden hue, beads of perspiration glinting on hispallid brow just beneath the whipcord. 

Mademoiselle cried out, and would have risen: but her guards restrainedher, and she sank down again, moaning. 

"I beg that you will spare yourself and your sister, " said the Captain, "by being reasonable. What, after all, is the sum I have named? To yourwealthy father a bagatelle. I repeat, I have been too modest. But sinceI have said twenty thousand pieces of eight, twenty thousand pieces itshall be. "

"And for what, if you please, have you said twenty thousand pieces ofeight?"

In execrable French, but in a voice that was crisp and pleasant, seemingto echo some of the mockery that had invested Levasseur's, that questionfloated over their heads. 

Startled, Levasseur and his officers looked up and round. On the crestof the dunes behind them, in sharp silhouette against the deep cobalt ofthe sky, they beheld a tall, lean figure scrupulously dressed in blackwith silver lace, a crimson ostrich plume curled about the broad brim ofhis hat affording the only touch of colour. Under that hat was the tawnyface of Captain Blood. 

Levasseur gathered himself up with an oath of amazement. He hadconceived Captain Blood by now well below the horizon, on his way toTortuga, assuming him to have been so fortunate as to have weatheredlast night's storm. 

Launching himself upon the yielding sand, into which he sank to thelevel of the calves of his fine boots of Spanish leather, Captain Bloodcame sliding erect to the beach. He was followed by Wolverstone, anda dozen others. As he came to a standstill, he doffed his hat, with aflourish, to the lady. Then he turned to Levasseur. 

"Good-morning, my Captain, " said he, and proceeded to explain hispresence. "It was last night's hurricane compelled our return. We had nochoice but to ride before it with stripped poles, and it drove us backthe way we had gone. Moreover--as the devil would have it!--the Santiagosprang her mainmast; and so I was glad to put into a cove on the westof the island a couple of miles away, and we've walked across tostretch our legs, and to give you good-day. But who are these?" And hedesignated the man and the woman. 

Cahusac shrugged his shoulders, and tossed his long arms to heaven. 

"Voila!" said he, pregnantly, to the firmament. 

Levasseur gnawed his lip, and changed colour. But he controlled himselfto answer civilly:

"As you see, two prisoners. "

"Ah! Washed ashore in last night's gale, eh?"

"Not so. " Levasseur contained himself with difficulty before that irony. "They were in the Dutch brig. "

"I don't remember that you mentioned them before. "

"I did not. They are prisoners of my own--a personal matter. They areFrench. "

"French!" Captain Blood's light eyes stabbed at Levasseur, then at theprisoners. 

M. D'Ogeron stood tense and braced as before, but the grey horror hadleft his face. Hope had leapt within him at this interruption, obviouslyas little expected by his tormentor as by himself. His sister, movedby a similar intuition, was leaning forward with parted lips and gapingeyes. 

Captain Blood fingered his lip, and frowned thoughtfully upon Levasseur. 

"Yesterday you surprised me by making war upon the friendly Dutch. Butnow it seems that not even your own countrymen are safe from you. "

"Have I not said that these... That this is a matter personal to me?"

"Ah! And their names?"

Captain Blood's crisp, authoritative, faintly disdainful manner stirredLevasseur's quick anger. The blood crept slowly back into his blenchedface, and his glance grew in insolence, almost in menace. Meanwhile theprisoner answered for him. 

"I am Henri d'Ogeron, and this is my sister. "

"D'Ogeron?" Captain Blood stared. "Are you related by chance to my goodfriend the Governor of Tortuga?"

"He is my father. "

Levasseur swung aside with an imprecation. In Captain Blood, amazementfor the moment quenched every other emotion. 

"The saints preserve us now! Are you quite mad, Levasseur? First youmolest the Dutch, who are our friends; next you take prisoners twopersons that are French, your own countrymen; and now, faith, they're noless than the children of the Governor of Tortuga, which is the one safeplace of shelter that we enjoy in these islands.... "

Levasseur broke in angrily:

"Must I tell you again that it is a matter personal to me? I make myselfalone responsible to the Governor of Tortuga. "

"And the twenty thousand pieces of eight? Is that also a matter personalto you?"

"It is. "

"Now I don't agree with you at all. " Captain Blood sat down on the caskthat Levasseur had lately occupied, and looked up blandly. "I may informyou, to save time, that I heard the entire proposal that you made tothis lady and this gentleman, and I'll also remind you that we sailunder articles that admit no ambiguities. You have fixed their ransom attwenty thousand pieces of eight. That sum then belongs to your crews andmine in the proportions by the articles established. You'll hardly wishto dispute it. But what is far more grave is that you have concealedfrom me this part of the prizes taken on your last cruise, and forsuch an offence as that the articles provide certain penalties that aresomething severe in character. "

"Ho, ho!" laughed Levasseur unpleasantly. Then added: "If you dislike myconduct we can dissolve the association. "

"That is my intention. But we'll dissolve it when and in the manner thatI choose, and that will be as soon as you have satisfied the articlesunder which we sailed upon this cruise. 

"What do you mean?"

"I'll be as short as I can, " said Captain Blood. "I'll waive for themoment the unseemliness of making war upon the Dutch, of taking Frenchprisoners, and of provoking the anger of the Governor of Tortuga. I'llaccept the situation as I find it. Yourself you've fixed the ransom ofthis couple at twenty thousand pieces, and, as I gather, the lady isto be your perquisite. But why should she be your perquisite more thananother's, seeing that she belongs by the articles to all of us, as aprize of war?"

Black as thunder grew the brow of Levasseur. 

"However, " added Captain Blood, "I'll not dispute her to you if you areprepared to buy her. "

"Buy her?"

"At the price you have set upon her. "

Levasseur contained his rage, that he might reason with the Irishman. "That is the ransom of the man. It is to be paid for him by the Governorof Tortuga. "

"No, no. Ye've parcelled the twain together--very oddly, I confess. Ye've set their value at twenty thousand pieces, and for that sum youmay have them, since you desire it; but you'll pay for them the twentythousand pieces that are ultimately to come to you as the ransom ofone and the dowry of the other; and that sum shall be divided among ourcrews. So that you do that, it is conceivable that our followers maytake a lenient view of your breach of the articles we jointly signed. "

Levasseur laughed savagely. "Ah ca! Credieu! The good jest!"

"I quite agree with you, " said Captain Blood. 

To Levasseur the jest lay in that Captain Blood, with no more than adozen followers, should come there attempting to hector him who had ahundred men within easy call. But it seemed that he had left out of hisreckoning something which his opponent had counted in. For as, laughingstill, Levasseur swung to his officers, he saw that which choked thelaughter in his throat. Captain Blood had shrewdly played upon thecupidity that was the paramount inspiration of those adventurers. AndLevasseur now read clearly on their faces how completely they adoptedCaptain Blood's suggestion that all must participate in the ransom whichtheir leader had thought to appropriate to himself. 

It gave the gaudy ruffian pause, and whilst in his heart he cursedthose followers of his, who could be faithful only to their greed, heperceived--and only just in time--that he had best tread warily. 

"You misunderstand, " he said, swallowing his rage. "The ransom isfor division, when it comes. The girl, meanwhile, is mine on thatunderstanding. "

"Good!" grunted Cahusac. "On that understanding all arranges itself. "

"You think so?" said Captain Blood. "But if M. D'Ogeron should refuse topay the ransom? What then?" He laughed, and got lazily to his feet. "No, no. If Captain Levasseur is meanwhile to keep the girl, as he proposes, then let him pay this ransom, and be his the risk if it shouldafterwards not be forthcoming. "

"That's it!" cried one of Levasseur's officers. And Cahusac added: "It'sreasonable, that! Captain Blood is right. It is in the articles. "

"What is in the articles, you fools?" Levasseur was in danger of losinghis head. "Sacre Dieu! Where do you suppose that I have twenty thousandpieces? My whole share of the prizes of this cruise does not come tohalf that sum. I'll be your debtor until I've earned it. Will thatcontent you?"

All things considered, there is not a doubt that it would have done sohad not Captain Blood intended otherwise. 

"And if you should die before you have earned it? Ours is a callingfraught with risks, my Captain. "

"Damn you!" Levasseur flung upon him livid with fury. "Will nothingsatisfy you?"

"Oh, but yes. Twenty thousand pieces of eight for immediate division. "

"I haven't got it. "

"Then let some one buy the prisoners who has. "

"And who do you suppose has it if I have not?"

"I have, " said Captain Blood. 

"You have!" Levasseur's mouth fell open. "You... You want the girl?"

"Why not? And I exceed you in gallantry in that I will make sacrificesto obtain her, and in honesty in that I am ready to pay for what Iwant. "

Levasseur stared at him foolishly agape. Behind him pressed hisofficers, gaping also. 

Captain Blood sat down again on the cask, and drew from an inner pocketof his doublet a little leather bag. "I am glad to be able to resolve adifficulty that at one moment seemed insoluble. " And under the bulgingeyes of Levasseur and his officers, he untied the mouth of the bag androlled into his left palm four or five pearls each of the size of asparrow's egg. There were twenty such in the bag, the very pick ofthose taken in that raid upon the pearl fleet. "You boast a knowledge ofpearls, Cahusac. At what do you value this?"

The Breton took between coarse finger and thumb the proffered lustrous, delicately iridescent sphere, his shrewd eyes appraising it. 

"A thousand pieces, " he answered shortly. 

"It will fetch rather more in Tortuga or Jamaica, " said Captain Blood, "and twice as much in Europe. But I'll accept your valuation. They arealmost of a size, as you can see. Here are twelve, representing twelvethousand pieces of eight, which is La Foudre's share of three fifths ofthe prize, as provided by the articles. For the eight thousand piecesthat go to the Arabella, I make myself responsible to my own men. Andnow, Wolverstone, if you please, will you take my property aboard theArabella?" He stood up again, indicating the prisoners. 

"Ah, no!" Levasseur threw wide the floodgates of his fury. "Ah, that, no, by example! You shall not take her.... " He would have sprung uponCaptain Blood, who stood aloof, alert, tight-lipped, and watchful. 

But it was one of Levasseur's own officers who hindered him. 

"Nom de Dieu, my Captain! What will you do? It is settled; honourablysettled with satisfaction to all. "

"To all?" blazed Levasseur. "Ah ca! To all of you, you animals! But whatof me?"

Cahusac, with the pearls clutched in his capacious hand, stepped up tohim on the other side. "Don't be a fool, Captain. Do you want to provoketrouble between the crews? His men outnumber us by nearly two to one. What's a girl more or less? In Heaven's name, let her go. He's paidhandsomely for her, and dealt fairly with us. "

"Dealt fairly?" roared the infuriated Captain. "You.... " In all hisfoul vocabulary he could find no epithet to describe his lieutenant. He caught him a blow that almost sent him sprawling. The pearls werescattered in the sand. 

Cahusac dived after them, his fellows with him. Vengeance must wait. For some moments they groped there on hands and knees, oblivious of allelse. And yet in those moments vital things were happening. 

Levasseur, his hand on his sword, his face a white mask of rage, wasconfronting Captain Blood to hinder his departure. 

"You do not take her while I live!" he cried. 

"Then I'll take her when you're dead, " said Captain Blood, and his ownblade flashed in the sunlight. "The articles provide that any man ofwhatever rank concealing any part of a prize, be it of the value of nomore than a peso, shall be hanged at the yardarm. It's what I intendedfor you in the end. But since ye prefer it this way, ye muckrake, faith, I'll be humouring you. "

He waved away the men who would have interfered, and the blades rangtogether. 

M. D'Ogeron looked on, a man bemused, unable to surmise what the issueeither way could mean for him. Meanwhile, two of Blood's men who hadtaken the place of the Frenchman's negro guards, had removed the crownof whipcord from his brow. As for mademoiselle, she had risen, and wasleaning forward, a hand pressed tightly to her heaving breast, her facedeathly pale, a wild terror in her eyes. 

It was soon over. The brute strength, upon which Levasseur soconfidently counted, could avail nothing against the Irishman'spractised skill. When, with both lungs transfixed, he lay prone on thewhite sand, coughing out his rascally life, Captain Blood looked calmlyat Cahusac across the body. 

"I think that cancels the articles between us, " he said. With soulless, cynical eyes Cahusac considered the twitching body of his recent leader. Had Levasseur been a man of different temper, the affair might haveended in a very different manner. But, then, it is certain that CaptainBlood would have adopted in dealing with him different tactics. As itwas, Levasseur commanded neither love nor loyalty. The men who followedhim were the very dregs of that vile trade, and cupidity was their onlyinspiration. Upon that cupidity Captain Blood had deftly played, untilhe had brought them to find Levasseur guilty of the one offence theydeemed unpardonable, the crime of appropriating to himself somethingwhich might be converted into gold and shared amongst them all. 

Thus now the threatening mob of buccaneers that came hastening to thetheatre of that swift tragi-comedy were appeased by a dozen words ofCahusac's. 

Whilst still they hesitated, Blood added something to quicken theirdecision. 

"If you will come to our anchorage, you shall receive at once your shareof the booty of the Santiago, that you may dispose of it as you please. "

They crossed the island, the two prisoners accompanying them, and laterthat day, the division made, they would have parted company but thatCahusac, at the instances of the men who had elected him Levasseur'ssuccessor, offered Captain Blood anew the services of that Frenchcontingent. 

"If you will sail with me again, " the Captain answered him, "you may doso on the condition that you make your peace with the Dutch, and restorethe brig and her cargo. "

The condition was accepted, and Captain Blood went off to find hisguests, the children of the Governor of Tortuga. 

Mademoiselle d'Ogeron and her brother--the latter now relieved of hisbonds--sat in the great cabin of the Arabella, whither they had beenconducted. 

Wine and food had been placed upon the table by Benjamin, CaptainBlood's negro steward and cook, who had intimated to them that it wasfor their entertainment. But it had remained untouched. Brother andsister sat there in agonized bewilderment, conceiving that their escapewas but from frying-pan to fire. At length, overwrought by the suspense, mademoiselle flung herself upon her knees before her brother to implorehis pardon for all the evil brought upon them by her wicked folly. 

M. D'Ogeron was not in a forgiving mood. 

"I am glad that at least you realize what you have done. And now thisother filibuster has bought you, and you belong to him. You realizethat, too, I hope. "

He might have said more, but he checked upon perceiving that the doorwas opening. Captain Blood, coming from settling matters with thefollowers of Levasseur, stood on the threshold. M. D'Ogeron had nottroubled to restrain his high-pitched voice, and the Captain hadoverheard the Frenchman's last two sentences. Therefore he perfectlyunderstood why mademoiselle should bound up at sight of him, and shrinkback in fear. 

"Mademoiselle, " said he in his vile but fluent French, "I beg you todismiss your fears. Aboard this ship you shall be treated with allhonour. So soon as we are in case to put to sea again, we steer a coursefor Tortuga to take you home to your father. And pray do not considerthat I have bought you, as your brother has just said. All that Ihave done has been to provide the ransom necessary to bribe a gang ofscoundrels to depart from obedience to the arch-scoundrel who commandedthem, and so deliver you from all peril. Count it, if you please, afriendly loan to be repaid entirely at your convenience. "

Mademoiselle stared at him in unbelief. M. D'Ogeron rose to his feet. 

"Monsieur, is it possible that you are serious?"

"I am. It may not happen often nowadays. I may be a pirate. But my waysare not the ways of Levasseur, who should have stayed in Europe, andpractised purse-cutting. I have a sort of honour--shall we say, somerags of honour?--remaining me from better days. " Then on a brisker notehe added: "We dine in an hour, and I trust that you will honour my tablewith your company. Meanwhile, Benjamin will see, monsieur, that you aremore suitably provided in the matter of wardrobe. "

He bowed to them, and turned to depart again, but mademoiselle detainedhim. 

"Monsieur!" she cried sharply. 

He checked and turned, whilst slowly she approached him, regarding himbetween dread and wonder. 

"Oh, you are noble!"

"I shouldn't put it as high as that myself, " said he. 

"You are, you are! And it is but right that you should know all. "

"Madelon!" her brother cried out, to restrain her. 

But she would not be restrained. Her surcharged heart must overflow inconfidence. 

"Monsieur, for what befell I am greatly at fault. This man--thisLevasseur.... "

He stared, incredulous in his turn. "My God! Is it possible? Thatanimal!"

Abruptly she fell on her knees, caught his hand and kissed it before hecould wrench it from her. 

"What do you do?" he cried. 

"An amende. In my mind I dishonoured you by deeming you his like, byconceiving your fight with Levasseur a combat between jackals. On myknees, monsieur, I implore you to forgive me. "

Captain Blood looked down upon her, and a smile broke on his lips, irradiating the blue eyes that looked so oddly light in that tawny face. 

"Why, child, " said he, "I might find it hard to forgive you thestupidity of having thought otherwise. "

As he handed her to her feet again, he assured himself that he hadbehaved rather well in the affair. Then he sighed. That dubious fame ofhis that had spread so quickly across the Caribbean would by now havereached the ears of Arabella Bishop. That she would despise him, hecould not doubt, deeming him no better than all the other scoundrels whodrove this villainous buccaneering trade. Therefore he hoped that someecho of this deed might reach her also, and be set by her againstsome of that contempt. For the whole truth, which he withheld fromMademoiselle d'Ogeron, was that in venturing his life to save her, hehad been driven by the thought that the deed must be pleasing in theeyes of Miss Bishop could she but witness it. 

CHAPTER XVI. THE TRAP

That affair of Mademoiselle d'Ogeron bore as its natural fruit animprovement in the already cordial relations between Captain Bloodand the Governor of Tortuga. At the fine stone house, with itsgreen-jalousied windows, which M. D'Ogeron had built himself in aspacious and luxuriant garden to the east of Cayona, the Captain becamea very welcome guest. M. D'Ogeron was in the Captain's debt for morethan the twenty thousand pieces of eight which he had provided formademoiselle's ransom; and shrewd, hard bargain-driver though he mightbe, the Frenchman could be generous and understood the sentiment ofgratitude. This he now proved in every possible way, and under hispowerful protection the credit of Captain Blood among the buccaneersvery rapidly reached its zenith. 

So when it came to fitting out his fleet for that enterprise againstMaracaybo, which had originally been Levasseur's project, he did notwant for either ships or men to follow him. He recruited five hundredadventurers in all, and he might have had as many thousands if he couldhave offered them accommodation. Similarly without difficulty he mighthave increased his fleet to twice its strength of ships but that hepreferred to keep it what it was. The three vessels to which he confinedit were the Arabella, the La Foudre, which Cahusac now commanded with acontingent of some sixscore Frenchmen, and the Santiago, which had beenrefitted and rechristened the Elizabeth, after that Queen of Englandwhose seamen had humbled Spain as Captain Blood now hoped to humble itagain. Hagthorpe, in virtue of his service in the navy, was appointed byBlood to command her, and the appointment was confirmed by the men. 

It was some months after the rescue of Mademoiselle d'Ogeron--in Augustof that year 1687--that this little fleet, after some minor adventureswhich I pass over in silence, sailed into the great lake of Maracayboand effected its raid upon that opulent city of the Main. 

The affair did not proceed exactly as was hoped, and Blood's force cameto find itself in a precarious position. This is best explained in thewords employed by Cahusac--which Pitt has carefully recorded--in thecourse of an altercation that broke out on the steps of the Churchof Nuestra Senora del Carmen, which Captain Blood had impiouslyappropriated for the purpose of a corps-de-garde. I have said alreadythat he was a papist only when it suited him. 

The dispute was being conducted by Hagthorpe, Wolverstone, and Pitt onthe one side, and Cahusac, out of whose uneasiness it all arose, on theother. Behind them in the sun-scorched, dusty square, sparsely fringedby palms, whose fronds drooped listlessly in the quivering heat, surgeda couple of hundred wild fellows belonging to both parties, their ownexcitement momentarily quelled so that they might listen to what passedamong their leaders. 

Cahusac appeared to be having it all his own way, and he raisedhis harsh, querulous voice so that all might hear his truculentdenunciation. He spoke, Pitt tells us, a dreadful kind of English, whichthe shipmaster, however, makes little attempt to reproduce. His dresswas as discordant as his speech. It was of a kind to advertise histrade, and ludicrously in contrast with the sober garb of Hagthorpeand the almost foppish daintiness of Jeremy Pitt. His soiled andblood-stained shirt of blue cotton was open in front, to cool his hairybreast, and the girdle about the waist of his leather breeches carriedan arsenal of pistols and a knife, whilst a cutlass hung from a leatherbaldrick loosely slung about his body; above his countenance, broad andflat as a Mongolian's, a red scarf was swathed, turban-wise, about hishead. 

"Is it that I have not warned you from the beginning that all was tooeasy?" he demanded between plaintiveness and fury. "I am no fool, myfriends. I have eyes, me. And I see. I see an abandoned fort at theentrance of the lake, and nobody there to fire a gun at us when we camein. Then I suspect the trap. Who would not that had eyes and brain? Bah!we come on. What do we find? A city, abandoned like the fort; a city outof which the people have taken all things of value. Again I warn CaptainBlood. It is a trap, I say. We are to come on; always to come on, without opposition, until we find that it is too late to go to seaagain, that we cannot go back at all. But no one will listen to me. Youall know so much more. Name of God! Captain Blood, he will go on, and wego on. We go to Gibraltar. True that at last, after long time, we catchthe Deputy-Governor; true, we make him pay big ransom for Gibraltar;true between that ransom and the loot we return here with some twothousand pieces of eight. But what is it, in reality, will you tell me?Or shall I tell you? It is a piece of cheese--a piece of cheese in amousetrap, and we are the little mice. Goddam! And the cats--oh, thecats they wait for us! The cats are those four Spanish ships of war thathave come meantime. And they wait for us outside the bottle-neck of thislagoon. Mort de Dieu! That is what comes of the damned obstinacy of yourfine Captain Blood. "

Wolverstone laughed. Cahusac exploded in fury. 

"Ah, sangdieu! Tu ris, animal? You laugh! Tell me this: How do we getout again unless we accept the terms of Monsieur the Admiral of Spain?"

From the buccaneers at the foot of the steps came an angry rumble ofapproval. The single eye of the gigantic Wolverstone rolled terribly, and he clenched his great fists as if to strike the Frenchman, who wasexposing them to mutiny. But Cahusac was not daunted. The mood of themen enheartened him. 

"You think, perhaps, this your Captain Blood is the good God. That hecan make miracles, eh? He is ridiculous, you know, this Captain Blood;with his grand air and his.... "

He checked. Out of the church at that moment, grand air and all, sauntered Peter Blood. With him came a tough, long-legged Frenchsea-wolf named Yberville, who, though still young, had already won fameas a privateer commander before the loss of his own ship had driven himto take service under Blood. The Captain advanced towards that disputinggroup, leaning lightly upon his long ebony cane, his face shaded by abroad-plumed hat. There was in his appearance nothing of the buccaneer. He had much more the air of a lounger in the Mall or the Alameda--thelatter rather, since his elegant suit of violet taffetas withgold-embroidered button-holes was in the Spanish fashion. But the long, stout, serviceable rapier, thrust up behind by the left hand restinglightly on the pummel, corrected the impression. That and those steelyeyes of his announced the adventurer. 

"You find me ridiculous, eh, Cahusac?" said he, as he came to a haltbefore the Breton, whose anger seemed already to have gone out of him. "What, then, must I find you?" He spoke quietly, almost wearily. "Youwill be telling them that we have delayed, and that it is the delay thathas brought about our danger. But whose is the fault of that delay? Wehave been a month in doing what should have been done, and what but foryour blundering would have been done, inside of a week. "

"Ah ca! Nom de Dieu! Was it my fault that.... "

"Was it any one else's fault that you ran your ship La Foudre aground onthe shoal in the middle of the lake? You would not be piloted. You knewyour way. You took no soundings even. The result was that we lost threeprecious days in getting canoes to bring off your men and your gear. Those three days gave the folk at Gibraltar not only time to hear of ourcoming, but time in which to get away. After that, and because of it, we had to follow the Governor to his infernal island fortress, and afortnight and best part of a hundred lives were lost in reducing it. That's how we come to have delayed until this Spanish fleet is fetchedround from La Guayra by a guarda-costa; and if ye hadn't lost La Foudre, and so reduced our fleet from three ships to two, we should even now beable to fight our way through with a reasonable hope of succeeding. Yet you think it is for you to come hectoring here, upbraiding us for asituation that is just the result of your own ineptitude. "

He spoke with a restraint which I trust you will agree was admirablewhen I tell you that the Spanish fleet guarding the bottle-neck exitof the great Lake of Maracaybo, and awaiting there the coming forthof Captain Blood with a calm confidence based upon its overwhelmingstrength, was commanded by his implacable enemy, Don Miguel de Espinosay Valdez, the Admiral of Spain. In addition to his duty to his country, the Admiral had, as you know, a further personal incentive arising outof that business aboard the Encarnacion a year ago, and the death ofhis brother Don Diego; and with him sailed his nephew Esteban, whosevindictive zeal exceeded the Admiral's own. 

Yet, knowing all this, Captain Blood could preserve his calm inreproving the cowardly frenzy of one for whom the situation had not halfthe peril with which it was fraught for himself. He turned from Cahusacto address the mob of buccaneers, who had surged nearer to hear him, forhe had not troubled to raise his voice. "I hope that will correct someof the misapprehension that appears to have been disturbing you, " saidhe. 

"There's no good can come of talking of what's past and done, " criedCahusac, more sullen now than truculent. Whereupon Wolverstone laughed, a laugh that was like the neighing of a horse. "The question is: whatare we to do now?"

"Sure, now, there's no question at all, " said Captain Blood. 

"Indeed, but there is, " Cahusac insisted. "Don Miguel, the SpanishAdmiral, have offer us safe passage to sea if we will depart at once, dono damage to the town, release our prisoners, and surrender all that wetook at Gibraltar. "

Captain Blood smiled quietly, knowing precisely how much Don Miguel'sword was worth. It was Yberville who replied, in manifest scorn of hiscompatriot:

"Which argues that, even at this disadvantage as he has us, the SpanishAdmiral is still afraid of us. "

"That can be only because he not know our real weakness, " was the fierceretort. "And, anyway, we must accept these terms. We have no choice. That is my opinion. "

"Well, it's not mine, now, " said Captain Blood. "So, I've refused them. "

"Refuse'!" Cahusac's broad face grew purple. A muttering from the menbehind enheartened him. "You have refuse'? You have refuse' already--andwithout consulting me?"

"Your disagreement could have altered nothing. You'd have been outvoted, for Hagthorpe here was entirely of my own mind. Still, " he went on, "if you and your own French followers wish to avail yourselves of theSpaniard's terms, we shall not hinder you. Send one of your prisoners toannounce it to the Admiral. Don Miguel will welcome your decision, youmay be sure. "

Cahusac glowered at him in silence for a moment. Then, having controlledhimself, he asked in a concentrated voice:

"Precisely what answer have you make to the Admiral?"

A smile irradiated the face and eyes of Captain Blood. "I have answeredhim that unless within four-and-twenty hours we have his parole to standout to sea, ceasing to dispute our passage or hinder our departure, and a ransom of fifty thousand pieces of eight for Maracaybo, we shallreduce this beautiful city to ashes, and thereafter go out and destroyhis fleet. "

The impudence of it left Cahusac speechless. But among the Englishbuccaneers in the square there were many who savoured the audacioushumour of the trapped dictating terms to the trappers. Laughter brokefrom them. It spread into a roar of acclamation; for bluff is a weapondear to every adventurer. Presently, when they understood it, evenCahusac's French followers were carried off their feet by that wave ofjocular enthusiasm, until in his truculent obstinacy Cahusac remainedthe only dissentient. He withdrew in mortification. Nor was he to bemollified until the following day brought him his revenge. This camein the shape of a messenger from Don Miguel with a letter in whichthe Spanish Admiral solemnly vowed to God that, since the pirates hadrefused his magnanimous offer to permit them to surrender with thehonours of war, he would now await them at the mouth of the lake thereto destroy them on their coming forth. He added that should they delaytheir departure, he would so soon as he was reenforced by a fifth ship, the Santo Nino, on its way to join him from La Guayra, himself comeinside to seek them at Maracaybo. 

This time Captain Blood was put out of temper. 

"Trouble me no more, " he snapped at Cahusac, who came growling to himagain. "Send word to Don Miguel that you have seceded from me. He'llgive you safe conduct, devil a doubt. Then take one of the sloops, orderyour men aboard and put to sea, and the devil go with you. "

Cahusac would certainly have adopted that course if only his men hadbeen unanimous in the matter. They, however, were torn between greed andapprehension. If they went they must abandon their share of the plunder, which was considerable, as well as the slaves and other prisonersthey had taken. If they did this, and Captain Blood should afterwardscontrive to get away unscathed--and from their knowledge of hisresourcefulness, the thing, however unlikely, need not be impossible--hemust profit by that which they now relinquished. This was a contingencytoo bitter for contemplation. And so, in the end, despite all thatCahusac could say, the surrender was not to Don Miguel, but to PeterBlood. They had come into the venture with him, they asserted, andthey would go out of it with him or not at all. That was the messagehe received from them that same evening by the sullen mouth of Cahusachimself. 

He welcomed it, and invited the Breton to sit down and join the councilwhich was even then deliberating upon the means to be employed. Thiscouncil occupied the spacious patio of the Governor's house--whichCaptain Blood had appropriated to his own uses--a cloistered stonequadrangle in the middle of which a fountain played coolly under atrellis of vine. Orange-trees grew on two sides of it, and the still, evening air was heavy with the scent of them. It was one of thosepleasant exterior-interiors which Moorish architects had introduced toSpain and the Spaniards had carried with them to the New World. 

Here that council of war, composed of six men in all, deliberated untillate that night upon the plan of action which Captain Blood put forward. 

The great freshwater lake of Maracaybo, nourished by a score of riversfrom the snow-capped ranges that surround it on two sides, is somehundred and twenty miles in length and almost the same distance acrossat its widest. It is--as has been indicated--in the shape of a greatbottle having its neck towards the sea at Maracaybo. 

Beyond this neck it widens again, and then the two long, narrow stripsof land known as the islands of Vigilias and Palomas block the channel, standing lengthwise across it. The only passage out to sea for vesselsof any draught lies in the narrow strait between these islands. Palomas, which is some ten miles in length, is unapproachable for half a mileon either side by any but the shallowest craft save at its eastern end, where, completely commanding the narrow passage out to sea, stands themassive fort which the buccaneers had found deserted upon their coming. In the broader water between this passage and the bar, the four Spanishships were at anchor in mid-channel. The Admiral's Encarnacion, which wealready know, was a mighty galleon of forty-eight great guns and eightsmall. Next in importance was the Salvador with thirty-six guns; theother two, the Infanta and the San Felipe, though smaller vessels, werestill formidable enough with their twenty guns and a hundred and fiftymen apiece. 

Such was the fleet of which the gauntlet was to be run by Captain Bloodwith his own Arabella of forty guns, the Elizabeth of twenty-six, andtwo sloops captured at Gibraltar, which they had indifferently armedwith four culverins each. In men they had a bare four hundred survivorsof the five hundred-odd that had left Tortuga, to oppose to fully athousand Spaniards manning the galleons. 

The plan of action submitted by Captain Blood to that council was adesperate one, as Cahusac uncompromisingly pronounced it. 

"Why, so it is, " said the Captain. "But I've done things moredesperate. " Complacently he pulled at a pipe that was loaded with thatfragrant Sacerdotes tobacco for which Gibraltar was famous, and ofwhich they had brought away some hogsheads. "And what is more, they'vesucceeded. Audaces fortuna juvat. Bedad, they knew their world, the oldRomans. "

He breathed into his companions and even into Cahusac some of his ownspirit of confidence, and in confidence all went busily to work. Forthree days from sunrise to sunset, the buccaneers laboured and sweatedto complete the preparations for the action that was to procure themtheir deliverance. Time pressed. They must strike before Don Miguel deEspinosa received the reenforcement of that fifth galleon, the SantoNino, which was coming to join him from La Guayra. 

Their principal operations were on the larger of the two sloops capturedat Gibraltar; to which vessel was assigned the leading part in CaptainBlood's scheme. They began by tearing down all bulkheads, until theyhad reduced her to the merest shell, and in her sides they broke openso many ports that her gunwale was converted into the semblance of agrating. Next they increased by a half-dozen the scuttles in her deck, whilst into her hull they packed all the tar and pitch and brimstonethat they could find in the town, to which they added six barrels ofgunpowder, placed on end like guns at the open ports on her larboardside. On the evening of the fourth day, everything being now inreadiness, all were got aboard, and the empty, pleasant city ofMaracaybo was at last abandoned. But they did not weigh anchor untilsome two hours after midnight. Then, at last, on the first of the ebb, they drifted silently down towards the bar with all canvas furled saveonly their spiltsails, which, so as to give them steering way, werespread to the faint breeze that stirred through the purple darkness ofthe tropical night. 

The order of their going was as follows: Ahead went the improvisedfire-ship in charge of Wolverstone, with a crew of six volunteers, eachof whom was to have a hundred pieces of eight over and above his shareof plunder as a special reward. Next came the Arabella. She was followedat a distance by the Elizabeth, commanded by Hagthorpe, with whom wasthe now shipless Cahusac and the bulk of his French followers. The rearwas brought up by the second sloop and some eight canoes, aboard ofwhich had been shipped the prisoners, the slaves, and most of thecaptured merchandise. The prisoners were all pinioned, and guarded byfour buccaneers with musketoons who manned these boats in addition tothe two fellows who were to sail them. Their place was to be in the rearand they were to take no part whatever in the coming fight. 

As the first glimmerings of opalescent dawn dissolved the darkness, thestraining eyes of the buccaneers were able to make out the tall riggingof the Spanish vessels, riding at anchor less than a quarter of a mileahead. Entirely without suspicion as the Spaniards were, and renderedconfident by their own overwhelming strength, it is unlikely that theyused a vigilance keener than their careless habit. Certain it is thatthey did not sight Blood's fleet in that dim light until some timeafter Blood's fleet had sighted them. By the time that they had activelyroused themselves, Wolverstone's sloop was almost upon them, speedingunder canvas which had been crowded to her yards the moment the galleonshad loomed into view. 

Straight for the Admiral's great ship, the Encarnacion, did Wolverstonehead the sloop; then, lashing down the helm, he kindled from a matchthat hung ready lighted beside him a great torch of thickly plaitedstraw that had been steeped in bitumen. First it glowed, then as heswung it round his head, it burst into flame, just as the slight vesselwent crashing and bumping and scraping against the side of the flagship, whilst rigging became tangled with rigging, to the straining of yardsand snapping of spars overhead. His six men stood at their posts on thelarboard side, stark naked, each armed with a grapnel, four of them onthe gunwale, two of them aloft. At the moment of impact these grapnelswere slung to bind the Spaniard to them, those aloft being intended tocomplete and preserve the entanglement of the rigging. 

Aboard the rudely awakened galleon all was confused hurrying, scurrying, trumpeting, and shouting. At first there had been a desperately hurriedattempt to get up the anchor; but this was abandoned as being alreadytoo late; and conceiving themselves on the point of being boarded, the Spaniards stood to arms to ward off the onslaught. Its slowness incoming intrigued them, being so different from the usual tactics of thebuccaneers. Further intrigued were they by the sight of the giganticWolverstone speeding naked along his deck with a great flaming torchheld high. Not until he had completed his work did they begin to suspectthe truth--that he was lighting slow-matches--and then one of theirofficers rendered reckless by panic ordered a boarding-party on to theshop. 

The order came too late. Wolverstone had seen his six fellows dropoverboard after the grapnels were fixed, and then had sped, himself, to the starboard gunwale. Thence he flung his flaming torch down thenearest gaping scuttle into the hold, and thereupon dived overboard inhis turn, to be picked up presently by the longboat from the Arabella. But before that happened the sloop was a thing of fire, from whichexplosions were hurling blazing combustibles aboard the Encarnacion, andlong tongues of flame were licking out to consume the galleon, beatingback those daring Spaniards who, too late, strove desperately to cut heradrift. 

And whilst the most formidable vessel of the Spanish fleet was thusbeing put out of action at the outset, Blood had sailed in to open fireupon the Salvador. First athwart her hawse he had loosed a broadsidethat had swept her decks with terrific effect, then going on and about, he had put a second broadside into her hull at short range. Leaving herthus half-crippled, temporarily, at least, and keeping to his course, he had bewildered the crew of the Infanta by a couple of shots from thechasers on his beak-head, then crashed alongside to grapple and boardher, whilst Hagthorpe was doing the like by the San Felipe. 

And in all this time not a single shot had the Spaniards contrived tofire, so completely had they been taken by surprise, and so swift andparalyzing had been Blood's stroke. 

Boarded now and faced by the cold steel of the buccaneers, neither theSan Felipe nor the Infanta offered much resistance. The sight of theiradmiral in flames, and the Salvador drifting crippled from the action, had so utterly disheartened them that they accounted themselvesvanquished, and laid down their arms. 

If by a resolute stand the Salvador had encouraged the other twoundamaged vessels to resistance, the Spaniards might well haveretrieved the fortunes of the day. But it happened that the Salvador washandicapped in true Spanish fashion by being the treasure-ship of thefleet, with plate on board to the value of some fifty thousand pieces. Intent above all upon saving this from falling into the hands of thepirates, Don Miguel, who, with a remnant of his crew, had meanwhiletransferred himself aboard her, headed her down towards Palomas and thefort that guarded the passage. This fort the Admiral, in those days ofwaiting, had taken the precaution secretly to garrison and rearm. Forthe purpose he had stripped the fort of Cojero, farther out on the gulf, of its entire armament, which included some cannon-royal of more thanordinary range and power. 

With no suspicion of this, Captain Blood gave chase, accompanied bythe Infanta, which was manned now by a prize-crew under the command ofYberville. The stern chasers of the Salvador desultorily returned thepunishing fire of the pursuers; but such was the damage she, herself, sustained, that presently, coming under the guns of the fort, she beganto sink, and finally settled down in the shallows with part of her hullabove water. Thence, some in boats and some by swimming, the Admiral gothis crew ashore on Palomas as best he could. 

And then, just as Captain Blood accounted the victory won, and that hisway out of that trap to the open sea beyond lay clear, the fort suddenlyrevealed its formidable and utterly unsuspected strength. With a roarthe cannons-royal proclaimed themselves, and the Arabella staggeredunder a blow that smashed her bulwarks at the waist and scattered deathand confusion among the seamen gathered there. 

Had not Pitt, her master, himself seized the whipstaff and put the helmhard over to swing her sharply off to starboard, she must have sufferedstill worse from the second volley that followed fast upon the first. 

Meanwhile it had fared even worse with the frailer Infanta. Althoughhit by one shot only, this had crushed her larboard timbers on thewaterline, starting a leak that must presently have filled her, but forthe prompt action of the experienced Yberville in ordering herlarboard guns to be flung overboard. Thus lightened, and listing nowto starboard, he fetched her about, and went staggering after theretreating Arabella, followed by the fire of the fort, which did them, however, little further damage. 

Out of range, at last, they lay to, joined by the Elizabeth and the SanFelipe, to consider their position. 

CHAPTER XVII. THE DUPES

It was a crestfallen Captain Blood who presided over that hastilysummoned council held on the poop-deck of the Arabella in the brilliantmorning sunshine. It was, he declared afterwards, one of the bitterestmoments in his career. He was compelled to digest the fact that havingconducted the engagement with a skill of which he might justly be proud, having destroyed a force so superior in ships and guns and men that DonMiguel de Espinosa had justifiably deemed it overwhelming, his victorywas rendered barren by three lucky shots from an unsuspected batteryby which they had been surprised. And barren must their victory remainuntil they could reduce the fort that still remained to defend thepassage. 

At first Captain Blood was for putting his ships in order and making theattempt there and then. But the others dissuaded him from betraying animpetuosity usually foreign to him, and born entirely of chagrinand mortification, emotions which will render unreasonable the mostreasonable of men. With returning calm, he surveyed the situation. TheArabella was no longer in case to put to sea; the Infanta was merelykept afloat by artifice, and the San Felipe was almost as sorely damagedby the fire she had sustained from the buccaneers before surrendering. 

Clearly, then, he was compelled to admit in the end that nothingremained but to return to Maracaybo, there to refit the ships beforeattempting to force the passage. 

And so, back to Maracaybo came those defeated victors of that short, terrible fight. And if anything had been wanting further to exasperatetheir leader, he had it in the pessimism of which Cahusac did noteconomize expressions. Transported at first to heights of dizzysatisfaction by the swift and easy victory of their inferior force thatmorning, the Frenchman was now plunged back and more deeply than everinto the abyss of hopelessness. And his mood infected at least the mainbody of his own followers. 

"It is the end, " he told Captain Blood. "This time we are checkmated. "

"I'll take the liberty of reminding you that you said the same before, "Captain Blood answered him as patiently as he could. "Yet you've seenwhat you've seen, and you'll not deny that in ships and guns we arereturning stronger than we went. Look at our present fleet, man. "

"I am looking at it, " said Cahusac. 

"Pish! Ye're a white-livered cur when all is said. "

"You call me a coward?"

"I'll take that liberty. "

The Breton glared at him, breathing hard. But he had no mind to asksatisfaction for the insult. He knew too well the kind of satisfactionthat Captain Blood was likely to afford him. He remembered the fate ofLevasseur. So he confined himself to words. 

"It is too much! You go too far!" he complained bitterly. 

"Look you, Cahusac: it's sick and tired I am of your perpetual whiningand complaining when things are not as smooth as a convent dining-table. If ye wanted things smooth and easy, ye shouldn't have taken to the sea, and ye should never ha' sailed with me, for with me things are neversmooth and easy. And that, I think, is all I have to say to you thismorning. "

Cahusac flung away cursing, and went to take the feeling of his men. 

Captain Blood went off to give his surgeon's skill to the wounded, amongwhom he remained engaged until late afternoon. Then, at last, he wentashore, his mind made up, and returned to the house of the Governor, toindite a truculent but very scholarly letter in purest Castilian to DonMiguel. 

"I have shown your excellency this morning of what I am capable, " hewrote. "Although outnumbered by more than two to one in men, in ships, and in guns, I have sunk or captured the vessels of the great fleet withwhich you were to come to Maracaybo to destroy us. So that you are nolonger in case to carry out your boast, even when your reenforcementson the Santo Nino, reach you from La Guayra. From what has occurred, youmay judge of what must occur. I should not trouble your excellency withthis letter but that I am a humane man, abhorring bloodshed. Thereforebefore proceeding to deal with your fort, which you may deem invincible, as I have dealt already with your fleet, which you deemed invincible, Imake you, purely out of humanitarian considerations, this last offer ofterms. I will spare this city of Maracaybo and forthwith evacuate it, leaving behind me the forty prisoners I have taken, in consideration ofyour paying me the sum of fifty thousand pieces of eight and one hundredhead of cattle as a ransom, thereafter granting me unmolested passage ofthe bar. My prisoners, most of whom are persons of consideration, I willretain as hostages until after my departure, sending them back in thecanoes which we shall take with us for that purpose. If your excellencyshould be so ill-advised as to refuse these terms, and thereby imposeupon me the necessity of reducing your fort at the cost of some lives, Iwarn you that you may expect no quarter from us, and that I shall beginby leaving a heap of ashes where this pleasant city of Maracaybo nowstands. "

The letter written, he bade them bring him from among the prisonersthe Deputy-Governor of Maracaybo, who had been taken at Gibraltar. Disclosing its contents to him, he despatched him with it to Don Miguel. 

His choice of a messenger was shrewd. The Deputy-Governor was of all menthe most anxious for the deliverance of his city, the one man who on hisown account would plead most fervently for its preservation at all costsfrom the fate with which Captain Blood was threatening it. And as hereckoned so it befell. The Deputy-Governor added his own passionatepleading to the proposals of the letter. 

But Don Miguel was of stouter heart. True, his fleet had been partlydestroyed and partly captured. But then, he argued, he had been takenutterly by surprise. That should not happen again. There should be nosurprising the fort. Let Captain Blood do his worst at Maracaybo, thereshould be a bitter reckoning for him when eventually he decided--as, sooner or later, decide he must--to come forth. The Deputy-Governor wasflung into panic. He lost his temper, and said some hard things to theAdmiral. But they were not as hard as the thing the Admiral said to himin answer. 

"Had you been as loyal to your King in hindering the entrance of thesecursed pirates as I shall be in hindering their going forth again, weshould not now find ourselves in our present straits. So weary me nomore with your coward counsels. I make no terms with Captain Blood. Iknow my duty to my King, and I intend to perform it. I also know myduty to myself. I have a private score with this rascal, and I intend tosettle it. Take you that message back. "

So back to Maracaybo, back to his own handsome house in which CaptainBlood had established his quarters, came the Deputy-Governor with theAdmiral's answer. And because he had been shamed into a show of spiritby the Admiral's own stout courage in adversity, he delivered it astruculently as the Admiral could have desired. "And is it like that?"said Captain Blood with a quiet smile, though the heart of him sankat this failure of his bluster. "Well, well, it's a pity now that theAdmiral's so headstrong. It was that way he lost his fleet, which washis own to lose. This pleasant city of Maracaybo isn't. So no doubthe'll lose it with fewer misgivings. I am sorry. Waste, like bloodshed, is a thing abhorrent to me. But there ye are! I'll have the faggots tothe place in the morning, and maybe when he sees the blaze to-morrownight he'll begin to believe that Peter Blood is a man of his word. Yemay go, Don Francisco. "

The Deputy-Governor went out with dragging feet, followed by guards, hismomentary truculence utterly spent. 

But no sooner had he departed than up leapt Cahusac, who had been of thecouncil assembled to receive the Admiral's answer. His face was whiteand his hands shook as he held them out in protest. 

"Death of my life, what have you to say now?" he cried, his voice husky. And without waiting to hear what it might be, he raved on: "I knew younot frighten the Admiral so easy. He hold us entrap', and he knows it;yet you dream that he will yield himself to your impudent message. Yourfool letter it have seal' the doom of us all. "

"Have ye done?" quoth Blood quietly, as the Frenchman paused for breath. 

"No, I have not. "

"Then spare me the rest. It'll be of the same quality, devil a doubt, and it doesn't help us to solve the riddle that's before us. "

"But what are you going to do? Is it that you will tell me?" It was nota question, it was a demand. 

"How the devil do I know? I was hoping you'd have some ideas yourself. But since Ye're so desperately concerned to save your skin, you andthose that think like you are welcome to leave us. I've no doubt at allthe Spanish Admiral will welcome the abatement of our numbers even atthis late date. Ye shall have the sloop as a parting gift from us, andye can join Don Miguel in the fort for all I care, or for all the goodye're likely to be to us in this present pass. "

"It is to my men to decide, " Cahusac retorted, swallowing his fury, andon that stalked out to talk to them, leaving the others to deliberate inpeace. 

Next morning early he sought Captain Blood again. He found him alonein the patio, pacing to and fro, his head sunk on his breast. Cahusacmistook consideration for dejection. Each of us carries in himself astandard by which to measure his neighbour. 

"We have take' you at your word, Captain, " he announced, betweensullenness and defiance. Captain Blood paused, shoulders hunched, handsbehind his back, and mildly regarded the buccaneer in silence. Cahusacexplained himself. "Last night I send one of my men to the SpanishAdmiral with a letter. I make him offer to capitulate if he will accordus passage with the honours of war. This morning I receive his answer. He accord us this on the understanding that we carry nothing away withus. My men they are embarking them on the sloop. We sail at once. "

"Bon voyage, " said Captain Blood, and with a nod he turned on his heelagain to resume his interrupted mediation. 

"Is that all that you have to say to me?" cried Cahusac. 

"There are other things, " said Blood over his shoulder. "But I know yewouldn't like them. "

"Ha! Then it's adieu, my Captain. " Venomously he added: "It is my beliefthat we shall not meet again. "

"Your belief is my hope, " said Captain Blood. 

Cahusac flung away, obscenely vituperative. Before noon he was under waywith his followers, some sixty dejected men who had allowed themselvesto be persuaded by him into that empty-handed departure--in spite evenof all that Yberville could do to prevent it. The Admiral kept faithwith him, and allowed him free passage out to sea, which, from hisknowledge of Spaniards, was more than Captain Blood had expected. 

Meanwhile, no sooner had the deserters weighed anchor than Captain Bloodreceived word that the Deputy-Governor begged to be allowed to see himagain. Admitted, Don Francisco at once displayed the fact that a night'sreflection had quickened his apprehensions for the city of Maracaybo andhis condemnation of the Admiral's intransigence. 

Captain Blood received him pleasantly. 

"Good-morning to you, Don Francisco. I have postponed the bonfire untilnightfall. It will make a better show in the dark. "

Don Francisco, a slight, nervous, elderly man of high lineage and lowvitality, came straight to business. 

"I am here to tell you, Don Pedro, that if you will hold your hand forthree days, I will undertake to raise the ransom you demand, which DonMiguel de Espinosa refuses. "

Captain Blood confronted him, a frown contracting the dark brows abovehis light eyes:

"And where will you be raising it?" quoth he, faintly betraying hissurprise. 

Don Francisco shook his head. "That must remain my affair, " he answered. "I know where it is to be found, and my compatriots must contribute. Give me leave for three days on parole, and I will see you fullysatisfied. Meanwhile my son remains in your hands as a hostage for myreturn. " And upon that he fell to pleading. But in this he was crisplyinterrupted. 

"By the Saints! Ye're a bold man, Don Francisco, to come to me with sucha tale--to tell me that ye know where the ransom's to be raised, and yetto refuse to say. D'ye think now that with a match between your fingersye'd grow more communicative?"

If Don Francisco grew a shade paler, yet again he shook his head. 

"That was the way of Morgan and L'Ollonais and other pirates. But it isnot the way of Captain Blood. If I had doubted that I should not havedisclosed so much. "

The Captain laughed. "You old rogue, " said he. "Ye play upon my vanity, do you?"

"Upon your honour, Captain. "

"The honour of a pirate? Ye're surely crazed!"

"The honour of Captain Blood, " Don Francisco insisted. "You have therepute of making war like a gentleman. "

Captain Blood laughed again, on a bitter, sneering note that made DonFrancisco fear the worst. He was not to guess that it was himself theCaptain mocked. 

"That's merely because it's more remunerative in the end. And thatis why you are accorded the three days you ask for. So about it, DonFrancisco. You shall have what mules you need. I'll see to it. "

Away went Don Francisco on his errand, leaving Captain Blood to reflect, between bitterness and satisfaction, that a reputation for as muchchivalry as is consistent with piracy is not without its uses. 

Punctually on the third day the Deputy-Governor was back in Maracaybowith his mules laden with plate and money to the value demanded and aherd of a hundred head of cattle driven in by negro slaves. 

These bullocks were handed over to those of the company who ordinarilywere boucan-hunters, and therefore skilled in the curing of meats, andfor best part of a week thereafter they were busy at the waterside withthe quartering and salting of carcases. 

While this was doing on the one hand and the ships were being refittedfor sea on the other, Captain Blood was pondering the riddle on thesolution of which his own fate depended. Indian spies whom he employedbrought him word that the Spaniards, working at low tide, had salved thethirty guns of the Salvador, and thus had added yet another batteryto their already overwhelming strength. In the end, and hoping forinspiration on the spot, Captain Blood made a reconnaissance in person. At the risk of his life, accompanied by two friendly Indians, he crossedto the island in a canoe under cover of dark. They concealed themselvesand the canoe in the short thick scrub with which that side of theisland was densely covered, and lay there until daybreak. Then Bloodwent forward alone, and with infinite precaution, to make his survey. Hewent to verify a suspicion that he had formed, and approached the fortas nearly as he dared and a deal nearer than was safe. 

On all fours he crawled to the summit of an eminence a mile or so away, whence he found himself commanding a view of the interior dispositionsof the stronghold. By the aid of a telescope with which he had equippedhimself he was able to verify that, as he had suspected and hoped, thefort's artillery was all mounted on the seaward side. 

Satisfied, he returned to Maracaybo, and laid before the six whocomposed his council--Pitt, Hagthorpe, Yberville, Wolverstone, Dyke, andOgle--a proposal to storm the fort from the landward side. Crossingto the island under cover of night, they would take the Spaniards bysurprise and attempt to overpower them before they could shift theirguns to meet the onslaught. 

With the exception of Wolverstone, who was by temperament the kind ofman who favours desperate chances, those officers received the proposalcoldly. Hagthorpe incontinently opposed it. 

"It's a harebrained scheme, Peter, " he said gravely, shaking hishandsome head. "Consider now that we cannot depend upon approachingunperceived to a distance whence we might storm the fort before thecannon could be moved. But even if we could, we can take no cannonourselves; we must depend entirely upon our small arms, and how shallwe, a bare three hundred" (for this was the number to which Cahusac'sdefection had reduced them), "cross the open to attack more than twicethat number under cover?"

The others--Dyke, Ogle, Yberville, and even Pitt, whom loyalty to Bloodmay have made reluctant--loudly approved him. When they had done, "Ihave considered all, " said Captain Blood. "I have weighed the risks andstudied how to lessen them. In these desperate straits.... "

He broke off abruptly. A moment he frowned, deep in thought; then hisface was suddenly alight with inspiration. Slowly he drooped his head, and sat there considering, weighing, chin on breast. Then he nodded, muttering, "Yes, " and again, "Yes. " He looked up, to face them. "Listen, " he cried. "You may be right. The risks may be too heavy. Whether or not, I have thought of a better way. That which should havebeen the real attack shall be no more than a feint. Here, then, is theplan I now propose. "

He talked swiftly and clearly, and as he talked one by one his officers'faces became alight with eagerness. When he had done, they cried as withone voice that he had saved them. 

"That is yet to be proved in action, " said he. 

Since for the last twenty-four hours all had been in readiness fordeparture, there was nothing now to delay them, and it was decided tomove next morning. 

Such was Captain Blood's assurance of success that he immediately freedthe prisoners held as hostages, and even the negro slaves, who wereregarded by the others as legitimate plunder. His only precautionagainst those released prisoners was to order them into the churchand there lock them up, to await deliverance at the hands of those whoshould presently be coming into the city. 

Then, all being aboard the three ships, with the treasure safely stowedin their holds and the slaves under hatches, the buccaneers weighedanchor and stood out for the bar, each vessel towing three piraguasastern. 

The Admiral, beholding their stately advance in the full light of noon, their sails gleaming white in the glare of the sunlight, rubbed hislong, lean hands in satisfaction, and laughed through his teeth. 

"At last!" he cried. "God delivers him into my hands!" He turned to thegroup of staring officers behind him. "Sooner or later it had to be, " hesaid. "Say now, gentlemen, whether I am justified of my patience. Hereend to-day the troubles caused to the subjects of the Catholic King bythis infamous Don Pedro Sangre, as he once called himself to me. "

He turned to issue orders, and the fort became lively as a hive. Theguns were manned, the gunners already kindling fuses, when the buccaneerfleet, whilst still heading for Palomas, was observed to bear away tothe west. The Spaniards watched them, intrigued. 

Within a mile and a half to westward of the fort, and within a half-mileof the shore--that is to say, on the very edge of the shoal water thatmakes Palomas unapproachable on either side by any but vessels ofthe shallowest draught--the four ships cast anchor well within theSpaniards' view, but just out of range of their heaviest cannon. 

Sneeringly the Admiral laughed. 

"Aha! They hesitate, these English dogs! Por Dios, and well they may. "

"They will be waiting for night, " suggested his nephew, who stood at hiselbow quivering with excitement. 

Don Miguel looked at him, smiling. "And what shall the night avail themin this narrow passage, under the very muzzles of my guns? Be sure, Esteban, that to-night your father will be paid for. "

He raised his telescope to continue his observation of the buccaneers. He saw that the piraguas towed by each vessel were being warpedalongside, and he wondered a little what this manoeuver might portend. Awhile those piraguas were hidden from view behind the hulls. Then oneby one they reappeared, rowing round and away from the ships, and eachboat, he observed, was crowded with armed men. Thus laden, they wereheaded for the shore, at a point where it was densely wooded to thewater's edge. The eyes of the wondering Admiral followed them until thefoliage screened them from his view. 

Then he lowered his telescope and looked at his officers. 

"What the devil does it mean?" he asked. 

None answered him, all being as puzzled as he was himself. 

After a little while, Esteban, who kept his eyes on the water, pluckedat his uncle's sleeve. "There they go!" he cried, and pointed. 

And there, indeed, went the piraguas on their way back to the ships. But now it was observed that they were empty, save for the men who rowedthem. Their armed cargo had been left ashore. 

Back to the ships they pulled, to return again presently with a freshload of armed men, which similarly they conveyed to Palomas. And at lastone of the Spanish officers ventured an explanation:

"They are going to attack us by land--to attempt to storm the fort. "

"Of course. " The Admiral smiled. "I had guessed it. Whom the gods woulddestroy they first make mad. "

"Shall we make a sally?" urged Esteban, in his excitement. 

"A sally? Through that scrub? That would be to play into their hands. No, no, we will wait here to receive this attack. Whenever it comes, itis themselves will be destroyed, and utterly. Have no doubt of that. "

But by evening the Admiral's equanimity was not quite so perfect. Bythen the piraguas had made a half-dozen journeys with their loadsof men, and they had landed also--as Don Miguel had clearly observedthrough his telescope--at least a dozen guns. 

His countenance no longer smiled; it was a little wrathful and a littletroubled now as he turned again to his officers. 

"Who was the fool who told me that they number but three hundred men inall? They have put at least twice that number ashore already. "

Amazed as he was, his amazement would have been deeper had he been toldthe truth: that there was not a single buccaneer or a single gun ashoreon Palomas. The deception had been complete. Don Miguel could not guessthat the men he had beheld in those piraguas were always the same; thaton the journeys to the shore they sat and stood upright in full view;and that on the journeys back to the ships, they lay invisible at thebottom of the boats, which were thus made to appear empty. 

The growing fears of the Spanish soldiery at the prospect of a nightattack from the landward side by the entire buccaneer force--and aforce twice as strong as they had suspected the pestilent Blood tocommand--began to be communicated to the Admiral. 

In the last hours of fading daylight, the Spaniards did precisely whatCaptain Blood so confidently counted that they would do--precisely whatthey must do to meet the attack, preparations for which had been sothoroughly simulated. They set themselves to labour like the damned atthose ponderous guns emplaced to command the narrow passage out to sea. 

Groaning and sweating, urged on by the curses and even the whips oftheir officers, they toiled in a frenzy of panic-stricken haste to shiftthe greater number and the more powerful of their guns across to thelandward side, there to emplace them anew, so that they might be readyto receive the attack which at any moment now might burst upon them fromthe woods not half a mile away. 

Thus, when night fell, although in mortal anxiety of the onslaught ofthose wild devils whose reckless courage was a byword on the seas of theMain, at least the Spaniards were tolerably prepared for it. Waiting, they stood to their guns. 

And whilst they waited thus, under cover of the darkness and as the tidebegan to ebb, Captain Blood's fleet weighed anchor quietly; and, as oncebefore, with no more canvas spread than that which their sprits couldcarry, so as to give them steering way--and even these having beenpainted black--the four vessels, without a light showing, groped theirway by soundings to the channel which led to that narrow passage out tosea. 

The Elizabeth and the Infanta, leading side by side, were almost abreastof the fort before their shadowy bulks and the soft gurgle of water attheir prows were detected by the Spaniards, whose attention until thatmoment had been all on the other side. And now there arose on the nightair such a sound of human baffled fury as may have resounded about Babelat the confusion of tongues. To heighten that confusion, and to scatterdisorder among the Spanish soldiery, the Elizabeth emptied her larboardguns into the fort as she was swept past on the swift ebb. 

At once realizing--though not yet how--he had been duped, and that hisprey was in the very act of escaping after all, the Admiral franticallyordered the guns that had been so laboriously moved to be dragged backto their former emplacements, and commanded his gunners meanwhile tothe slender batteries that of all his powerful, but now unavailable, armament still remained trained upon the channel. With these, after theloss of some precious moments, the fort at last made fire. 

It was answered by a terrific broadside from the Arabella, which hadnow drawn abreast, and was crowding canvas to her yards. The enragedand gibbering Spaniards had a brief vision of her as the line of flamespurted from her red flank, and the thunder of her broadside drownedthe noise of the creaking halyards. After that they saw her no more. Assimilated by the friendly darkness which the lesser Spanish guns werespeculatively stabbing, the escaping ships fired never another shot thatmight assist their baffled and bewildered enemies to locate them. 

Some slight damage was sustained by Blood's fleet. But by the time theSpaniards had resolved their confusion into some order of dangerousoffence, that fleet, well served by a southerly breeze, was through thenarrows and standing out to sea. 

Thus was Don Miguel de Espinosa left to chew the bitter cud of a lostopportunity, and to consider in what terms he would acquaint theSupreme Council of the Catholic King that Peter Blood had got away fromMaracaybo, taking with him two twenty-gun frigates that were latelythe property of Spain, to say nothing of two hundred and fifty thousandpieces of eight and other plunder. And all this in spite of Don Miguel'sfour galleons and his heavily armed fort that at one time had held thepirates so securely trapped. 

Heavy, indeed, grew the account of Peter Blood, which Don Miguel sworepassionately to Heaven should at all costs to himself be paid in full. 

Nor were the losses already detailed the full total of those sufferedon this occasion by the King of Spain. For on the following evening, off the coast of Oruba, at the mouth of the Gulf of Venezuela, CaptainBlood's fleet came upon the belated Santo Nino, speeding under full sailto reenforce Don Miguel at Maracaybo. 

At first the Spaniard had conceived that she was meeting the victoriousfleet of Don Miguel, returning from the destruction of the pirates. Whenat comparatively close quarters the pennon of St. George soared to theArabella's masthead to disillusion her, the Santo Nino chose the betterpart of valour, and struck her flag. 

Captain Blood ordered her crew to take to the boats, and land themselvesat Oruba or wherever else they pleased. So considerate was he that toassist them he presented them with several of the piraguas which hestill had in tow. 

"You will find, " said he to her captain, "that Don Miguel is in anextremely bad temper. Commend me to him, and say that I venture toremind him that he must blame himself for all the ills that havebefallen him. The evil has recoiled upon him which he loosed whenhe sent his brother unofficially to make a raid upon the island ofBarbados. Bid him think twice before he lets his devils loose upon anEnglish settlement again. "

With that he dismissed the Captain, who went over the side of the SantoNino, and Captain Blood proceeded to investigate the value of thisfurther prize. When her hatches were removed, a human cargo wasdisclosed in her hold. 

"Slaves, " said Wolverstone, and persisted in that belief cursing Spanishdevilry until Cahusac crawled up out of the dark bowels of the ship, andstood blinking in the sunlight. 

There was more than sunlight to make the Breton pirate blink. Andthose that crawled out after him--the remnants of his crew--cursed himhorribly for the pusillanimity which had brought them into the ignominyof owing their deliverance to those whom they had deserted as lostbeyond hope. 

Their sloop had encountered and had been sunk three days ago by theSanto Nino, and Cahusac had narrowly escaped hanging merely that forsome time he might be a mock among the Brethren of the Coast. 

For many a month thereafter he was to hear in Tortuga the jeering taunt:

"Where do you spend the gold that you brought back from Maracaybo?"

CHAPTER XVIII. THE MILAGROSA

The affair at Maracaybo is to be considered as Captain Blood'sbuccaneering masterpiece. Although there is scarcely one of the manyactions that he fought--recorded in such particular detail by JeremyPitt--which does not afford some instance of his genius for navaltactics, yet in none is this more shiningly displayed than in those twoengagements by which he won out of the trap which Don Miguel de Espinosahad sprung upon him. 

The fame which he had enjoyed before this, great as it already was, isdwarfed into insignificance by the fame that followed. It was a famesuch as no buccaneer--not even Morgan--has ever boasted, before orsince. 

In Tortuga, during the months he spent there refitting the three shipshe had captured from the fleet that had gone out to destroy him, hefound himself almost an object of worship in the eyes of the wildBrethren of the Coast, all of whom now clamoured for the honour ofserving under him. It placed him in the rare position of being ableto pick and choose the crews for his augmented fleet, and he chosefastidiously. When next he sailed away it was with a fleet of five fineships in which went something over a thousand men. Thus you behold himnot merely famous, but really formidable. The three captured Spanishvessels he had renamed with a certain scholarly humour the Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, a grimly jocular manner of conveying to the worldthat he made them the arbiters of the fate of any Spaniards he shouldhenceforth encounter upon the seas. 

In Europe the news of this fleet, following upon the news of the SpanishAdmiral's defeat at Maracaybo, produced something of a sensation. Spainand England were variously and unpleasantly exercised, and if you careto turn up the diplomatic correspondence exchanged on the subject, youwill find that it is considerable and not always amiable. 

And meanwhile in the Caribbean, the Spanish Admiral Don Miguel deEspinosa might be said--to use a term not yet invented in his day--tohave run amok. The disgrace into which he had fallen as a result of thedisasters suffered at the hands of Captain Blood had driven the Admiralall but mad. It is impossible, if we impose our minds impartially, to withhold a certain sympathy from Don Miguel. Hate was now thisunfortunate man's daily bread, and the hope of vengeance an obsession tohis mind. As a madman he went raging up and down the Caribbean seekinghis enemy, and in the meantime, as an hors d'oeuvre to his vindictiveappetite, he fell upon any ship of England or of France that loomedabove his horizon. 

I need say no more to convey the fact that this illustrious sea-captainand great gentleman of Castile had lost his head, and was become apirate in his turn. The Supreme Council of Castile might anon condemnhim for his practices. But how should that matter to one who already wascondemned beyond redemption? On the contrary, if he should live to laythe audacious and ineffable Blood by the heels, it was possible thatSpain might view his present irregularities and earlier losses with amore lenient eye. 

And so, reckless of the fact that Captain Blood was now in vastlysuperior strength, the Spaniard sought him up and down the tracklessseas. But for a whole year he sought him vainly. The circumstances inwhich eventually they met are very curious. 

An intelligent observation of the facts of human existence will revealto shallow-minded folk who sneer at the use of coincidence in the artsof fiction and drama that life itself is little more than a series ofcoincidences. Open the history of the past at whatsoever page you will, and there you shall find coincidence at work bringing about events thatthe merest chance might have averted. Indeed, coincidence may be definedas the very tool used by Fate to shape the destinies of men and nations. 

Observe it now at work in the affairs of Captain Blood and of someothers. 

On the 15th September of the year 1688--a memorable year in the annalsof England--three ships were afloat upon the Caribbean, which in theircoming conjunctions were to work out the fortunes of several persons. 

The first of these was Captain Blood's flagship the Arabella, which hadbeen separated from the buccaneer fleet in a hurricane off the LesserAntilles. In somewhere about 17 deg. N. Lat. , and 74 deg. Long. , shewas beating up for the Windward Passage, before the intermittentsoutheasterly breezes of that stifling season, homing for Tortuga, thenatural rendezvous of the dispersed vessels. 

The second ship was the great Spanish galleon, the Milagrosa, which, accompanied by the smaller frigate Hidalga, lurked off the Caymites, to the north of the long peninsula that thrusts out from the southwestcorner of Hispaniola. Aboard the Milagrosa sailed the vindictive DonMiguel. 

The third and last of these ships with which we are at present concernedwas an English man-of-war, which on the date I have given was at anchorin the French port of St. Nicholas on the northwest coast of Hispaniola. She was on her way from Plymouth to Jamaica, and carried on board avery distinguished passenger in the person of Lord Julian Wade, whocame charged by his kinsman, my Lord Sunderland, with a mission ofsome consequence and delicacy, directly arising out of that vexatiouscorrespondence between England and Spain. 

The French Government, like the English, excessively annoyed by thedepredations of the buccaneers, and the constant straining of relationswith Spain that ensued, had sought in vain to put them down by enjoiningthe utmost severity against them upon her various overseas governors. But these, either--like the Governor of Tortuga--throve out of ascarcely tacit partnership with the filibusters, or--like the Governorof French Hispaniola--felt that they were to be encouraged as a checkupon the power and greed of Spain, which might otherwise be exerted tothe disadvantage of the colonies of other nations. They looked, indeed, with apprehension upon recourse to any vigorous measures which mustresult in driving many of the buccaneers to seek new hunting-grounds inthe South Sea. 

To satisfy King James's anxiety to conciliate Spain, and in response tothe Spanish Ambassador's constant and grievous expostulations, my LordSunderland, the Secretary of State, had appointed a strong man to thedeputy-governorship of Jamaica. This strong man was that ColonelBishop who for some years now had been the most influential planter inBarbados. 

Colonel Bishop had accepted the post, and departed from the plantationsin which his great wealth was being amassed with an eagerness that hadits roots in a desire to pay off a score of his own with Peter Blood. 

From his first coming to Jamaica, Colonel Bishop had made himself feltby the buccaneers. But do what he might, the one buccaneer whom hemade his particular quarry--that Peter Blood who once had been hisslave--eluded him ever, and continued undeterred and in great forceto harass the Spaniards upon sea and land, and to keep the relationsbetween England and Spain in a state of perpetual ferment, particularlydangerous in those days when the peace of Europe was precariouslymaintained. 

Exasperated not only by his own accumulated chagrin, but also by thereproaches for his failure which reached him from London, Colonel Bishopactually went so far as to consider hunting his quarry in Tortugaitself and making an attempt to clear the island of the buccaneers itsheltered. Fortunately for himself, he abandoned the notion of so insanean enterprise, deterred not only by the enormous natural strength of theplace, but also by the reflection that a raid upon what was, nominallyat least, a French settlement, must be attended by grave offence toFrance. Yet short of some such measure, it appeared to Colonel Bishopthat he was baffled. He confessed as much in a letter to the Secretaryof State. 

This letter and the state of things which it disclosed made my LordSunderland despair of solving this vexatious problem by ordinary means. He turned to the consideration of extraordinary ones, and bethought himof the plan adopted with Morgan, who had been enlisted into the King'sservice under Charles II. It occurred to him that a similar course mightbe similarly effective with Captain Blood. His lordship did not omitthe consideration that Blood's present outlawry might well have beenundertaken not from inclination, but under stress of sheer necessity;that he had been forced into it by the circumstances of histransportation, and that he would welcome the opportunity of emergingfrom it. 

Acting upon this conclusion, Sunderland sent out his kinsman, LordJulian Wade, with some commissions made out in blank, and fulldirections as to the course which the Secretary considered it desirableto pursue and yet full discretion in the matter of pursuing them. Thecrafty Sunderland, master of all labyrinths of intrigue, advised hiskinsman that in the event of his finding Blood intractable, or judgingfor other reasons that it was not desirable to enlist him in the King'sservice, he should turn his attention to the officers serving under him, and by seducing them away from him leave him so weakened that he mustfall an easy victim to Colonel Bishop's fleet. 

The Royal Mary--the vessel bearing that ingenious, tolerablyaccomplished, mildly dissolute, entirely elegant envoy of my LordSunderland's--made a good passage to St. Nicholas, her last port ofcall before Jamaica. It was understood that as a preliminary Lord Julianshould report himself to the Deputy-Governor at Port Royal, whence atneed he might have himself conveyed to Tortuga. Now it happened that theDeputy-Governor's niece had come to St. Nicholas some months earlier ona visit to some relatives, and so that she might escape the insufferableheat of Jamaica in that season. The time for her return being now athand, a passage was sought for her aboard the Royal Mary, and in view ofher uncle's rank and position promptly accorded. 

Lord Julian hailed her advent with satisfaction. It gave a voyage thathad been full of interest for him just the spice that it requiredto achieve perfection as an experience. His lordship was one of yourgallants to whom existence that is not graced by womankind is more orless of a stagnation. Miss Arabella Bishop--this straight up and downslip of a girl with her rather boyish voice and her almost boyish easeof movement--was not perhaps a lady who in England would have commandedmuch notice in my lord's discerning eyes. His very sophisticated, carefully educated tastes in such matters inclined him towards theplump, the languishing, and the quite helplessly feminine. MissBishop's charms were undeniable. But they were such that it would take adelicate-minded man to appreciate them; and my Lord Julian, whilst of amind that was very far from gross, did not possess the necessary degreeof delicacy. I must not by this be understood to imply anything againsthim. 

It remained, however, that Miss Bishop was a young woman and a lady; andin the latitude into which Lord Julian had strayed this was a phenomenonsufficiently rare to command attention. On his side, with his title andposition, his personal grace and the charm of a practised courtier, hebore about him the atmosphere of the great world in which normally hehad his being--a world that was little more than a name to her, who hadspent most of her life in the Antilles. It is not therefore wonderfulthat they should have been attracted to each other before the RoyalMary was warped out of St. Nicholas. Each could tell the other much uponwhich the other desired information. He could regale her imaginationwith stories of St. James's--in many of which he assigned himself aheroic, or at least a distinguished part--and she could enrich his mindwith information concerning this new world to which he had come. 

Before they were out of sight of St. Nicholas they were good friends, and his lordship was beginning to correct his first impressions of herand to discover the charm of that frank, straightforward attitude ofcomradeship which made her treat every man as a brother. Consideringhow his mind was obsessed with the business of his mission, it is notwonderful that he should have come to talk to her of Captain Blood. Indeed, there was a circumstance that directly led to it. 

"I wonder now, " he said, as they were sauntering on the poop, "ifyou ever saw this fellow Blood, who was at one time on your uncle'splantations as a slave. "

Miss Bishop halted. She leaned upon the taffrail, looking out towardsthe receding land, and it was a moment before she answered in a steady, level voice:

"I saw him often. I knew him very well. "

"Ye don't say!" His lordship was slightly moved out of animperturbability that he had studiously cultivated. He was a young manof perhaps eight-and-twenty, well above the middle height in statureand appearing taller by virtue of his exceeding leanness. He had a thin, pale, rather pleasing hatchet-face, framed in the curls of a goldenperiwig, a sensitive mouth and pale blue eyes that lent his countenancea dreamy expression, a rather melancholy pensiveness. But they werealert, observant eyes notwithstanding, although they failed on thisoccasion to observe the slight change of colour which his question hadbrought to Miss Bishop's cheeks or the suspiciously excessive composureof her answer. 

"Ye don't say!" he repeated, and came to lean beside her. "And whatmanner of man did you find him?"

"In those days I esteemed him for an unfortunate gentleman. "

"You were acquainted with his story?"

"He told it me. That is why I esteemed him--for the calm fortitude withwhich he bore adversity. Since then, considering what he has done, Ihave almost come to doubt if what he told me of himself was true. "

"If you mean of the wrongs he suffered at the hands of the RoyalCommission that tried the Monmouth rebels, there's little doubt that itwould be true enough. He was never out with Monmouth; that is certain. He was convicted on a point of law of which he may well have beenignorant when he committed what was construed into treason. But, faith, he's had his revenge, after a fashion. "

"That, " she said in a small voice, "is the unforgivable thing. It hasdestroyed him--deservedly. "

"Destroyed him?" His lordship laughed a little. "Be none so sure ofthat. He has grown rich, I hear. He has translated, so it is said, hisSpanish spoils into French gold, which is being treasured up for him inFrance. His future father-in-law, M. D'Ogeron, has seen to that. "

"His future father-in-law?" said she, and stared at him round-eyed, withparted lips. Then added: "M. D'Ogeron? The Governor of Tortuga?"

"The same. You see the fellow's well protected. It's a piece of news Igathered in St. Nicholas. I am not sure that I welcome it, for I amnot sure that it makes any easier a task upon which my kinsman, LordSunderland, has sent me hither. But there it is. You didn't know?"

She shook her head without replying. She had averted her face, and hereyes were staring down at the gently heaving water. After a moment shespoke, her voice steady and perfectly controlled. 

"But surely, if this were true, there would have been an end to hispiracy by now. If he... If he loved a woman and was betrothed, and wasalso rich as you say, surely he would have abandoned this desperatelife, and... "

"Why, so I thought, " his lordship interrupted, "until I had theexplanation. D'Ogeron is avaricious for himself and for his child. Andas for the girl, I'm told she's a wild piece, fit mate for such a man asBlood. Almost I marvel that he doesn't marry her and take her a-rovingwith him. It would be no new experience for her. And I marvel, too, atBlood's patience. He killed a man to win her. "

"He killed a man for her, do you say?" There was horror now in hervoice. 

"Yes--a French buccaneer named Levasseur. He was the girl's lover andBlood's associate on a venture. Blood coveted the girl, and killedLevasseur to win her. Pah! It's an unsavoury tale, I own. But men liveby different codes out in these parts.... "

She had turned to face him. She was pale to the lips, and her hazel eyeswere blazing, as she cut into his apologies for Blood. 

"They must, indeed, if his other associates allowed him to live afterthat. "

"Oh, the thing was done in fair fight, I am told. "

"Who told you?"

"A man who sailed with them, a Frenchman named Cahusac, whom I found ina waterside tavern in St. Nicholas. He was Levasseur's lieutenant, and he was present on the island where the thing happened, and whenLevasseur was killed. "

"And the girl? Did he say the girl was present, too?"

"Yes. She was a witness of the encounter. Blood carried her off when hehad disposed of his brother-buccaneer. "

"And the dead man's followers allowed it?" He caught the note ofincredulity in her voice, but missed the note of relief with which itwas blent. "Oh, I don't believe the tale. I won't believe it!"

"I honour you for that, Miss Bishop. It strained my own belief that menshould be so callous, until this Cahusac afforded me the explanation. "

"What?" She checked her unbelief, an unbelief that had uplifted her froman inexplicable dismay. Clutching the rail, she swung round to face hislordship with that question. Later he was to remember and perceive inher present behaviour a certain oddness which went disregarded now. 

"Blood purchased their consent, and his right to carry the girl off. Hepaid them in pearls that were worth more than twenty thousand pieces ofeight. " His lordship laughed again with a touch of contempt. "A handsomeprice! Faith, they're scoundrels all--just thieving, venal curs. Andfaith, it's a pretty tale this for a lady's ear. "

She looked away from him again, and found that her sight was blurred. After a moment in a voice less steady than before she asked him:

"Why should this Frenchman have told you such a tale? Did he hate thisCaptain Blood?"

"I did not gather that, " said his lordship slowly. "He related it... Oh, just as a commonplace, an instance of buccaneering ways. 

"A commonplace!" said she. "My God! A commonplace!"

"I dare say that we are all savages under the cloak that civilizationfashions for us, " said his lordship. "But this Blood, now, was a manof considerable parts, from what else this Cahusac told me. He was abachelor of medicine. "

"That is true, to my own knowledge. "

"And he has seen much foreign service on sea and land. Cahusacsaid--though this I hardly credit--that he had fought under de Ruyter. "

"That also is true, " said she. She sighed heavily. "Your Cahusac seemsto have been accurate enough. Alas!"

"You are sorry, then?"

She looked at him. She was very pale, he noticed. 

"As we are sorry to hear of the death of one we have esteemed. Once Iheld him in regard for an unfortunate but worthy gentleman. Now.... "

She checked, and smiled a little crooked smile. "Such a man is bestforgotten. "

And upon that she passed at once to speak of other things. Thefriendship, which it was her great gift to command in all she met, grewsteadily between those two in the little time remaining, until the eventbefell that marred what was promising to be the pleasantest stage of hislordship's voyage. 

The marplot was the mad-dog Spanish Admiral, whom they encountered onthe second day out, when halfway across the Gulf of Gonaves. The Captainof the Royal Mary was not disposed to be intimidated even when DonMiguel opened fire on him. Observing the Spaniard's plentiful seaboardtowering high above the water and offering him so splendid a mark, the Englishman was moved to scorn. If this Don who flew the banner ofCastile wanted a fight, the Royal Mary was just the ship to oblige him. It may be that he was justified of his gallant confidence, and thathe would that day have put an end to the wild career of Don Miguel deEspinosa, but that a lucky shot from the Milagrosa got among some powderstored in his forecastle, and blew up half his ship almost before thefight had started. How the powder came there will never now be known, and the gallant Captain himself did not survive to enquire into it. 

Before the men of the Royal Mary had recovered from their consternation, their captain killed and a third of their number destroyed with him, theship yawing and rocking helplessly in a crippled state, the Spaniardsboarded her. 

In the Captain's cabin under the poop, to which Miss Bishop had beenconducted for safety, Lord Julian was seeking to comfort and encourageher, with assurances that all would yet be well, at the very moment whenDon Miguel was stepping aboard. Lord Julian himself was none so steady, and his face was undoubtedly pale. Not that he was by any means acoward. But this cooped-up fighting on an unknown element in a thing ofwood that might at any moment founder under his feet into the depthsof ocean was disturbing to one who could be brave enough ashore. Fortunately Miss Bishop did not appear to be in desperate need of thepoor comfort he was in case to offer. Certainly she, too, was pale, andher hazel eyes may have looked a little larger than usual. But she hadherself well in hand. Half sitting, half leaning on the Captain's table, she preserved her courage sufficiently to seek to calm the octoroonwaiting-woman who was grovelling at her feet in a state of terror. 

And then the cabin-door flew open, and Don Miguel himself, tall, sunburned, and aquiline of face, strode in. Lord Julian span round, toface him, and clapped a hand to his sword. 

The Spaniard was brisk and to the point. 

"Don't be a fool, " he said in his own tongue, "or you'll come by afool's end. Your ship is sinking. "

There were three or four men in morions behind Don Miguel, and LordJulian realized the position. He released his hilt, and a couple offeet or so of steel slid softly back into the scabbard. But Don Miguelsmiled, with a flash of white teeth behind his grizzled beard, and heldout his hand. 

"If you please, " he said. 

Lord Julian hesitated. His eyes strayed to Miss Bishop's. "I think youhad better, " said that composed young lady, whereupon with a shrug hislordship made the required surrender. 

"Come you--all of you--aboard my ship, " Don Miguel invited them, andstrode out. 

They went, of course. For one thing the Spaniard had force to compelthem; for another a ship which he announced to be sinking offered themlittle inducement to remain. They stayed no longer than was necessary toenable Miss Bishop to collect some spare articles of dress and my lordto snatch up his valise. 

As for the survivors in that ghastly shambles that had been the RoyalMary, they were abandoned by the Spaniards to their own resources. Letthem take to the boats, and if those did not suffice them, let them swimor drown. If Lord Julian and Miss Bishop were retained, it was becauseDon Miguel perceived their obvious value. He received them in his cabinwith great urbanity. Urbanely he desired to have the honour of beingacquainted with their names. 

Lord Julian, sick with horror of the spectacle he had just witnessed, commanded himself with difficulty to supply them. Then haughtily hedemanded to know in his turn the name of their aggressor. He was inan exceedingly ill temper. He realized that if he had done nothingpositively discreditable in the unusual and difficult position intowhich Fate had thrust him, at least he had done nothing creditable. This might have mattered less but that the spectator of his indifferentperformance was a lady. He was determined if possible to do better now. 

"I am Don Miguel de Espinosa, " he was answered. "Admiral of the Naviesof the Catholic King. "

Lord Julian gasped. If Spain made such a hubbub about the depredationsof a runagate adventurer like Captain Blood, what could not Englandanswer now?

"Will you tell me, then, why you behave like a damned pirate?" he asked. And added: "I hope you realize what will be the consequences, and thestrict account to which you shall be brought for this day's work, forthe blood you have murderously shed, and for your violence to this ladyand to myself. "

"I offer you no violence, " said the Admiral, smiling, as only the manwho holds the trumps can smile. "On the contrary, I have saved yourlives.... "

"Saved our lives!" Lord Julian was momentarily speechless before suchcallous impudence. "And what of the lives you have destroyed in wantonbutchery? By God, man, they shall cost you dear. "

Don Miguel's smile persisted. "It is possible. All things are possible. Meantime it is your own lives that will cost you dear. Colonel Bishop isa rich man; and you, milord, are no doubt also rich. I will consider andfix your ransom. "

"So that you're just the damned murderous pirate I was supposing you, "stormed his lordship. "And you have the impudence to call yourselfthe Admiral of the Navies of the Catholic King? We shall see what yourCatholic King will have to say to it. "

The Admiral ceased to smile. He revealed something of the rage that hadeaten into his brain. "You do not understand, " he said. "It is that Itreat you English heretic dogs just as you English heretic dogs havetreated Spaniards upon the seas--you robbers and thieves out of hell!I have the honesty to do it in my own name--but you, you perfidiousbeasts, you send your Captain Bloods, your Hagthorpes, and your Morgansagainst us and disclaim responsibility for what they do. Like Pilate, you wash your hands. " He laughed savagely. "Let Spain play the part ofPilate. Let her disclaim responsibility for me, when your ambassadorat the Escurial shall go whining to the Supreme Council of this act ofpiracy by Don Miguel de Espinosa. "

"Captain Blood and the rest are not admirals of England!" cried LordJulian. 

"Are they not? How do I know? How does Spain know? Are you not liarsall, you English heretics?"

"Sir!" Lord Julian's voice was harsh as a rasp, his eyes flashed. Instinctively he swung a hand to the place where his sword habituallyhung. Then he shrugged and sneered: "Of course, " said he, "it sorts withall I have heard of Spanish honour and all that I have seen of yoursthat you should insult a man who is unarmed and your prisoner. "

The Admiral's face flamed scarlet. He half raised his hand to strike. And then, restrained, perhaps, by the very words that had cloaked theretorting insult, he turned on his heel abruptly and went out withoutanswering. 

CHAPTER XIX. THE MEETING

As the door slammed after the departing Admiral, Lord Julian turned toArabella, and actually smiled. He felt that he was doing better, andgathered from it an almost childish satisfaction--childish in all thecircumstances. "Decidedly I think I had the last word there, " he said, with a toss of his golden ringlets. 

Miss Bishop, seated at the cabin-table, looked at him steadily, withoutreturning his smile. "Does it matter, then, so much, having the lastword? I am thinking of those poor fellows on the Royal Mary. Many ofthem have had their last word, indeed. And for what? A fine ship sunk, a score of lives lost, thrice that number now in jeopardy, and all forwhat?"

"You are overwrought, ma'am. I.... "

"Overwrought!" She uttered a single sharp note of laughter. "I assureyou I am calm. I am asking you a question, Lord Julian. Why has thisSpaniard done all this? To what purpose?"

"You heard him. " Lord Julian shrugged angrily. "Blood-lust, " heexplained shortly. 

"Blood-lust?" she asked. She was amazed. "Does such a thing exist, then?It is insane, monstrous. "

"Fiendish, " his lordship agreed. "Devil's work. "

"I don't understand. At Bridgetown three years ago there was a Spanishraid, and things were done that should have been impossible to men, horrible, revolting things which strain belief, which seem, when Ithink of them now, like the illusions of some evil dream. Are men justbeasts?"

"Men?" said Lord Julian, staring. "Say Spaniards, and I'll agree. "He was an Englishman speaking of hereditary foes. And yet there was ameasure of truth in what he said. "This is the Spanish way in the NewWorld. Faith, almost it justifies such men as Blood of what they do. "

She shivered, as if cold, and setting her elbows on the table, she tookher chin in her hands, and sat staring before her. 

Observing her, his lordship noticed how drawn and white her face hadgrown. There was reason enough for that, and for worse. Not any otherwoman of his acquaintance would have preserved her self-control in suchan ordeal; and of fear, at least, at no time had Miss Bishop shown anysign. It is impossible that he did not find her admirable. 

A Spanish steward entered bearing a silver chocolate service and a boxof Peruvian candies, which he placed on the table before the lady. 

"With the Admiral's homage, " he said, then bowed, and withdrew. 

Miss Bishop took no heed of him or his offering, but continued to starebefore her, lost in thought. Lord Julian took a turn in the long lowcabin, which was lighted by a skylight above and great square windowsastern. It was luxuriously appointed: there were rich Eastern rugs onthe floor, well-filled bookcases stood against the bulkheads, and therewas a carved walnut sideboard laden with silverware. On a long, lowchest standing under the middle stern port lay a guitar that was gaywith ribbons. Lord Julian picked it up, twanged the strings once as ifmoved by nervous irritation, and put it down. 

He turned again to face Miss Bishop. 

"I came out here, " he said, "to put down piracy. But--blister me!--Ibegin to think that the French are right in desiring piracy to continueas a curb upon these Spanish scoundrels. "

He was to be strongly confirmed in that opinion before many hourswere past. Meanwhile their treatment at the hands of Don Miguel wasconsiderate and courteous. It confirmed the opinion, contemptuouslyexpressed to his lordship by Miss Bishop, that since they were to beheld to ransom they need not fear any violence or hurt. A cabin wasplaced at the disposal of the lady and her terrified woman, and anotherat Lord Julian's. They were given the freedom of the ship, and bidden todine at the Admiral's table; nor were his further intentions regardingthem mentioned, nor yet his immediate destination. 

The Milagrosa, with her consort the Hidalga rolling after her, steereda south by westerly course, then veered to the southeast round CapeTiburon, and thereafter, standing well out to sea, with the land no morethan a cloudy outline to larboard, she headed directly east, and so ranstraight into the arms of Captain Blood, who was making for the WindwardPassage, as we know. That happened early on the following morning. Afterhaving systematically hunted his enemy in vain for a year, Don Miguelchanced upon him in this unexpected and entirely fortuitous fashion. Butthat is the ironic way of Fortune. It was also the way of Fortune thatDon Miguel should thus come upon the Arabella at a time when, separatedfrom the rest of the fleet, she was alone and at a disadvantage. Itlooked to Don Miguel as if the luck which so long had been on Blood'sside had at last veered in his own favour. 

Miss Bishop, newly risen, had come out to take the air on thequarter-deck with his lordship in attendance--as you would expect of sogallant a gentleman--when she beheld the big red ship that had once beenthe Cinco Llagas out of Cadiz. The vessel was bearing down upon them, her mountains of snowy canvas bellying forward, the long pennon withthe cross of St. George fluttering from her main truck in the morningbreeze, the gilded portholes in her red hull and the gilded beak-headaflash in the morning sun. 

Miss Bishop was not to recognize this for that same Cinco Llagas whichshe had seen once before--on a tragic day in Barbados three yearsago. To her it was just a great ship that was heading resolutely, majestically, towards them, and an Englishman to judge by the pennonshe was flying. The sight thrilled her curiously; it awoke in her anuplifting sense of pride that took no account of the danger to herselfin the encounter that must now be inevitable. 

Beside her on the poop, whither they had climbed to obtain a betterview, and equally arrested and at gaze, stood Lord Julian. But he sharednone of her exultation. He had been in his first sea-fight yesterday, and he felt that the experience would suffice him for a veryconsiderable time. This, I insist, is no reflection upon his courage. 

"Look, " said Miss Bishop, pointing; and to his infinite amazement heobserved that her eyes were sparkling. Did she realize, he wondered, what was afoot? Her next sentence resolved his doubt. "She is English, and she comes resolutely on. She means to fight. "

"God help her, then, " said his lordship gloomily. "Her captain must bemad. What can he hope to do against two such heavy hulks as these? Ifthey could so easily blow the Royal Mary out of the water, what willthey do to this vessel? Look at that devil Don Miguel. He's utterlydisgusting in his glee. "

From the quarter-deck, where he moved amid the frenzy of preparation, the Admiral had turned to flash a backward glance at his prisoners. Hiseyes were alight, his face transfigured. He flung out an arm to pointto the advancing ship, and bawled something in Spanish that was lost tothem in the noise of the labouring crew. 

They advanced to the poop-rail, and watched the bustle. Telescope inhand on the quarter-deck, Don Miguel was issuing his orders. Already thegunners were kindling their matches; sailors were aloft, taking in sail;others were spreading a stout rope net above the waist, as a protectionagainst falling spars. And meanwhile Don Miguel had been signalling tohis consort, in response to which the Hidalga had drawn steadilyforward until she was now abeam of the Milagrosa, half cable's length tostarboard, and from the height of the tall poop my lord and Miss Bishopcould see her own bustle of preparation. And they could discern signs ofit now aboard the advancing English ship as well. She was furling topsand mainsail, stripping in fact to mizzen and sprit for the comingaction. Thus, almost silently without challenge or exchange of signals, had action been mutually determined. 

Of necessity now, under diminished sail, the advance of the Arabella wasslower; but it was none the less steady. She was already within sakershot, and they could make out the figures stirring on her forecastle andthe brass guns gleaming on her prow. The gunners of the Milagrosa raisedtheir linstocks and blew upon their smouldering matches, looking upimpatiently at the Admiral. 

But the Admiral solemnly shook his head. 

"Patience, " he exhorted them. "Save your fire until we have him. He iscoming straight to his doom--straight to the yardarm and the rope thathave been so long waiting for him. "

"Stab me!" said his lordship. "This Englishman may be gallant enough toaccept battle against such odds. But there are times when discretion isa better quality than gallantry in a commander. "

"Gallantry will often win through, even against overwhelming strength, "said Miss Bishop. He looked at her, and noted in her bearing onlyexcitement. Of fear he could still discern no trace. His lordship waspast amazement. She was not by any means the kind of woman to which lifehad accustomed him. 

"Presently, " he said, "you will suffer me to place you under cover. "

"I can see best from here, " she answered him. And added quietly: "I ampraying for this Englishman. He must be very brave. "

Under his breath Lord Julian damned the fellow's bravery. 

The Arabella was advancing now along a course which, if continued, mustcarry her straight between the two Spanish ships. My lord pointedit out. "He's crazy surely!" he cried. "He's driving straight into adeath-trap. He'll be crushed to splinters between the two. No wonderthat black-faced Don is holding his fire. In his place, I should do thesame. "

But even at that moment the Admiral raised his hand; in the waist, belowhim, a trumpet blared, and immediately the gunner on the prow touchedoff his guns. As the thunder of them rolled out, his lordship saw aheadbeyond the English ship and to larboard of her two heavy splashes. Almost at once two successive spurts of flame leapt from the brasscannon on the Arabella's beak-head, and scarcely had the watchers on thepoop seen the shower of spray, where one of the shots struck thewater near them, then with a rending crash and a shiver that shook theMilagrosa from stem to stern, the other came to lodge in her forecastle. To avenge that blow, the Hidalga blazed at the Englishman with bothher forward guns. But even at that short range--between two and threehundred yards--neither shot took effect. 

At a hundred yards the Arabella's forward guns, which had meanwhilebeen reloaded, fired again at the Milagrosa, and this time smashed herbowsprit into splinters; so that for a moment she yawed wildly to port. Don Miguel swore profanely, and then, as the helm was put over to swingher back to her course, his own prow replied. But the aim was too high, and whilst one of the shots tore through the Arabella's shrouds andscarred her mainmast, the other again went wide. And when the smoke ofthat discharge had lifted, the English ship was found almost between theSpaniards, her bows in line with theirs and coming steadily on into whathis lordship deemed a death-trap. 

Lord Julian held his breath, and Miss Bishop gasped, clutching therail before her. She had a glimpse of the wickedly grinning face of DonMiguel, and the grinning faces of the men at the guns in the waist. 

At last the Arabella was right between the Spanish ships prow to poopand poop to prow. Don Miguel spoke to the trumpeter, who had mounted thequarter-deck and stood now at the Admiral's elbow. The man raised thesilver bugle that was to give the signal for the broadsides of bothships. But even as he placed it to his lips, the Admiral seized his arm, to arrest him. Only then had he perceived what was so obvious--or shouldhave been to an experienced sea-fighter: he had delayed too long andCaptain Blood had outmanoeuvred him. In attempting to fire now upon theEnglishman, the Milagrosa and her consort would also be firing into eachother. Too late he ordered his helmsman to put the tiller hard over andswing the ship to larboard, as a preliminary to manoeuvring for a lessimpossible position of attack. At that very moment the Arabella seemedto explode as she swept by. Eighteen guns from each of her flanksemptied themselves at that point-blank range into the hulls of the twoSpanish vessels. 

Half stunned by that reverberating thunder, and thrown off her balanceby the sudden lurch of the ship under her feet, Miss Bishop hurtledviolently against Lord Julian, who kept his feet only by clutchingthe rail on which he had been leaning. Billowing clouds of smoke tostarboard blotted out everything, and its acrid odour, taking thempresently in the throat, set them gasping and coughing. 

From the grim confusion and turmoil in the waist below arose a clamourof fierce Spanish blasphemies and the screams of maimed men. TheMilagrosa staggered slowly ahead, a gaping rent in her bulwarks; herforemast was shattered, fragments of the yards hanging in the nettingspread below. Her beak-head was in splinters, and a shot had smashedthrough into the great cabin, reducing it to wreckage. 

Don Miguel was bawling orders wildly, and peering ever and anon throughthe curtain of smoke that was drifting slowly astern, in his anxiety toascertain how it might have fared with the Hidalga. 

Suddenly, and ghostly at first through that lifting haze, loomed theoutline of a ship; gradually the lines of her red hull became more andmore sharply defined as she swept nearer with poles all bare save forthe spread of canvas on her sprit. 

Instead of holding to her course as Don Miguel had expected she would, the Arabella had gone about under cover of the smoke, and sailing nowin the same direction as the Milagrosa, was converging sharply upon heracross the wind, so sharply that almost before the frenzied Don Miguelhad realized the situation, his vessel staggered under the rendingimpact with which the other came hurtling alongside. There was a rattleand clank of metal as a dozen grapnels fell, and tore and caught in thetimbers of the Milagrosa, and the Spaniard was firmly gripped in thetentacles of the English ship. 

Beyond her and now well astern the veil of smoke was rent at last andthe Hidalga was revealed in desperate case. She was bilging fast, withan ominous list to larboard, and it could be no more than a question ofmoments before she settled down. The attention of her hands was beingentirely given to a desperate endeavour to launch the boats in time. 

Of this Don Miguel's anguished eyes had no more than a fleeting butcomprehensive glimpse before his own decks were invaded by a wild, yelling swarm of boarders from the grappling ship. Never was confidenceso quickly changed into despair, never was hunter more swiftly convertedinto helpless prey. For helpless the Spaniards were. The swiftlyexecuted boarding manoeuvre had caught them almost unawares in themoment of confusion following the punishing broadside they had sustainedat such short range. For a moment there was a valiant effort by someof Don Miguel's officers to rally the men for a stand against theseinvaders. But the Spaniards, never at their best in close-quarterfighting, were here demoralized by knowledge of the enemies with whomthey had to deal. Their hastily formed ranks were smashed before theycould be steadied; driven across the waist to the break of the poopon the one side, and up to the forecastle bulkheads on the other, thefighting resolved itself into a series of skirmishes between groups. Andwhilst this was doing above, another horde of buccaneers swarmed throughthe hatch to the main deck below to overpower the gun-crews at theirstations there. 

On the quarter deck, towards which an overwhelming wave of buccaneerswas sweeping, led by a one-eyed giant, who was naked to the waist, stoodDon Miguel, numbed by despair and rage. Above and behind him on thepoop, Lord Julian and Miss Bishop looked on, his lordship aghast at thefury of this cooped-up fighting, the lady's brave calm conquered at lastby horror so that she reeled there sick and faint. 

Soon, however, the rage of that brief fight was spent. They saw thebanner of Castile come fluttering down from the masthead. A buccaneerhad slashed the halyard with his cutlass. The boarders were inpossession, and on the upper deck groups of disarmed Spaniards stoodhuddled now like herded sheep. 

Suddenly Miss Bishop recovered from her nausea, to lean forward staringwild-eyed, whilst if possible her cheeks turned yet a deadlier hue thanthey had been already. 

Picking his way daintily through that shambles in the waist came a tallman with a deeply tanned face that was shaded by a Spanish headpiece. Hewas armed in back-and-breast of black steel beautifully damascened withgolden arabesques. Over this, like a stole, he wore a sling of scarletsilk, from each end of which hung a silver-mounted pistol. Up the broadcompanion to the quarter-deck he came, toying with easy assurance, untilhe stood before the Spanish Admiral. Then he bowed stiff and formally. A crisp, metallic voice, speaking perfect Spanish, reached those twospectators on the poop, and increased the admiring wonder in which LordJulian had observed the man's approach. 

"We meet again at last, Don Miguel, " it said. "I hope you are satisfied. Although the meeting may not be exactly as you pictured it, at least ithas been very ardently sought and desired by you. "

Speechless, livid of face, his mouth distorted and his breathinglaboured, Don Miguel de Espinosa received the irony of that man to whomhe attributed his ruin and more beside. Then he uttered an inarticulatecry of rage, and his hand swept to his sword. But even as his fingersclosed upon the hilt, the other's closed upon his wrist to arrest theaction. 

"Calm, Don Miguel!" he was quietly but firmly enjoined. "Do notrecklessly invite the ugly extremes such as you would, yourself, havepractised had the situation been reversed. "

A moment they stood looking into each other's eyes. 

"What do you intend by me?" the Spaniard enquired at last, his voicehoarse. 

Captain Blood shrugged. The firm lips smiled a little. "All that Iintend has been already accomplished. And lest it increase your rancour, I beg you to observe that you have brought it entirely upon yourself. You would have it so. " He turned and pointed to the boats, which his menwere heaving from the boom amidships. "Your boats are being launched. You are at liberty to embark in them with your men before we scuttlethis ship. Yonder are the shores of Hispaniola. You should make themsafely. And if you'll take my advice, sir, you'll not hunt me again. I think I am unlucky to you. Get you home to Spain, Don Miguel, and toconcerns that you understand better than this trade of the sea. "

For a long moment the defeated Admiral continued to stare his hatredin silence, then, still without speaking, he went down the companion, staggering like a drunken man, his useless rapier clattering behind him. His conqueror, who had not even troubled to disarm him, watched him go, then turned and faced those two immediately above him on the poop. LordJulian might have observed, had he been less taken up with other things, that the fellow seemed suddenly to stiffen, and that he turned paleunder his deep tan. A moment he stood at gaze; then suddenly and swiftlyhe came up the steps. Lord Julian stood forward to meet him. 

"Ye don't mean, sir, that you'll let that Spanish scoundrel go free?" hecried. 

The gentleman in the black corselet appeared to become aware of hislordship for the first time. 

"And who the devil may you be?" he asked, with a marked Irish accent. "And what business may it be of yours, at all?"

His lordship conceived that the fellow's truculence and utter lackof proper deference must be corrected. "I am Lord Julian Wade, " heannounced, with that object. 

Apparently the announcement made no impression. 

"Are you, indeed! Then perhaps ye'll explain what the plague you'redoing aboard this ship?"

Lord Julian controlled himself to afford the desired explanation. He didso shortly and impatiently. 

"He took you prisoner, did he--along with Miss Bishop there?"

"You are acquainted with Miss Bishop?" cried his lordship, passing fromsurprise to surprise. 

But this mannerless fellow had stepped past him, and was making a legto the lady, who on her side remained unresponsive and forbidding tothe point of scorn. Observing this, he turned to answer Lord Julian'squestion. 

"I had that honour once, " said he. "But it seems that Miss Bishop has ashorter memory. "

His lips were twisted into a wry smile, and there was pain in the blueeyes that gleamed so vividly under his black brows, pain blending withthe mockery of his voice. But of all this it was the mockery alone thatwas perceived by Miss Bishop; she resented it. 

"I do not number thieves and pirates among my acquaintance, CaptainBlood, " said she; whereupon his lordship exploded in excitement. 

"Captain Blood!" he cried. "Are you Captain Blood?"

"What else were ye supposing?"

Blood asked the question wearily, his mind on other things. "I do notnumber thieves and pirates among my acquaintance. " The cruel phrasefilled his brain, reechoing and reverberating there. 

But Lord Julian would not be denied. He caught him by the sleevewith one hand, whilst with the other he pointed after the retreating, dejected figure of Don Miguel. 

"Do I understand that ye're not going to hang that Spanish scoundrel?"

"What for should I be hanging him?"

"Because he's just a damned pirate, as I can prove, as I have provedalready. "

"Ah!" said Blood, and Lord Julian marvelled at the sudden haggardness ofa countenance that had been so devil-may-care but a few moments since. "I am a damned pirate, myself; and so I am merciful with my kind. DonMiguel goes free. "

Lord Julian gasped. "After what I've told you that he has done? Afterhis sinking of the Royal Mary? After his treatment of me--of us?" LordJulian protested indignantly. 

"I am not in the service of England, or of any nation, sir. And I am notconcerned with any wrongs her flag may suffer. "

His lordship recoiled before the furious glance that blazed at him outof Blood's haggard face. But the passion faded as swiftly as it hadarisen. It was in a level voice that the Captain added:

"If you'll escort Miss Bishop aboard my ship, I shall be obliged to you. I beg that you'll make haste. We are about to scuttle this hulk. "

He turned slowly to depart. But again Lord Julian interposed. Containinghis indignant amazement, his lordship delivered himself coldly. "CaptainBlood, you disappoint me. I had hopes of great things for you. "

"Go to the devil, " said Captain Blood, turning on his heel, and sodeparted. 

CHAPTER XX. THIEF AND PIRATE

Captain Blood paced the poop of his ship alone in the tepid dusk, andthe growing golden radiance of the great poop lantern in which a seamanhad just lighted the three lamps. About him all was peace. The signs ofthe day's battle had been effaced, the decks had been swabbed, and orderwas restored above and below. A group of men squatting about the mainhatch were drowsily chanting, their hardened natures softened, perhaps, by the calm and beauty of the night. They were the men of the larboardwatch, waiting for eight bells which was imminent. 

Captain Blood did not hear them; he did not hear anything save the echoof those cruel words which had dubbed him thief and pirate. 

Thief and pirate!

It is an odd fact of human nature that a man may for years possess theknowledge that a certain thing must be of a certain fashion, and yet beshocked to discover through his own senses that the fact is in perfectharmony with his beliefs. When first, three years ago, at Tortuga hehad been urged upon the adventurer's course which he had followed eversince, he had known in what opinion Arabella Bishop must hold him ifhe succumbed. Only the conviction that already she was for ever lost tohim, by introducing a certain desperate recklessness into his soul hadsupplied the final impulse to drive him upon his rover's course. 

That he should ever meet her again had not entered his calculations, hadfound no place in his dreams. They were, he conceived, irrevocably andfor ever parted. Yet, in spite of this, in spite even of the persuasionthat to her this reflection that was his torment could bring no regrets, he had kept the thought of her ever before him in all those wild yearsof filibustering. He had used it as a curb not only upon himself, butalso upon those who followed him. Never had buccaneers been so rigidlyheld in hand, never had they been so firmly restrained, never sodebarred from the excesses of rapine and lust that were usual in theirkind as those who sailed with Captain Blood. It was, you will remember, stipulated in their articles that in these as in other matters they mustsubmit to the commands of their leader. And because of the singular goodfortune which had attended his leadership, he had been able to imposethat stern condition of a discipline unknown before among buccaneers. How would not these men laugh at him now if he were to tell them thatthis he had done out of respect for a slip of a girl of whom he hadfallen romantically enamoured? How would not that laughter swell if headded that this girl had that day informed him that she did not numberthieves and pirates among her acquaintance. 

Thief and pirate!

How the words clung, how they stung and burnt his brain!

It did not occur to him, being no psychologist, nor learned in thetortuous workings of the feminine mind, that the fact that she shouldbestow upon him those epithets in the very moment and circumstance oftheir meeting was in itself curious. He did not perceive the problemthus presented; therefore he could not probe it. Else he might haveconcluded that if in a moment in which by delivering her from captivityhe deserved her gratitude, yet she expressed herself in bitterness, it must be because that bitterness was anterior to the gratitude anddeep-seated. She had been moved to it by hearing of the course he hadtaken. Why? It was what he did not ask himself, or some ray of lightmight have come to brighten his dark, his utterly evil despondency. Surely she would never have been so moved had she not cared--had she notfelt that in what he did there was a personal wrong to herself. Surely, he might have reasoned, nothing short of this could have moved her tosuch a degree of bitterness and scorn as that which she had displayed. 

That is how you will reason. Not so, however, reasoned Captain Blood. Indeed, that night he reasoned not at all. His soul was given up toconflict between the almost sacred love he had borne her in all theseyears and the evil passion which she had now awakened in him. Extremes touch, and in touching may for a space become confused, indistinguishable. And the extremes of love and hate were to-night soconfused in the soul of Captain Blood that in their fusion they made upa monstrous passion. 

Thief and pirate!

That was what she deemed him, without qualification, oblivious ofthe deep wrongs he had suffered, the desperate case in which he foundhimself after his escape from Barbados, and all the rest that had goneto make him what he was. That he should have conducted his filibusteringwith hands as clean as were possible to a man engaged in suchundertakings had also not occurred to her as a charitable thought withwhich to mitigate her judgment of a man she had once esteemed. She hadno charity for him, no mercy. She had summed him up, convicted him andsentenced him in that one phrase. He was thief and pirate in her eyes;nothing more, nothing less. What, then, was she? What are those who haveno charity? he asked the stars. 

Well, as she had shaped him hitherto, so let her shape him now. Thiefand pirate she had branded him. She should be justified. Thief andpirate should he prove henceforth; no more nor less; as bowelless, asremorseless, as all those others who had deserved those names. He wouldcast out the maudlin ideals by which he had sought to steer a course;put an end to this idiotic struggle to make the best of two worlds. Shehad shown him clearly to which world he belonged. Let him now justifyher. She was aboard his ship, in his power, and he desired her. 

He laughed softly, jeeringly, as he leaned on the taffrail, looking downat the phosphorescent gleam in the ship's wake, and his own laughterstartled him by its evil note. He checked suddenly, and shivered. A sobbroke from him to end that ribald burst of mirth. He took his face inhis hands and found a chill moisture on his brow. 

Meanwhile, Lord Julian, who knew the feminine part of humanity ratherbetter than Captain Blood, was engaged in solving the curious problemthat had so completely escaped the buccaneer. He was spurred to it, Isuspect, by certain vague stirrings of jealousy. Miss Bishop's conductin the perils through which they had come had brought him at lastto perceive that a woman may lack the simpering graces of culturedfemininity and yet because of that lack be the more admirable. Hewondered what precisely might have been her earlier relations withCaptain Blood, and was conscious of a certain uneasiness which urged himnow to probe the matter. 

His lordship's pale, dreamy eyes had, as I have said, a habit ofobserving things, and his wits were tolerably acute. 

He was blaming himself now for not having observed certain thingsbefore, or, at least, for not having studied them more closely, and hewas busily connecting them with more recent observations made that veryday. 

He had observed, for instance, that Blood's ship was named the Arabella, and he knew that Arabella was Miss Bishop's name. And he had observedall the odd particulars of the meeting of Captain Blood and Miss Bishop, and the curious change that meeting had wrought in each. 

The lady had been monstrously uncivil to the Captain. It was a veryfoolish attitude for a lady in her circumstances to adopt towards a manin Blood's; and his lordship could not imagine Miss Bishop as normallyfoolish. Yet, in spite of her rudeness, in spite of the fact that shewas the niece of a man whom Blood must regard as his enemy, Miss Bishopand his lordship had been shown the utmost consideration aboard theCaptain's ship. A cabin had been placed at the disposal of each, towhich their scanty remaining belongings and Miss Bishop's woman had beenduly transferred. They were given the freedom of the great cabin, andthey had sat down to table with Pitt, the master, and Wolverstone, whowas Blood's lieutenant, both of whom had shown them the utmost courtesy. Also there was the fact that Blood, himself, had kept almost studiouslyfrom intruding upon them. 

His lordship's mind went swiftly but carefully down these avenues ofthought, observing and connecting. Having exhausted them, he decidedto seek additional information from Miss Bishop. For this he must waituntil Pitt and Wolverstone should have withdrawn. He was hardly made towait so long, for as Pitt rose from table to follow Wolverstone, who hadalready departed, Miss Bishop detained him with a question:

"Mr. Pitt, " she asked, "were you not one of those who escaped fromBarbados with Captain Blood?"

"I was. I, too, was one of your uncle's slaves. "

"And you have been with Captain Blood ever since?"

"His shipmaster always, ma'am. "

She nodded. She was very calm and self-contained; but his lordshipobserved that she was unusually pale, though considering what she hadthat day undergone this afforded no matter for wonder. 

"Did you ever sail with a Frenchman named Cahusac?"

"Cahusac?" Pitt laughed. The name evoked a ridiculous memory. "Aye. Hewas with us at Maracaybo. "

"And another Frenchman named Levasseur?"

His lordship marvelled at her memory of these names. 

"Aye. Cahusac was Levasseur's lieutenant, until he died. "

"Until who died?"

"Levasseur. He was killed on one of the Virgin Islands two years ago. "

There was a pause. Then, in an even quieter voice than before, MissBishop asked:

"Who killed him?"

Pitt answered readily. There was no reason why he should not, though hebegan to find the catechism intriguing. 

"Captain Blood killed him. "

"Why?"

Pitt hesitated. It was not a tale for a maid's ears. 

"They quarrelled, " he said shortly. 

"Was it about a... A lady?" Miss Bishop relentlessly pursued him. 

"You might put it that way. "

"What was the lady's name?"

Pitt's eyebrows went up; still he answered. 

"Miss d'Ogeron. She was the daughter of the Governor of Tortuga. She hadgone off with this fellow Levasseur, and... And Peter delivered her outof his dirty clutches. He was a black-hearted scoundrel, and deservedwhat Peter gave him. "

"I see. And... And yet Captain Blood has not married her?"

"Not yet, " laughed Pitt, who knew the utter groundlessness of the commongossip in Tortuga which pronounced Mdlle. D'Ogeron the Captain's futurewife. 

Miss Bishop nodded in silence, and Jeremy Pitt turned to depart, relieved that the catechism was ended. He paused in the doorway toimpart a piece of information. 

"Maybe it'll comfort you to know that the Captain has altered our coursefor your benefit. It's his intention to put you both ashore on the coastof Jamaica, as near Port Royal as we dare venture. We've gone about, andif this wind holds ye'll soon be home again, mistress. "

"Vastly obliging of him, " drawled his lordship, seeing that Miss Bishopmade no shift to answer. Sombre-eyed she sat, staring into vacancy. 

"Indeed, ye may say so, " Pitt agreed. "He's taking risks that few wouldtake in his place. But that's always been his way. "

He went out, leaving his lordship pensive, those dreamy blue eyes of hisintently studying Miss Bishop's face for all their dreaminess; his mindincreasingly uneasy. At length Miss Bishop looked at him, and spoke. 

"Your Cahusac told you no more than the truth, it seems. "

"I perceived that you were testing it, " said his lordship. "I amwondering precisely why. "

Receiving no answer, he continued to observe her silently, his long, tapering fingers toying with a ringlet of the golden periwig in whichhis long face was set. 

Miss Bishop sat bemused, her brows knit, her brooding glance seemingto study the fine Spanish point that edged the tablecloth. At last hislordship broke the silence. 

"He amazes me, this man, " said he, in his slow, languid voice that neverseemed to change its level. "That he should alter his course for usis in itself matter for wonder; but that he should take a risk on ourbehalf--that he should venture into Jamaica waters.... It amazes me, asI have said. "

Miss Bishop raised her eyes, and looked at him. She appeared to be verythoughtful. Then her lip flickered curiously, almost scornfully, itseemed to him. Her slender fingers drummed the table. 

"What is still more amazing is that he does not hold us to ransom, " saidshe at last. 

"It's what you deserve. "

"Oh, and why, if you please?"

"For speaking to him as you did. "

"I usually call things by their names. "

"Do you? Stab me! I shouldn't boast of it. It argues either extremeyouth or extreme foolishness. " His lordship, you see, belonged to myLord Sunderland's school of philosophy. He added after a moment: "Sodoes the display of ingratitude. "

A faint colour stirred in her cheeks. "Your lordship is evidentlyaggrieved with me. I am disconsolate. I hope your lordship's grievanceis sounder than your views of life. It is news to me that ingratitude isa fault only to be found in the young and the foolish. "

"I didn't say so, ma'am. " There was a tartness in his tone evoked bythe tartness she had used. "If you would do me the honour to listen, you would not misapprehend me. For if unlike you I do not always sayprecisely what I think, at least I say precisely what I wish to convey. To be ungrateful may be human; but to display it is childish. "

"I... I don't think I understand. " Her brows were knit. "How have I beenungrateful and to whom?"

"To whom? To Captain Blood. Didn't he come to our rescue?"

"Did he?" Her manner was frigid. "I wasn't aware that he knew of ourpresence aboard the Milagrosa. "

His lordship permitted himself the slightest gesture of impatience. 

"You are probably aware that he delivered us, " said he. "And living asyou have done in these savage places of the world, you can hardly failto be aware of what is known even in England: that this fellow Bloodstrictly confines himself to making war upon the Spaniards. So that tocall him thief and pirate as you did was to overstate the case againsthim at a time when it would have been more prudent to have understatedit. "

"Prudence?" Her voice was scornful. "What have I to do with prudence?"

"Nothing--as I perceive. But, at least, study generosity. I tell youfrankly, ma'am, that in Blood's place I should never have been so nice. Sink me! When you consider what he has suffered at the hands of hisfellow-countrymen, you may marvel with me that he should trouble todiscriminate between Spanish and English. To be sold into slavery! Ugh!"His lordship shuddered. "And to a damned colonial planter!" He checkedabruptly. "I beg your pardon, Miss Bishop. For the moment.... "

"You were carried away by your heat in defence of this... Sea-robber. "Miss Bishop's scorn was almost fierce. 

His lordship stared at her again. Then he half-closed his large, paleeyes, and tilted his head a little. "I wonder why you hate him so, " hesaid softly. 

He saw the sudden scarlet flame upon her cheeks, the heavy frown thatdescended upon her brow. He had made her very angry, he judged. Butthere was no explosion. She recovered. 

"Hate him? Lord! What a thought! I don't regard the fellow at all. "

"Then ye should, ma'am. " His lordship spoke his thought frankly. "He'sworth regarding. He'd be an acquisition to the King's navy--a man thatcan do the things he did this morning. His service under de Ruyterwasn't wasted on him. That was a great seaman, and--blister me!--thepupil's worthy the master if I am a judge of anything. I doubt if theRoyal Navy can show his equal. To thrust himself deliberately betweenthose two, at point-blank range, and so turn the tables on them! It askscourage, resource, and invention. And we land-lubbers were not the onlyones he tricked by his manoeuvre. That Spanish Admiral never guessed theintent until it was too late and Blood held him in check. A great man, Miss Bishop. A man worth regarding. "

Miss Bishop was moved to sarcasm. 

"You should use your influence with my Lord Sunderland to have the Kingoffer him a commission. "

His lordship laughed softly. "Faith, it's done already. I have hiscommission in my pocket. " And he increased her amazement by a briefexposition of the circumstances. In that amazement he left her, and wentin quest of Blood. But he was still intrigued. If she were a little lessuncompromising in her attitude towards Blood, his lordship would havebeen happier. 

He found the Captain pacing the quarter-deck, a man mentally exhaustedfrom wrestling with the Devil, although of this particular occupationhis lordship could have no possible suspicion. With the amiablefamiliarity he used, Lord Julian slipped an arm through one of theCaptain's, and fell into step beside him. 

"What's this?" snapped Blood, whose mood was fierce and raw. Hislordship was not disturbed. 

"I desire, sir, that we be friends, " said he suavely. 

"That's mighty condescending of you!"

Lord Julian ignored the obvious sarcasm. 

"It's an odd coincidence that we should have been brought together inthis fashion, considering that I came out to the Indies especially toseek you. "

"Ye're not by any means the first to do that, " the other scoffed. "Butthey've mainly been Spaniards, and they hadn't your luck. "

"You misapprehend me completely, " said Lord Julian. And on that heproceeded to explain himself and his mission. 

When he had done, Captain Blood, who until that moment had stoodstill under the spell of his astonishment, disengaged his arm from hislordship's, and stood squarely before him. 

"Ye're my guest aboard this ship, " said he, "and I still have somenotion of decent behaviour left me from other days, thief and piratethough I may be. So I'll not be telling you what I think of you fordaring to bring me this offer, or of my Lord Sunderland--since he's yourkinsman for having the impudence to send it. But it does not surprise meat all that one who is a minister of James Stuart's should conceivethat every man is to be seduced by bribes into betraying those who trusthim. " He flung out an arm in the direction of the waist, whence came thehalf-melancholy chant of the lounging buccaneers. 

"Again you misapprehend me, " cried Lord Julian, between concern andindignation. "That is not intended. Your followers will be included inyour commission. "

"And d' ye think they'll go with me to hunt their brethren--theBrethren of the Coast? On my soul, Lord Julian, it is yourself does themisapprehending. Are there not even notions of honour left in England?Oh, and there's more to it than that, even. D'ye think I could take acommission of King James's? I tell you I wouldn't be soiling my handswith it--thief and pirate's hands though they be. Thief and pirate iswhat you heard Miss Bishop call me to-day--a thing of scorn, an outcast. And who made me that? Who made me thief and pirate?"

"If you were a rebel... ?" his lordship was beginning. 

"Ye must know that I was no such thing--no rebel at all. It wasn't evenpretended. If it were, I could forgive them. But not even that cloakcould they cast upon their foulness. Oh, no; there was no mistake. Iwas convicted for what I did, neither more nor less. That bloody vampireJeffreys--bad cess to him!--sentenced me to death, and his worthy masterJames Stuart afterwards sent me into slavery, because I had performed anact of mercy; because compassionately and without thought for creed orpolitics I had sought to relieve the sufferings of a fellow-creature;because I had dressed the wounds of a man who was convicted of treason. That was all my offence. You'll find it in the records. And for that Iwas sold into slavery: because by the law of England, as administered byJames Stuart in violation of the laws of God, who harbours or comfortsa rebel is himself adjudged guilty of rebellion. D'ye dream man, what itis to be a slave?"

He checked suddenly at the very height of his passion. A moment hepaused, then cast it from him as if it had been a cloak. His voice sankagain. He uttered a little laugh of weariness and contempt. 

"But there! I grow hot for nothing at all. I explain myself, I think, and God knows, it is not my custom. I am grateful to you, Lord Julian, for your kindly intentions. I am so. But ye'll understand, perhaps. Yelook as if ye might. "

Lord Julian stood still. He was deeply stricken by the other's words, the passionate, eloquent outburst that in a few sharp, clear-cut strokeshad so convincingly presented the man's bitter case against humanity, his complete apologia and justification for all that could be laid tohis charge. His lordship looked at that keen, intrepid face gleaminglividly in the light of the great poop lantern, and his own eyes weretroubled. He was abashed. 

He fetched a heavy sigh. "A pity, " he said slowly. "Oh, blister me--acursed pity!" He held out his hand, moved to it on a sudden generousimpulse. "But no offence between us, Captain Blood!"

"Oh, no offence. But... I'm a thief and a pirate. " He laughed withoutmirth, and, disregarding the proffered hand, swung on his heel. 

Lord Julian stood a moment, watching the tall figure as it moved awaytowards the taffrail. Then letting his arms fall helplessly to his sidesin dejection, he departed. 

Just within the doorway of the alley leading to the cabin, he ran intoMiss Bishop. Yet she had not been coming out, for her back was towardshim, and she was moving in the same direction. He followed her, his mindtoo full of Captain Blood to be concerned just then with her movements. 

In the cabin he flung into a chair, and exploded, with a violencealtogether foreign to his nature. 

"Damme if ever I met a man I liked better, or even a man I liked aswell. Yet there's nothing to be done with him. "

"So I heard, " she admitted in a small voice. She was very white, and shekept her eyes upon her folded hands. 

He looked up in surprise, and then sat conning her with brooding glance. "I wonder, now, " he said presently, "if the mischief is of your working. Your words have rankled with him. He threw them at me again and again. He wouldn't take the King's commission; he wouldn't take my hand even. What's to be done with a fellow like that? He'll end on a yardarmfor all his luck. And the quixotic fool is running into danger at thepresent moment on our behalf. "

"How?" she asked him with a sudden startled interest. 

"How? Have you forgotten that he's sailing to Jamaica, and that Jamaicais the headquarters of the English fleet? True, your uncle commandsit.... "

She leaned across the table to interrupt him, and he observed that herbreathing had grown labored, that her eyes were dilating in alarm. 

"But there is no hope for him in that!" she cried. "Oh, don't imagineit! He has no bitterer enemy in the world! My uncle is a hard, unforgiving man. I believe that it was nothing but the hope of takingand hanging Captain Blood that made my uncle leave his Barbadosplantations to accept the deputy-governorship of Jamaica. Captain Blooddoesn't know that, of course.... " She paused with a little gesture ofhelplessness. 

"I can't think that it would make the least difference if he did, " saidhis lordship gravely. "A man who can forgive such an enemy as Don Migueland take up this uncompromising attitude with me isn't to be judged byordinary rules. He's chivalrous to the point of idiocy. "

"And yet he has been what he has been and done what he has done in theselast three years, " said she, but she said it sorrowfully now, withoutany of her earlier scorn. 

Lord Julian was sententious, as I gather that he often was. "Life can beinfernally complex, " he sighed. 

CHAPTER XXI. THE SERVICE OF KING JAMES

Miss Arabella Bishop was aroused very early on the following morning bythe brazen voice of a bugle and the insistent clanging of a bell in theship's belfry. As she lay awake, idly watching the rippled green waterthat appeared to be streaming past the heavily glazed porthole, shebecame gradually aware of the sounds of swift, laboured bustle--theclatter of many feet, the shouts of hoarse voices, and the persistenttrundlings of heavy bodies in the ward-room immediately below the deckof the cabin. Conceiving these sounds to portend a more than normalactivity, she sat up, pervaded by a vague alarm, and roused her stillslumbering woman. 

In his cabin on the starboard side Lord Julian, disturbed by the samesounds, was already astir and hurriedly dressing. When presently heemerged under the break of the poop, he found himself staring up intoa mountain of canvas. Every foot of sail that she could carry had beencrowded to the Arabella's yards, to catch the morning breeze. Aheadand on either side stretched the limitless expanse of ocean, sparklinggolden in the sun, as yet no more than a half-disc of flame upon thehorizon straight ahead. 

About him in the waist, where all last night had been so peaceful, therewas a frenziedly active bustle of some threescore men. By the rail, immediately above and behind Lord Julian, stood Captain Blood inaltercation with a one-eyed giant, whose head was swathed in a redcotton kerchief, whose blue shirt hung open at the waist. As hislordship, moving forward, revealed himself, their voices ceased, andBlood turned to greet him. 

"Good-morning to you, " he said, and added "I've blundered badly, so Ihave. I should have known better than to come so close to Jamaica bynight. But I was in haste to land you. Come up here. I have something toshow you. "

Wondering, Lord Julian mounted the companion as he was bidden. Standingbeside Captain Blood, he looked astern, following the indication of theCaptain's hand, and cried out in his amazement. There, not more thanthree miles away, was land--an uneven wall of vivid green that filledthe western horizon. And a couple of miles this side of it, bearingafter them, came speeding three great white ships. 

"They fly no colours, but they're part of the Jamaica fleet. " Bloodspoke without excitement, almost with a certain listlessness. "When dawnbroke we found ourselves running to meet them. We went about, and it'sbeen a race ever since. But the Arabella 's been at sea these fourmonths, and her bottom's too foul for the speed we're needing. "

Wolverstone hooked his thumbs into his broad leather belt, and from hisgreat height looked down sardonically upon Lord Julian, tall man thoughhis lordship was. "So that you're like to be in yet another sea-fightafore ye've done wi' ships, my lord. "

"That's a point we were just arguing, " said Blood. "For I hold thatwe're in no case to fight against such odds. "

"The odds be damned!" Wolverstone thrust out his heavy jowl. "We're usedto odds. The odds was heavier at Maracaybo; yet we won out, and tookthree ships. They was heavier yesterday when we engaged Don Miguel. "

"Aye--but those were Spaniards. "

"And what better are these?--Are ye afeard of a lubberly Barbadosplanter? Whatever ails you, Peter? I've never known ye scared afore. "

A gun boomed out behind them. 

"That'll be the signal to lie to, " said Blood, in the same listlessvoice; and he fetched a sigh. 

Wolverstone squared himself defiantly before his captain

"I'll see Colonel Bishop in hell or ever I lies to for him. " And hespat, presumably for purposes of emphasis. 

His lordship intervened. 

"Oh, but--by your leave--surely there is nothing to be apprehended fromColonel Bishop. Considering the service you have rendered to his nieceand to me.... "

Wolverstone's horse-laugh interrupted him. "Hark to the gentleman!" hemocked. "Ye don't know Colonel Bishop, that's clear. Not for his niece, not for his daughter, not for his own mother, would he forgo the bloodwhat he thinks due to him. A drinker of blood, he is. A nasty beast. Weknows, the Cap'n and me. We been his slaves. "

"But there is myself, " said Lord Julian, with great dignity. 

Wolverstone laughed again, whereat his lordship flushed. He was moved toraise his voice above its usual languid level. 

"I assure you that my word counts for something in England. "

"Oh, aye--in England. But this ain't England, damme. "

Came the roar of a second gun, and a round shot splashed the water lessthan half a cable's-length astern. Blood leaned over the rail to speakto the fair young man immediately below him by the helmsman at thewhipstaff. 

"Bid them take in sail, Jeremy, " he said quietly. "We lie to. "

But Wolverstone interposed again. 

"Hold there a moment, Jeremy!" he roared. "Wait!" He swung back to facethe Captain, who had placed a hand on is shoulder and was smiling, atrifle wistfully. 

"Steady, Old Wolf! Steady!" Captain Blood admonished him. 

"Steady, yourself, Peter. Ye've gone mad! Will ye doom us all to hellout of tenderness for that cold slip of a girl?"

"Stop!" cried Blood in sudden fury. 

But Wolverstone would not stop. "It's the truth, you fool. It's thatcursed petticoat's making a coward of you. It's for her that ye'reafeard--and she, Colonel Bishop's niece! My God, man, ye'll have amutiny aboard, and I'll lead it myself sooner than surrender to behanged in Port Royal. "

Their glances met, sullen defiance braving dull anger, surprise, andpain. 

"There is no question, " said Blood, "of surrender for any man aboardsave only myself. If Bishop can report to England that I am takenand hanged, he will magnify himself and at the same time gratify hispersonal rancour against me. That should satisfy him. I'll send him amessage offering to surrender aboard his ship, taking Miss Bishop andLord Julian with me, but only on condition that the Arabella is allowedto proceed unharmed. It's a bargain that he'll accept, if I know him atall. "

"It's a bargain he'll never be offered, " retorted Wolverstone, and hisearlier vehemence was as nothing to his vehemence now. "Ye're surelydaft even to think of it, Peter!"

"Not so daft as you when you talk of fighting that. " He flung out an armas he spoke to indicate the pursuing ships, which were slowly but surelycreeping nearer. "Before we've run another half-mile we shall be withinrange. "

Wolverstone swore elaborately, then suddenly checked. Out of the tailof his single eye he had espied a trim figure in grey silk that wasascending the companion. So engrossed had they been that they had notseen Miss Bishop come from the door of the passage leading to the cabin. And there was something else that those three men on the poop, and Pittimmediately below them, had failed to observe. Some moments ago Ogle, followed by the main body of his gun-deck crew, had emerged from thebooby hatch, to fall into muttered, angrily vehement talk with thosewho, abandoning the gun-tackles upon which they were labouring, had cometo crowd about him. 

Even now Blood had no eyes for that. He turned to look at Miss Bishop, marvelling a little, after the manner in which yesterday she had avoidedhim, that she should now venture upon the quarter-deck. Her presenceat this moment, and considering the nature of his altercation withWolverstone, was embarrassing. 

Very sweet and dainty she stood before him in her gown of shimmeringgrey, a faint excitement tinting her fair cheeks and sparkling in herclear, hazel eyes, that looked so frank and honest. She wore no hat, and the ringlets of her gold-brown hair fluttered distractingly in themorning breeze. 

Captain Blood bared his head and bowed silently in a greeting which shereturned composedly and formally. 

"What is happening, Lord Julian?" she enquired. 

As if to answer her a third gun spoke from the ships towards which shewas looking intent and wonderingly. A frown rumpled her brow. She lookedfrom one to the other of the men who stood there so glum and obviouslyill at ease. 

"They are ships of the Jamaica fleet, " his lordship answered her. 

It should in any case have been a sufficient explanation. But beforemore could be added, their attention was drawn at last to Ogle, who camebounding up the broad ladder, and to the men lounging aft in his wake, in all of which, instinctively, they apprehended a vague menace. 

At the head of the companion, Ogle found his progress barred by Blood, who confronted him, a sudden sternness in his face and in every line ofhim. 

"What's this?" the Captain demanded sharply. "Your station is on thegun-deck. Why have you left it?"

Thus challenged, the obvious truculence faded out of Ogle's bearing, quenched by the old habit of obedience and the natural dominance thatwas the secret of the Captain's rule over his wild followers. But itgave no pause to the gunner's intention. If anything it increased hisexcitement. 

"Captain, " he said, and as he spoke he pointed to the pursuing ships, "Colonel Bishop holds us. We're in no case either to run or fight. "

Blood's height seemed to increase, as did his sternness. 

"Ogle, " said he, in a voice cold and sharp as steel, "your station is onthe gun-deck. You'll return to it at once, and take your crew with you, or else.... "

But Ogle, violent of mien and gesture, interrupted him. 

"Threats will not serve, Captain. "

"Will they not?"

It was the first time in his buccaneering career that an order of hishad been disregarded, or that a man had failed in the obedience to whichhe pledged all those who joined him. That this insubordination shouldproceed from one of those whom he most trusted, one of his old Barbadosassociates, was in itself a bitterness, and made him reluctant to thatwhich instinct told him must be done. His hand closed over the butt ofone of the pistols slung before him. 

"Nor will that serve you, " Ogle warned him, still more fiercely. "Themen are of my thinking, and they'll have their way. "

"And what way may that be?"

"The way to make us safe. We'll neither sink nor hang whiles we can helpit. "

From the three or four score men massed below in the waist came a rumbleof approval. Captain Blood's glance raked the ranks of those resolute, fierce-eyed fellows, then it came to rest again on Ogle. There was herequite plainly a vague threat, a mutinous spirit he could not understand. "You come to give advice, then, do you?" quoth he, relenting nothing ofhis sternness. 

"That's it, Captain; advice. That girl, there. " He flung out a bare armto point to her. "Bishop's girl; the Governor of Jamaica's niece.... Wewant her as a hostage for our safety. "

"Aye!" roared in chorus the buccaneers below, and one or two of themelaborated that affirmation. 

In a flash Captain Blood saw what was in their minds. And for all thathe lost nothing of his outward stern composure, fear invaded his heart. 

"And how, " he asked, "do you imagine that Miss Bishop will prove such ahostage?"

"It's a providence having her aboard; a providence. Heave to, Captain, and signal them to send a boat, and assure themselves that Miss is here. Then let them know that if they attempt to hinder our sailing hence, we'll hang the doxy first and fight for it after. That'll cool ColonelBishop's heat, maybe. "

"And maybe it won't. " Slow and mocking came Wolverstone's voice toanswer the other's confident excitement, and as he spoke he advancedto Blood's side, an unexpected ally. "Some o' them dawcocks may believethat tale. " He jerked a contemptuous thumb towards the men in the waist, whose ranks were steadily being increased by the advent of others fromthe forecastle. "Although even some o' they should know better, forthere's still a few was on Barbados with us, and are acquainted likeme and you with Colonel Bishop. If ye're counting on pulling Bishop'sheartstrings, ye're a bigger fool, Ogle, than I've always thought youwas with anything but guns. There's no heaving to for such a matter asthat unless you wants to make quite sure of our being sunk. Though wehad a cargo of Bishop's nieces it wouldn't make him hold his hand. Why, as I was just telling his lordship here, who thought like you thathaving Miss Bishop aboard would make us safe, not for his mother wouldthat filthy slaver forgo what's due to him. And if ye' weren't a fool, Ogle, you wouldn't need me to tell you this. We've got to fight, mylads.... "

"How can we fight, man?" Ogle stormed at him, furiously battling theconviction which Wolverstone's argument was imposing upon his listeners. "You may be right, and you may be wrong. We've got to chance it. It'sour only chance.... "

The rest of his words were drowned in the shouts of the hands insistingthat the girl be given up to be held as a hostage. And then louder thanbefore roared a gun away to leeward, and away on their starboard beamthey saw the spray flung up by the shot, which had gone wide. 

"They are within range, " cried Ogle. And leaning from the rail, "Putdown the helm, " he commanded. 

Pitt, at his post beside the helmsman, turned intrepidly to face theexcited gunner. 

"Since when have you commanded on the main deck, Ogle? I take my ordersfrom the Captain. "

"You'll take this order from me, or, by God, you'll.... "

"Wait!" Blood bade him, interrupting, and he set a restraining hand uponthe gunner's arm. "There is, I think, a better way. "

He looked over his shoulder, aft, at the advancing ships, the foremostof which was now a bare quarter of a mile away. His glance swept inpassing over Miss Bishop and Lord Julian standing side by side somepaces behind him. He observed her pale and tense, with parted lipsand startled eyes that were fixed upon him, an anxious witness of thisdeciding of her fate. He was thinking swiftly, reckoning the chancesif by pistolling Ogle he were to provoke a mutiny. That some of the menwould rally to him, he was sure. But he was no less sure that the mainbody would oppose him, and prevail in spite of all that he could do, taking the chance that holding Miss Bishop to ransom seemed to affordthem. And if they did that, one way or the other, Miss Bishop would belost. For even if Bishop yielded to their demand, they would retain heras a hostage. 

Meanwhile Ogle was growing impatient. His arm still gripped by Blood, hethrust his face into the Captain's. 

"What better way?" he demanded. "There is none better. I'll not bebubbled by what Wolverstone has said. He may be right, and he may bewrong. We'll test it. It's our only chance, I've said, and we must takeit. "

The better way that was in Captain Blood's mind was the way that alreadyhe had proposed to Wolverstone. Whether the men in the panic Ogle hadaroused among them would take a different view from Wolverstone's hedid not know. But he saw quite clearly now that if they consented, theywould not on that account depart from their intention in the matterof Miss Bishop; they would make of Blood's own surrender merely anadditional card in this game against the Governor of Jamaica. 

"It's through her that we're in this trap, " Ogle stormed on. "Throughher and through you. It was to bring her to Jamaica that you risked allour lives, and we're not going to lose our lives as long as there's achance to make ourselves safe through her. "

He was turning again to the helmsman below, when Blood's grip tightenedon his arm. Ogle wrenched it free, with an oath. But Blood's mind wasnow made up. He had found the only way, and repellent though it might beto him, he must take it. 

"That is a desperate chance, " he cried. "Mine is the safe and easyway. Wait!" He leaned over the rail. "Put the helm down, " he bade Pitt. "Heave her to, and signal to them to send a boat. "

A silence of astonishment fell upon the ship--of astonishment andsuspicion at this sudden yielding. But Pitt, although he shared it, wasprompt to obey. His voice rang out, giving the necessary orders, andafter an instant's pause, a score of hands sprang to execute them. Came the creak of blocks and the rattle of slatting sails as they swungaweather, and Captain Blood turned and beckoned Lord Julian forward. His lordship, after a moment's hesitation, advanced in surprise andmistrust--a mistrust shared by Miss Bishop, who, like his lordship andall else aboard, though in a different way, had been taken aback byBlood's sudden submission to the demand to lie to. 

Standing now at the rail, with Lord Julian beside him, Captain Bloodexplained himself. 

Briefly and clearly he announced to all the object of Lord Julian'svoyage to the Caribbean, and he informed them of the offer whichyesterday Lord Julian had made to him. 

"That offer I rejected, as his lordship will tell you, deeming myselfaffronted by it. Those of you who have suffered under the rule of KingJames will understand me. But now in the desperate case in which we findourselves--outsailed, and likely to be outfought, as Ogle has said--Iam ready to take the way of Morgan: to accept the King's commission andshelter us all behind it. "

It was a thunderbolt that for a moment left them all dazed. Then Babelwas reenacted. The main body of them welcomed the announcement as onlymen who have been preparing to die can welcome a new lease of life. Butmany could not resolve one way or the other until they were satisfiedupon several questions, and chiefly upon one which was voiced by Ogle. 

"Will Bishop respect the commission when you hold it?"

It was Lord Julian who answered:

"It will go very hard with him if he attempts to flout the King'sauthority. And though he should dare attempt it, be sure that his ownofficers will not dare to do other than oppose him. "

"Aye, " said Ogle, "that is true. "

But there were some who were still in open and frank revolt against thecourse. Of these was Wolverstone, who at once proclaimed his hostility. 

"I'll rot in hell or ever I serves the King, " he bawled in a great rage. 

But Blood quieted him and those who thought as he did. 

"No man need follow me into the King's service who is reluctant. That isnot in the bargain. What is in the bargain is that I accept this servicewith such of you as may choose to follow me. Don't think I accept itwillingly. For myself, I am entirely of Wolverstone's opinion. I acceptit as the only way to save us all from the certain destruction intowhich my own act may have brought us. And even those of you who donot choose to follow me shall share the immunity of all, and shallafterwards be free to depart. Those are the terms upon which I sellmyself to the King. Let Lord Julian, the representative of the Secretaryof State, say whether he agrees to them. "

Prompt, eager, and clear came his lordship's agreement. And thatwas practically the end of the matter. Lord Julian, the butt now ofgood-humouredly ribald jests and half-derisive acclamations, plungedaway to his cabin for the commission, secretly rejoicing at a turn ofevents which enabled him so creditably to discharge the business onwhich he had been sent. 

Meanwhile the bo'sun signalled to the Jamaica ships to send a boat, andthe men in the waist broke their ranks and went noisily flocking to linethe bulwarks and view the great stately vessels that were racing downtowards them. 

As Ogle left the quarter-deck, Blood turned, and came face to face withMiss Bishop. She had been observing him with shining eyes, but at sightof his dejected countenance, and the deep frown that scarred hisbrow, her own expression changed. She approached him with a hesitationentirely unusual to her. She set a hand lightly upon his arm. 

"You have chosen wisely, sir, " she commended him, "however much againstyour inclinations. "

He looked with gloomy eyes upon her for whom he had made this sacrifice. 

"I owed it to you--or thought I did, " he said. 

She did not understand. "Your resolve delivered me from a horribledanger, " she admitted. And she shivered at the memory of it. "But I donot understand why you should have hesitated when first it was proposedto you. It is an honourable service. "

"King James's?" he sneered. 

"England's, " she corrected him in reproof. "The country is all, sir;the sovereign naught. King James will pass; others will come and pass;England remains, to be honourably served by her sons, whatever rancourthey may hold against the man who rules her in their time. "

He showed some surprise. Then he smiled a little. "Shrewd advocacy, " heapproved it. "You should have spoken to the crew. "

And then, the note of irony deepening in his voice: "Do you suppose nowthat this honourable service might redeem one who was a pirate and athief?"

Her glance fell away. Her voice faltered a little in replying. "If he... Needs redeeming. Perhaps... Perhaps he has been judged too harshly. "

The blue eyes flashed, and the firm lips relaxed their grim set. 

"Why... If ye think that, " he said, considering her, an odd hunger inhis glance, "life might have its uses, after all, and even the serviceof King James might become tolerable. "

Looking beyond her, across the water, he observed a boat putting offfrom one of the great ships, which, hove to now, were rocking gentlysome three hundred yards away. Abruptly his manner changed. He was likeone recovering, taking himself in hand again. "If you will go below, andget your gear and your woman, you shall presently be sent aboard one ofthe ships of the fleet. " He pointed to the boat as he spoke. 

She left him, and thereafter with Wolverstone, leaning upon the rail, he watched the approach of that boat, manned by a dozen sailors, andcommanded by a scarlet figure seated stiffly in the stern sheets. Helevelled his telescope upon that figure. 

"It'll not be Bishop himself, " said Wolverstone, between question andassertion. 

"No. " Blood closed his telescope. "I don't know who it is. "

"Ha!" Wolverstone vented an ejaculation of sneering mirth. "For allhis eagerness, Bishop'd be none so willing to come, hisself. He's beenaboard this hulk afore, and we made him swim for it that time. He'llhave his memories. So he sends a deputy. "

This deputy proved to be an officer named Calverley, a vigorous, self-sufficient fellow, comparatively fresh from England, whose mannermade it clear that he came fully instructed by Colonel Bishop upon thematter of how to handle the pirates. 

His air, as he stepped into the waist of the Arabella, was haughty, truculent, and disdainful. 

Blood, the King's commission now in his pocket, and Lord Julian standingbeside him, waited to receive him, and Captain Calverley was a littletaken aback at finding himself confronted by two men so very differentoutwardly from anything that he had expected. But he lost none of hishaughty poise, and scarcely deigned a glance at the swarm of fierce, half-naked fellows lounging in a semicircle to form a background. 

"Good-day to you, sir, " Blood hailed him pleasantly. "I have the honourto give you welcome aboard the Arabella. My name is Blood--CaptainBlood, at your service. You may have heard of me. "

Captain Calverley stared hard. The airy manner of this redoubtablebuccaneer was hardly what he had looked for in a desperate fellow, compelled to ignominious surrender. A thin, sour smile broke on theofficer's haughty lips. 

"You'll ruffle it to the gallows, no doubt, " he said contemptuously. "I suppose that is after the fashion of your kind. Meanwhile it's yoursurrender I require, my man, not your impudence. "

Captain Blood appeared surprised, pained. He turned in appeal to LordJulian. 

"D'ye hear that now? And did ye ever hear the like? But what did I tellye? Ye see, the young gentleman's under a misapprehension entirely. Perhaps it'll save broken bones if your lordship explains just who andwhat I am. "

Lord Julian advanced a step and bowed perfunctorily and ratherdisdainfully to that very disdainful but now dumbfounded officer. Pitt, who watched the scene from the quarter-deck rail, tells us that hislordship was as grave as a parson at a hanging. But I suspect thisgravity for a mask under which Lord Julian was secretly amused. 

"I have the honour to inform you, sir, " he said stiffly, "that CaptainBlood holds a commission in the King's service under the seal of my LordSunderland, His Majesty's Secretary of State. "

Captain Calverley's face empurpled; his eyes bulged. The buccaneers inthe background chuckled and crowed and swore among themselves in theirrelish of this comedy. For a long moment Calverley stared in silenceat his lordship, observing the costly elegance of his dress, his air ofcalm assurance, and his cold, fastidious speech, all of which savoureddistinctly of the great world to which he belonged. 

"And who the devil may you be?" he exploded at last. 

Colder still and more distant than ever grew his lordship's voice. 

"You're not very civil, sir, as I have already noticed. My name isWade--Lord Julian Wade. I am His Majesty's envoy to these barbarousparts, and my Lord Sunderland's near kinsman. Colonel Bishop has beennotified of my coming. "

The sudden change in Calverley's manner at Lord Julian's mention of hisname showed that the notification had been received, and that he hadknowledge of it. 

"I... I believe that he has, " said Calverley, between doubt andsuspicion. "That is: that he has been notified of the coming of LordJulian Wade. But... But... Aboard this ship... ?" The officer made agesture of helplessness, and, surrendering to his bewilderment, fellabruptly silent. 

"I was coming out on the Royal Mary.... "

"That is what we were advised. "

"But the Royal Mary fell a victim to a Spanish privateer, and I mightnever have arrived at all but for the gallantry of Captain Blood, whorescued me. "

Light broke upon the darkness of Calverley's mind. "I see. Iunderstand. "

"I will take leave to doubt it. " His lordship's tone abated nothing ofits asperity. "But that can wait. If Captain Blood will show youhis commission, perhaps that will set all doubts at rest, and we mayproceed. I shall be glad to reach Port Royal. "

Captain Blood thrust a parchment under Calverley's bulging eyes. Theofficer scanned it, particularly the seals and signature. He steppedback, a baffled, impotent man. He bowed helplessly. 

"I must return to Colonel Bishop for my orders, " he informed them. 

At that moment a lane was opened in the ranks of the men, and throughthis came Miss Bishop followed by her octoroon woman. Over his shoulderCaptain Blood observed her approach. 

"Perhaps, since Colonel Bishop is with you, you will convey his nieceto him. Miss Bishop was aboard the Royal Mary also, and I rescued hertogether with his lordship. She will be able to acquaint her uncle withthe details of that and of the present state of affairs. "

Swept thus from surprise to surprise, Captain Calverley could do no morethan bow again. 

"As for me, " said Lord Julian, with intent to make Miss Bishop'sdeparture free from all interference on the part of the buccaneers, "I shall remain aboard the Arabella until we reach Port Royal. Mycompliments to Colonel Bishop. Say that I look forward to making hisacquaintance there. "

CHAPTER XXII. HOSTILITIES

In the great harbour of Port Royal, spacious enough to have givenmoorings to all the ships of all the navies of the world, the Arabellarode at anchor. Almost she had the air of a prisoner, for a quarter of amile ahead, to starboard, rose the lofty, massive single round towerof the fort, whilst a couple of cables'-length astern, and to larboard, rode the six men-of-war that composed the Jamaica squadron. 

Abeam with the Arabella, across the harbour, were the flat-fronted whitebuildings of that imposing city that came down to the very water's edge. Behind these the red roofs rose like terraces, marking the gentle slopeupon which the city was built, dominated here by a turret, there by aspire, and behind these again a range of green hills with for ultimatebackground a sky that was like a dome of polished steel. 

On a cane day-bed that had been set for him on the quarter-deck, sheltered from the dazzling, blistering sunshine by an improvised awningof brown sailcloth, lounged Peter Blood, a calf-bound, well-thumbed copyof Horace's Odes neglected in his hands. 

From immediately below him came the swish of mops and the gurgle ofwater in the scuppers, for it was still early morning, and under thedirections of Hayton, the bo'sun, the swabbers were at work in thewaist and forecastle. Despite the heat and the stagnant air, one of thetoilers found breath to croak a ribald buccaneering ditty:

 "For we laid her board and board, And we put her to the sword, And we sank her in the deep blue sea. So It's heigh-ho, and heave-a-ho! Who'll sail for the Main with me?"

Blood fetched a sigh, and the ghost of a smile played over his lean, sun-tanned face. Then the black brows came together above the vividblue eyes, and thought swiftly closed the door upon his immediatesurroundings. 

Things had not sped at all well with him in the past fortnight since hisacceptance of the King's commission. There had been trouble with Bishopfrom the moment of landing. As Blood and Lord Julian had stepped ashoretogether, they had been met by a man who took no pains to dissemble hischagrin at the turn of events and his determination to change it. Heawaited them on the mole, supported by a group of officers. 

"You are Lord Julian Wade, I understand, " was his truculent greeting. For Blood at the moment he had nothing beyond a malignant glance. 

Lord Julian bowed. "I take it I have the honour to address ColonelBishop, Deputy-Governor of Jamaica. " It was almost as if his lordshipwere giving the Colonel a lesson in deportment. The Colonel accepted it, and belatedly bowed, removing his broad hat. Then he plunged on. 

"You have granted, I am told, the King's commission to this man. " Hisvery tone betrayed the bitterness of his rancour. "Your motives wereno doubt worthy... Your gratitude to him for delivering you from theSpaniards. But the thing itself is unthinkable, my lord. The commissionmust be cancelled. "

"I don't think I understand, " said Lord Julian distantly. 

"To be sure you don't, or you'd never ha' done it. The fellow's bubbledyou. Why, he's first a rebel, then an escaped slave, and lastly a bloodypirate. I've been hunting him this year past. "

"I assure you, sir, that I was fully informed of all. I do not grant theKing's commission lightly. "

"Don't you, by God! And what else do you call this? But as His Majesty'sDeputy-Governor of Jamaica, I'll take leave to correct your mistake inmy own way. "

"Ah! And what way may that be?"

"There's a gallows waiting for this rascal in Port Royal. "

Blood would have intervened at that, but Lord Julian forestalled him. 

"I see, sir, that you do not yet quite apprehend the circumstances. Ifit is a mistake to grant Captain Blood a commission, the mistake is notmine. I am acting upon the instructions of my Lord Sunderland; and witha full knowledge of all the facts, his lordship expressly designatedCaptain Blood for this commission if Captain Blood could be persuaded toaccept it. "

Colonel Bishop's mouth fell open in surprise and dismay. 

"Lord Sunderland designated him?" he asked, amazed. 

"Expressly. "

His lordship waited a moment for a reply. None coming from thespeechless Deputy-Governor, he asked a question: "Would you stillventure to describe the matter as a mistake, sir? And dare you take therisk of correcting it?"

"I... I had not dreamed.... "

"I understand, sir. Let me present Captain Blood. "

Perforce Bishop must put on the best face he could command. But that itwas no more than a mask for his fury and his venom was plain to all. 

From that unpromising beginning matters had not improved; rather hadthey grown worse. 

Blood's thoughts were upon this and other things as he lounged there onthe day-bed. He had been a fortnight in Port Royal, his ship virtuallya unit now in the Jamaica squadron. And when the news of it reachedTortuga and the buccaneers who awaited his return, the name of CaptainBlood, which had stood so high among the Brethren of the Coast, wouldbecome a byword, a thing of execration, and before all was done his lifemight pay forfeit for what would be accounted a treacherous defection. And for what had he placed himself in this position? For the sake ofa girl who avoided him so persistently and intentionally that he mustassume that she still regarded him with aversion. He had scarcely beenvouchsafed a glimpse of her in all this fortnight, although with that inview for his main object he had daily haunted her uncle's residence, anddaily braved the unmasked hostility and baffled rancour in which ColonelBishop held him. Nor was that the worst of it. He was allowed plainlyto perceive that it was the graceful, elegant young trifler from St. James's, Lord Julian Wade, to whom her every moment was devoted. Andwhat chance had he, a desperate adventurer with a record of outlawry, against such a rival as that, a man of parts, moreover, as he was boundto admit?

You conceive the bitterness of his soul. He beheld himself to be as thedog in the fable that had dropped the substance to snatch at a delusiveshadow. 

He sought comfort in a line on the open page before him:

 "levius fit patientia quicquid corrigere est nefas. "

Sought it, but hardly found it. 

A boat that had approached unnoticed from the shore came scraping andbumping against the great red hull of the Arabella, and a raucous voicesent up a hailing shout. From the ship's belfry two silvery notes rangclear and sharp, and a moment or two later the bo'sun's whistle shrilleda long wail. 

The sounds disturbed Captain Blood from his disgruntled musings. Herose, tall, active, and arrestingly elegant in a scarlet, gold-lacedcoat that advertised his new position, and slipping the slender volumeinto his pocket, advanced to the carved rail of the quarter-deck, justas Jeremy Pitt was setting foot upon the companion. 

"A note for you from the Deputy-Governor, " said the master shortly, ashe proffered a folded sheet. 

Blood broke the seal, and read. Pitt, loosely clad in shirt andbreeches, leaned against the rail the while and watched him, unmistakable concern imprinted on his fair, frank countenance. 

Blood uttered a short laugh, and curled his lip. "It is a veryperemptory summons, " he said, and passed the note to his friend. 

The young master's grey eyes skimmed it. Thoughtfully he stroked hisgolden beard. 

"You'll not go?" he said, between question and assertion. 

"Why not? Haven't I been a daily visitor at the fort... ?"

"But it'll be about the Old Wolf that he wants to see you. It gives hima grievance at last. You know, Peter, that it is Lord Julian alone hasstood between Bishop and his hate of you. If now he can show that.... "

"What if he can?" Blood interrupted carelessly. "Shall I be in greaterdanger ashore than aboard, now that we've but fifty men left, and theylukewarm rogues who would as soon serve the King as me? Jeremy, dearlad, the Arabella's a prisoner here, bedad, 'twixt the fort there andthe fleet yonder. Don't be forgetting that. "

Jeremy clenched his hands. "Why did ye let Wolverstone and the othersgo?" he cried, with a touch of bitterness. "You should have seen thedanger. "

"How could I in honesty have detained them? It was in the bargain. Besides, how could their staying have helped me?" And as Pitt did notanswer him: "Ye see?" he said, and shrugged. "I'll be getting my hat andcane and sword, and go ashore in the cock-boat. See it manned for me. "

"Ye're going to deliver yourself into Bishop's hands, " Pitt warned him. 

"Well, well, maybe he'll not find me quite so easy to grasp as heimagines. There's a thorn or two left on me. " And with a laugh Blooddeparted to his cabin. 

Jeremy Pitt answered the laugh with an oath. A moment he stoodirresolute where Blood had left him. Then slowly, reluctance draggingat his feet, he went down the companion to give the order for thecock-boat. 

"If anything should happen to you, Peter, " he said, as Blood was goingover the side, "Colonel Bishop had better look to himself. These fiftylads may be lukewarm at present, as you say, but--sink me!--they'll beanything but lukewarm if there's a breach of faith. "

"And what should be happening to me, Jeremy? Sure, now, I'll be back fordinner, so I will. "

Blood climbed down into the waiting boat. But laugh though he might, heknew as well as Pitt that in going ashore that morning he carriedhis life in his hands. Because of this, it may have been that when hestepped on to the narrow mole, in the shadow of the shallow outer wallof the fort through whose crenels were thrust the black noses of itsheavy guns, he gave order that the boat should stay for him at thatspot. He realized that he might have to retreat in a hurry. 

Walking leisurely, he skirted the embattled wall, and passed through thegreat gates into the courtyard. Half-a-dozen soldiers lounged there, and in the shadow cast by the wall, Major Mallard, the Commandant, wasslowly pacing. He stopped short at sight of Captain Blood, and salutedhim, as was his due, but the smile that lifted the officer's stiffmostachios was grimly sardonic. Peter Blood's attention, however, waselsewhere. 

On his right stretched a spacious garden, beyond which rose the whitehouse that was the residence of the Deputy-Governor. In that garden'smain avenue, that was fringed with palm and sandalwood, he had caughtsight of Miss Bishop alone. He crossed the courtyard with suddenlylengthened stride. 

"Good-morning to ye, ma'am, " was his greeting as he overtook her; andhat in hand now, he added on a note of protest: "Sure, it's nothing lessthan uncharitable to make me run in this heat. "

"Why do you run, then?" she asked him coolly, standing slim and straightbefore him, all in white and very maidenly save in her unnaturalcomposure. "I am pressed, " she informed him. "So you will forgive me ifI do not stay. "

"You were none so pressed until I came, " he protested, and if his thinlips smiled, his blue eyes were oddly hard. 

"Since you perceive it, sir, I wonder that you trouble to be soinsistent. "

That crossed the swords between them, and it was against Blood'sinstincts to avoid an engagement. 

"Faith, you explain yourself after a fashion, " said he. "But since itwas more or less in your service that I donned the King's coat, youshould suffer it to cover the thief and pirate. "

She shrugged and turned aside, in some resentment and some regret. Fearing to betray the latter, she took refuge in the former. "I do mybest, " said she. 

"So that ye can be charitable in some ways!" He laughed softly. "Glorybe, now, I should be thankful for so much. Maybe I'm presumptuous. ButI can't forget that when I was no better than a slave in your uncle'shousehold in Barbados, ye used me with a certain kindness. "

"Why not? In those days you had some claim upon my kindness. You werejust an unfortunate gentleman then. "

"And what else would you be calling me now?"

"Hardly unfortunate. We have heard of your good fortune on the seas--howyour luck has passed into a byword. And we have heard other things: ofyour good fortune in other directions. "

She spoke hastily, the thought of Mademoiselle d'Ogeron in her mind. And instantly would have recalled the words had she been able. But PeterBlood swept them lightly aside, reading into them none of her meaning, as she feared he would. 

"Aye--a deal of lies, devil a doubt, as I could prove to you. "

"I cannot think why you should trouble to put yourself on your defence, "she discouraged him. 

"So that ye may think less badly of me than you do. "

"What I think of you can be a very little matter to you, sir. "

This was a disarming stroke. He abandoned combat for expostulation. 

"Can ye say that now? Can ye say that, beholding me in this livery of aservice I despise? Didn't ye tell me that I might redeem the past? It'slittle enough I am concerned to redeem the past save only in your eyes. In my own I've done nothing at all that I am ashamed of, considering theprovocation I received. "

Her glance faltered, and fell away before his own that was so intent. 

"I... I can't think why you should speak to me like this, " she said, with less than her earlier assurance. 

"Ah, now, can't ye, indeed?" he cried. "Sure, then, I'll be telling ye. "

"Oh, please. " There was real alarm in her voice. "I realize fully whatyou did, and I realize that partly, at least, you may have been urged byconsideration for myself. Believe me, I am very grateful. I shall alwaysbe grateful. "

"But if it's also your intention always to think of me as a thief and apirate, faith, ye may keep your gratitude for all the good it's like todo me. "

A livelier colour crept into her cheeks. There was a perceptible heaveof the slight breast that faintly swelled the flimsy bodice of whitesilk. But if she resented his tone and his words, she stifled herresentment. She realized that perhaps she had, herself, provoked hisanger. She honestly desired to make amends. 

"You are mistaken, " she began. "It isn't that. "

But they were fated to misunderstand each other. 

Jealousy, that troubler of reason, had been over-busy with his wits asit had with hers. 

"What is it, then?" quoth he, and added the question: "Lord Julian?"

She started, and stared at him blankly indignant now. 

"Och, be frank with me, " he urged her, unpardonably. "'Twill be akindness, so it will. "

For a moment she stood before him with quickened breathing, the colourebbing and flowing in her cheeks. Then she looked past him, and tiltedher chin forward. 

"You... You are quite insufferable, " she said. "I beg that you will letme pass. "

He stepped aside, and with the broad feathered hat which he still heldin his hand, he waved her on towards the house. 

"I'll not be detaining you any longer, ma'am. After all, the cursedthing I did for nothing can be undone. Ye'll remember afterwards that itwas your hardness drove me. "

She moved to depart, then checked, and faced him again. It was she nowwho was on her defence, her voice quivering with indignation. 

"You take that tone! You dare to take that tone!" she cried, astoundinghim by her sudden vehemence. "You have the effrontery to upbraid mebecause I will not take your hands when I know how they are stained;when I know you for a murderer and worse?"

He stared at her open-mouthed. 

"A murderer--I?" he said at last. 

"Must I name your victims? Did you not murder Levasseur?"

"Levasseur?" He smiled a little. "So they've told you about that!"

"Do you deny it?"

"I killed him, it is true. I can remember killing another man incircumstances that were very similar. That was in Bridgetown on thenight of the Spanish raid. Mary Traill would tell you of it. She waspresent. "

He clapped his hat on his head with a certain abrupt fierceness, andstrode angrily away, before she could answer or even grasp the fullsignificance of what he had said. 

CHAPTER XXIII. HOSTAGES

Peter Blood stood in the pillared portico of Government House, and withunseeing eyes that were laden with pain and anger, stared out across thegreat harbour of Port Royal to the green hills rising from the farthershore and the ridge of the Blue Mountains beyond, showing hazily throughthe quivering heat. 

He was aroused by the return of the negro who had gone to announce him, and following now this slave, he made his way through the house to thewide piazza behind it, in whose shade Colonel Bishop and my Lord JulianWade took what little air there was. 

"So ye've come, " the Deputy-Governor hailed him, and followed thegreeting by a series of grunts of vague but apparently ill-humouredimport. 

He did not trouble to rise, not even when Lord Julian, obeying theinstincts of finer breeding, set him the example. From under scowlingbrows the wealthy Barbados planter considered his sometime slave, who, hat in hand, leaning lightly upon his long beribboned cane, revealednothing in his countenance of the anger which was being steadilynourished by this cavalier reception. 

At last, with scowling brow and in self-sufficient tones, Colonel Bishopdelivered himself. 

"I have sent for you, Captain Blood, because of certain news that hasjust reached me. I am informed that yesterday evening a frigate left theharbour having on board your associate Wolverstone and a hundred men ofthe hundred and fifty that were serving under you. His lordship and Ishall be glad to have your explanation of how you came to permit thatdeparture. "

"Permit?" quoth Blood. "I ordered it. "

The answer left Bishop speechless for a moment. Then:

"You ordered it?" he said in accents of unbelief, whilst Lord Julianraised his eyebrows. "'Swounds! Perhaps you'll explain yourself? Whitherhas Wolverstone gone?"

"To Tortuga. He's gone with a message to the officers commanding theother four ships of the fleet that is awaiting me there, telling themwhat's happened and why they are no longer to expect me. "

Bishop's great face seemed to swell and its high colour to deepen. Heswung to Lord Julian. 

"You hear that, my lord? Deliberately he has let Wolverstone loose uponthe seas again--Wolverstone, the worst of all that gang of pirates afterhimself. I hope your lordship begins at last to perceive the folly ofgranting the King's commission to such a man as this against all mycounsels. Why, this thing is... It's just mutiny... Treason! By God!It's matter for a court-martial. "

"Will you cease your blather of mutiny and treason and courts-martial?"Blood put on his hat, and sat down unbidden. "I have sent Wolverstoneto inform Hagthorpe and Christian and Yberville and the rest of my ladsthat they've one clear month in which to follow my example, quit piracy, and get back to their boucans or their logwood, or else sail out of theCaribbean Sea. That's what I've done. "

"But the men?" his lordship interposed in his level, cultured voice. "This hundred men that Wolverstone has taken with him?"

"They are those of my crew who have no taste for King James's service, and have preferred to seek work of other kinds. It was in our compact, my lord, that there should be no constraining of my men. "

"I don't remember it, " said his lordship, with sincerity. 

Blood looked at him in surprise. Then he shrugged. "Faith, I'm not toblame for your lordship's poor memory. I say that it was so; and Idon't lie. I've never found it necessary. In any case ye couldn't havesupposed that I should consent to anything different. "

And then the Deputy-Governor exploded. 

"You have given those damned rascals in Tortuga this warning so thatthey may escape! That is what you have done. That is how you abuse thecommission that has saved your own neck!"

Peter Blood considered him steadily, his face impassive. "I willremind you, " he said at last, very quietly, "that the object in viewwas--leaving out of account your own appetites which, as every oneknows, are just those of a hangman--to rid the Caribbean of buccaneers. Now, I've taken the most effective way of accomplishing that object. Theknowledge that I've entered the King's service should in itself go fartowards disbanding the fleet of which I was until lately the admiral. "

"I see!" sneered the Deputy-Governor malevolently. "And if it does not?"

"It will be time enough then to consider what else is to be done. "

Lord Julian forestalled a fresh outburst on the part of Bishop. 

"It is possible, " he said, "that my Lord Sunderland will be satisfied, provided that the solution is such as you promise. "

It was a courteous, conciliatory speech. Urged by friendliness towardsBlood and understanding of the difficult position in which the buccaneerfound himself, his lordship was disposed to take his stand upon theletter of his instructions. Therefore he now held out a friendly hand tohelp him over the latest and most difficult obstacle which Blood himselfhad enabled Bishop to place in the way of his redemption. Unfortunatelythe last person from whom Peter Blood desired assistance at that momentwas this young nobleman, whom he regarded with the jaundiced eyes ofjealousy. 

"Anyway, " he answered, with a suggestion of defiance and more than asuggestion of a sneer, "it's the most ye should expect from me, andcertainly it's the most ye'll get. "

His lordship frowned, and dabbed his lips with a handkerchief. 

"I don't think that I quite like the way you put it. Indeed, uponreflection, Captain Blood, I am sure that I do not. "

"I am sorry for that, so I am, " said Blood impudently. "But there it is. I'm not on that account concerned to modify it. "

His lordship's pale eyes opened a little wider. Languidly he raised hiseyebrows. 

"Ah!" he said. "You're a prodigiously uncivil fellow. You disappoint me, sir. I had formed the notion that you might be a gentleman. "

"And that's not your lordship's only mistake, " Bishop cut in. "You madea worse when you gave him the King's commission, and so sheltered therascal from the gallows I had prepared for him in Port Royal. "

"Aye--but the worst mistake of all in this matter of commissions, "said Blood to his lordship, "was the one that trade this greasy slaverDeputy-Governor of Jamaica instead of its hangman, which is the officefor which he's by nature fitted. "

"Captain Blood!" said his lordship sharply in reproof. "Upon my soul andhonour, sir, you go much too far. You are.... "

But here Bishop interrupted him. He had heaved himself to his feet, atlast, and was venting his fury in unprintable abuse. Captain Blood, who had also risen, stood apparently impassive, for the storm to spenditself. When at last this happened, he addressed himself quietly to LordJulian, as if Colonel Bishop had not spoken. 

"Your lordship was about to say?" he asked, with challenging smoothness. 

But his lordship had by now recovered his habitual composure, and wasagain disposed to be conciliatory. He laughed and shrugged. 

"Faith! here's a deal of unnecessary heat, " said he. "And God knows thisplaguey climate provides enough of that. Perhaps, Colonel Bishop, youare a little uncompromising; and you, sir, are certainly a deal toopeppery. I have said, speaking on behalf of my Lord Sunderland, that Iam content to await the result of your experiment. "

But Bishop's fury had by now reached a stage in which it was not to berestrained. 

"Are you, indeed?" he roared. "Well, then, I am not. This is a matter inwhich your lordship must allow me to be the better judge. And, anyhow, I'll take the risk of acting on my own responsibility. "

Lord Julian abandoned the struggle. He smiled wearily, shrugged, andwaved a hand in implied resignation. The Deputy-Governor stormed on. 

"Since my lord here has given you a commission, I can't regularly dealwith you out of hand for piracy as you deserve. But you shall answerbefore a court-martial for your action in the matter of Wolverstone, andtake the consequences. "

"I see, " said Blood. "Now we come to it. And it's yourself asDeputy-Governor will preside over that same court-martial. So that yecan wipe off old scores by hanging me, it's little ye care how ye doit!" He laughed, and added: "Praemonitus, praemunitus. "

"What shall that mean?" quoth Lord Julian sharply. 

"I had imagined that your lordship would have had some education. "

He was at pains, you see, to be provocative. 

"It's not the literal meaning I am asking, sir, " said Lord Julian, withfrosty dignity. "I want to know what you desire me to understand?"

"I'll leave your lordship guessing, " said Blood. "And I'll be wishing yeboth a very good day. " He swept off his feathered hat, and made them aleg very elegantly. 

"Before you go, " said Bishop, "and to save you from any idle rashness, I'll tell you that the Harbour-Master and the Commandant have theirorders. You don't leave Port Royal, my fine gallows bird. Damme, I meanto provide you with permanent moorings here, in Execution Dock. "

Peter Blood stiffened, and his vivid blue eyes stabbed the bloated faceof his enemy. He passed his long cane into his left hand, and with hisright thrust negligently into the breast of his doublet, he swung toLord Julian, who was thoughtfully frowning. 

"Your lordship, I think, promised me immunity from this. "

"What I may have promised, " said his lordship, "your own conduct makesit difficult to perform. " He rose. "You did me a service, Captain Blood, and I had hoped that we might be friends. But since you prefer tohave it otherwise.... " He shrugged, and waved a hand towards theDeputy-Governor. 

Blood completed the sentence in his own way:

"Ye mean that ye haven't the strength of character to resist the urgingsof a bully. " He was apparently at his ease, and actually smiling. "Well, well--as I said before--praemonitus, praemunitus. I'm afraid that ye'reno scholar, Bishop, or ye'd know that I means forewarned, forearmed. "

"Forewarned? Ha!" Bishop almost snarled. "The warning comes a littlelate. You do not leave this house. " He took a step in the direction ofthe doorway, and raised his voice. "Ho there... " he was beginning tocall. 

Then with a sudden audible catch in his breath, he stopped short. Captain Blood's right hand had reemerged from the breast of his doublet, bringing with it a long pistol with silver mountings richly chased, which he levelled within a foot of the Deputy-Governor's head. 

"And forearmed, " said he. "Don't stir from where you are, my lord, orthere may be an accident. "

And my lord, who had been moving to Bishop's assistance, stood instantlyarrested. Chap-fallen, with much of his high colour suddenly departed, the Deputy-Governor was swaying on unsteady legs. Peter Blood consideredhim with a grimness that increased his panic. 

"I marvel that I don't pistol you without more ado, ye fat blackguard. If I don't, it's for the same reason that once before I gave ye yourlife when it was forfeit. Ye're not aware of the reason, to be sure; butit may comfort ye to know that it exists. At the same time I'll warnye not to put too heavy a strain on my generosity, which resides at themoment in my trigger-finger. Ye mean to hang me, and since that's theworst that can happen to me anyway, you'll realize that I'll not boggleat increasing the account by spilling your nasty blood. " He cast hiscane from him, thus disengaging his left hand. "Be good enough to giveme your arm, Colonel Bishop. Come, come, man, your arm. "

Under the compulsion of that sharp tone, those resolute eyes, and thatgleaming pistol, Bishop obeyed without demur. His recent foul volubilitywas stemmed. He could not trust himself to speak. Captain Blood tuckedhis left arm through the Deputy-Governor's proffered right. Then hethrust his own right hand with its pistol back into the breast of hisdoublet. 

"Though invisible, it's aiming at ye none the less, and I give you myword of honour that I'll shoot ye dead upon the very least provocation, whether that provocation is yours or another's. Ye'll bear that in mind, Lord Julian. And now, ye greasy hangman, step out as brisk and lively asye can, and behave as naturally as ye may, or it's the black streamof Cocytus ye'll be contemplating. " Arm in arm they passed through thehouse, and down the garden, where Arabella lingered, awaiting PeterBlood's return. 

Consideration of his parting words had brought her first turmoil ofmind, then a clear perception of what might be indeed the truth of thedeath of Levasseur. She perceived that the particular inference drawnfrom it might similarly have been drawn from Blood's deliverance of MaryTraill. When a man so risks his life for a woman, the rest is easilyassumed. For the men who will take such risks without hope of personalgain are few. Blood was of those few, as he had proved in the case ofMary Traill. 

It needed no further assurances of his to convince her that she haddone him a monstrous injustice. She remembered words he had used--wordsoverheard aboard his ship (which he had named the Arabella) on the nightof her deliverance from the Spanish admiral; words he had uttered whenshe had approved his acceptance of the King's commission; the words hehad spoken to her that very morning, which had but served to move herindignation. All these assumed a fresh meaning in her mind, deliverednow from its unwarranted preconceptions. 

Therefore she lingered there in the garden, awaiting his return that shemight make amends; that she might set a term to all misunderstanding. In impatience she awaited him. Yet her patience, it seemed, was to betested further. For when at last he came, it was in company--unusuallyclose and intimate company--with her uncle. In vexation she realizedthat explanations must be postponed. Could she have guessed the extentof that postponement, vexation would have been changed into despair. 

He passed, with his companion, from that fragrant garden into thecourtyard of the fort. Here the Commandant, who had been instructed tohold himself in readiness with the necessary men against the need toeffect the arrest of Captain Blood, was amazed by the curious spectacleof the Deputy-Governor of Jamaica strolling forth arm in arm andapparently on the friendliest terms with the intended prisoner. For asthey went, Blood was chatting and laughing briskly. 

They passed out of the gates unchallenged, and so came to the mole wherethe cock-boat from the Arabella was waiting. They took their places sideby side in the stern sheets, and were pulled away together, always veryclose and friendly, to the great red ship where Jeremy Pitt so anxiouslyawaited news. 

You conceive the master's amazement to see the Deputy-Governor cometoiling up the entrance ladder, with Blood following very close behindhim. 

"Sure, I walked into a trap, as ye feared, Jeremy, " Blood hailed him. "But I walked out again, and fetched the trapper with me. He loves hislife, does this fat rascal. "

Colonel Bishop stood in the waist, his great face blenched to the colourof clay, his mouth loose, almost afraid to look at the sturdy ruffianswho lounged about the shot-rack on the main hatch. 

Blood shouted an order to the bo'sun, who was leaning against theforecastle bulkhead. 

"Throw me a rope with a running noose over the yardarm there, againstthe need of it. Now, don't be alarming yourself, Colonel, darling. It'sno more than a provision against your being unreasonable, which I amsure ye'll not be. We'll talk the matter over whiles we are dining, forI trust ye'll not refuse to honour my table by your company. "

He led away the will-less, cowed bully to the great cabin. Benjamin, the negro steward, in white drawers and cotton shirt, made haste by hiscommand to serve dinner. 

Colonel Bishop collapsed on the locker under the stern ports, and spokenow for the first time. 

"May I ask wha... What are your intentions?" he quavered. 

"Why, nothing sinister, Colonel. Although ye deserve nothing less thanthat same rope and yardarm, I assure you that it's to be employed onlyas a last resource. Ye've said his lordship made a mistake when hehanded me the commission which the Secretary of State did me the honourto design for me. I'm disposed to agree with you; so I'll take to thesea again. Cras ingens iterabimus aequor. It's the fine Latin scholarye'll be when I've done with ye. I'll be getting back to Tortuga and mybuccaneers, who at least are honest, decent fellows. So I've fetched yeaboard as a hostage. "

"My God!" groaned the Deputy-Governor. "Ye... Ye never mean that ye'llcarry me to Tortuga!"

Blood laughed outright. "Oh, I'd never serve ye such a bad turn as that. No, no. All I want is that ye ensure my safe departure from Port Royal. And, if ye're reasonable, I'll not even trouble you to swim for it thistime. Ye've given certain orders to your Harbour-Master, and others tothe Commandant of your plaguey fort. Ye'll be so good as to send forthem both aboard here, and inform them in my presence that the Arabellais leaving this afternoon on the King's service and is to pass outunmolested. And so as to make quite sure of their obedience, they shallgo a little voyage with us, themselves. Here's what you require. Nowwrite--unless you prefer the yardarm. "

Colonel Bishop heaved himself up in a pet. "You constrain me withviolence... " he was beginning. 

Blood smoothly interrupted him. 

"Sure, now, I am not constraining you at all. I'm giving you a perfectlyfree choice between the pen and the rope. It's a matter for yourselfentirely. "

Bishop glared at him; then shrugging heavily, he took up the pen andsat down at the table. In an unsteady hand he wrote that summons to hisofficers. Blood despatched it ashore; and then bade his unwilling guestto table. 

"I trust, Colonel, your appetite is as stout as usual. "

The wretched Bishop took the seat to which he was commanded. As foreating, however, that was not easy to a man in his position; nor didBlood press him. The Captain, himself, fell to with a good appetite. But before he was midway through the meal came Hayton to inform himthat Lord Julian Wade had just come aboard, and was asking to see himinstantly. 

"I was expecting him, " said Blood. "Fetch him in. "

Lord Julian came. He was very stem and dignified. His eyes took in thesituation at a glance, as Captain Blood rose to greet him. 

"It's mighty friendly of you to have joined us, my lord. "

"Captain Blood, " said his lordship with asperity, "I find your humour alittle forced. I don't know what may be your intentions; but I wonder doyou realize the risks you are running. "

"And I wonder does your lordship realize the risk to yourself infollowing us aboard as I had counted that you would. "

"What shall that mean, sir?"

Blood signalled to Benjamin, who was standing behind Bishop. 

"Set a chair for his lordship. Hayton, send his lordship's boat ashore. Tell them he'll not be returning yet awhile. "

"What's that?" cried his lordship. "Blister me! D'ye mean to detain me?Are ye mad?"

"Better wait, Hayton, in case his lordship should turn violent, " saidBlood. "You, Benjamin, you heard the message. Deliver it. "

"Will you tell me what you intend, sir?" demanded his lordship, quivering with anger. 

"Just to make myself and my lads here safe from Colonel Bishop'sgallows. I've said that I trusted to your gallantry not to leave him inthe lurch, but to follow him hither, and there's a note from his handgone ashore to summon the Harbour-Master and the Commandant of thefort. Once they are aboard, I shall have all the hostages I need for oursafety. "

"You scoundrel!" said his lordship through his teeth. 

"Sure, now, that's entirely a matter of the point of view, " said Blood. "Ordinarily it isn't the kind of name I could suffer any man to apply tome. Still, considering that ye willingly did me a service once, andthat ye're likely unwillingly to do me another now, I'll overlook yourdiscourtesy, so I will. "

His lordship laughed. "You fool, " he said. "Do you dream that I cameaboard your pirate ship without taking my measures? I informed theCommandant of exactly how you had compelled Colonel Bishop to accompanyyou. Judge now whether he or the Harbour-Master will obey the summons, or whether you will be allowed to depart as you imagine. "

Blood's face became grave. "I'm sorry for that, " said he. 

I thought you would be, answered his lordship. 

"Oh, but not on my own account. It's the Deputy-Governor there I'm sorryfor. D'ye know what Ye've done? Sure, now, ye've very likely hangedhim. "

"My God!" cried Bishop in a sudden increase of panic. 

"If they so much as put a shot across my bows, up goes theirDeputy-Governor to the yardarm. Your only hope, Colonel, lies in thefact that I shall send them word of that intention. And so that you maymend as far as you can the harm you have done, it's yourself shall bearthem the message, my lord. "

"I'll see you damned before I do, " fumed his lordship. 

"Why, that's unreasonable and unreasoning. But if ye insist, why, another messenger will do as well, and another hostage aboard--as I hadoriginally intended--will make my hand the stronger. "

Lord Julian stared at him, realizing exactly what he had refused. 

"You'll think better of it now that ye understand?" quoth Blood. 

"Aye, in God's name, go, my lord, " spluttered Bishop, "and make yourselfobeyed. This damned pirate has me by the throat. "

His lordship surveyed him with an eye that was not by any meansadmiring. "Why, if that is your wish... " he began. Then he shrugged, andturned again to Blood. 

"I suppose I can trust you that no harm will come to Colonel Bishop ifyou are allowed to sail?"

"You have my word for it, " said Blood. "And also that I shall put himsafely ashore again without delay. "

Lord Julian bowed stiffly to the cowering Deputy-Governor. "Youunderstand, sir, that I do as you desire, " he said coldly. 

"Aye, man, aye!" Bishop assented hastily. 

"Very well. " Lord Julian bowed again and took his departure. Bloodescorted him to the entrance ladder at the foot of which still swung theArabella's own cock-boat. 

"It's good-bye, my lord, " said Blood. "And there's another thing. "He proffered a parchment that he had drawn from his pocket. "It's thecommission. Bishop was right when he said it was a mistake. "

Lord Julian considered him, and considering him his expression softened. 

"I am sorry, " he said sincerely. 

"In other circumstances... " began Blood. "Oh, but there! Ye'llunderstand. The boat's waiting. "

Yet with his foot on the first rung of the ladder, Lord Julianhesitated. 

"I still do not perceive--blister me if I do!--why you should not havefound some one else to carry your message to the Commandant, and kept meaboard as an added hostage for his obedience to your wishes. "

Blood's vivid eyes looked into the other's that were clear and honest, and he smiled, a little wistfully. A moment he seemed to hesitate. Thenhe explained himself quite fully. 

"Why shouldn't I tell you? It's the same reason that's been urging meto pick a quarrel with you so that I might have the satisfaction ofslipping a couple of feet of steel into your vitals. When I acceptedyour commission, I was moved to think it might redeem me in the eyes ofMiss Bishop--for whose sake, as you may have guessed, I took it. ButI have discovered that such a thing is beyond accomplishment. I shouldhave known it for a sick man's dream. I have discovered also that ifshe's choosing you, as I believe she is, she's choosing wisely betweenus, and that's why I'll not have your life risked by keeping you aboardwhilst the message goes by another who might bungle it. And now perhapsye'll understand. "

Lord Julian stared at him bewildered. His long, aristocratic face wasvery pale. 

"My God!" he said. "And you tell me this?"

"I tell you because... Oh, plague on it!--so that ye may tell her;so that she may be made to realize that there's something of theunfortunate gentleman left under the thief and pirate she accounts me, and that her own good is my supreme desire. Knowing that, she may... Faith, she may remember me more kindly--if It's only in her prayers. That's all, my lord. "

Lord Julian continued to look at the buccaneer in silence. In silence, at last, he held out his hand; and in silence Blood took it. 

"I wonder whether you are right, " said his lordship, "and whether youare not the better man. "

"Where she is concerned see that you make sure that I am right. Good-byeto you. "

Lord Julian wrung his hand in silence, went down the ladder, and waspulled ashore. From the distance he waved to Blood, who stood leaning onthe bulwarks watching the receding cock-boat. 

The Arabella sailed within the hour, moving lazily before a sluggishbreeze. The fort remained silent and there was no movement from thefleet to hinder her departure. Lord Julian had carried the messageeffectively, and had added to it his own personal commands. 

CHAPTER XXIV. WAR

Five miles out at sea from Port Royal, whence the details of the coastof Jamaica were losing their sharpness, the Arabella hove to, and thesloop she had been towing was warped alongside. 

Captain Blood escorted his compulsory guest to the head of the ladder. Colonel Bishop, who for two hours and more had been in a state of mortalanxiety, breathed freely at last; and as the tide of his fears receded, so that of his deep-rooted hate of this audacious buccaneer resumed itsnormal flow. But he practised circumspection. If in his heart he vowedthat once back in Port Royal there was no effort he would spare, nonerve he would not strain, to bring Peter Blood to final moorings inExecution Dock, at least he kept that vow strictly to himself. 

Peter Blood had no illusions. He was not, and never would be, thecomplete pirate. There was not another buccaneer in all the Caribbeanwho would have denied himself the pleasure of stringing Colonel Bishopfrom the yardarm, and by thus finally stifling the vindictive planter'shatred have increased his own security. But Blood was not of these. Moreover, in the case of Colonel Bishop there was a particular reasonfor restraint. Because he was Arabella Bishop's uncle, his life mustremain sacred to Captain Blood. 

And so the Captain smiled into the sallow, bloated face and the littleeyes that fixed him with a malevolence not to be dissembled. 

"A safe voyage home to you, Colonel, darling, " said he in valediction, and from his easy, smiling manner you would never have dreamt of thepain he carried in his breast. "It's the second time ye've served me fora hostage. Ye'll be well advised to avoid a third. I'm not lucky to you, Colonel, as you should be perceiving. "

Jeremy Pitt, the master, lounging at Blood's elbow, looked darkly uponthe departure of the Deputy-Governor. Behind them a little mob of grim, stalwart, sun-tanned buccaneers were restrained from cracking Bishoplike a flea only by their submission to the dominant will of theirleader. They had learnt from Pitt while yet in Port Royal of theirCaptain's danger, and whilst as ready as he to throw over the King'sservice which had been thrust upon them, yet they resented the mannerin which this had been rendered necessary, and they marvelled now atBlood's restraint where Bishop was concerned. The Deputy-Governorlooked round and met the lowering hostile glances of those fierce eyes. Instinct warned him that his life at that moment was held precariously, that an injudicious word might precipitate an explosion of hatred fromwhich no human power could save him. Therefore he said nothing. Heinclined his head in silence to the Captain, and went blundering andstumbling in his haste down that ladder to the sloop and its waitingnegro crew. 

They pushed off the craft from the red hull of the Arabella, bent totheir sweeps, then, hoisting sail, headed back for Port Royal, intentupon reaching it before darkness should come down upon them. And Bishop, the great bulk of him huddled in the stem sheets, sat silent, his blackbrows knitted, his coarse lips pursed, malevolence and vindictivenessso whelming now his recent panic that he forgot his near escape of theyardarm and the running noose. 

On the mole at Port Royal, under the low, embattled wall of the fort, Major Mallard and Lord Julian waited to receive him, and it was withinfinite relief that they assisted him from the sloop. 

Major Mallard was disposed to be apologetic. 

"Glad to see you safe, sir, " said he. "I'd have sunk Blood's ship inspite of your excellency's being aboard but for your own orders by LordJulian, and his lordship's assurance that he had Blood's word forit that no harm should come to you so that no harm came to him. I'llconfess I thought it rash of his lordship to accept the word of a damnedpirate.... "

"I have found it as good as another's, " said his lordship, cropping theMajor's too eager eloquence. He spoke with an unusual degree of thatfrosty dignity he could assume upon occasion. The fact is that hislordship was in an exceedingly bad humour. Having written jubilantlyhome to the Secretary of State that his mission had succeeded, he wasnow faced with the necessity of writing again to confess that thissuccess had been ephemeral. And because Major Mallard's crisp mostachioswere lifted by a sneer at the notion of a buccaneer's word beingacceptable, he added still more sharply: "My justification is here inthe person of Colonel Bishop safely returned. As against that, sir, youropinion does not weigh for very much. You should realize it. "

"Oh, as your lordship says. " Major Mallard's manner was tinged withirony. "To be sure, here is the Colonel safe and sound. And out yonderis Captain Blood, also safe and sound, to begin his piratical ravagesall over again. "

"I do not propose to discuss the reasons with you, Major Mallard. "

"And, anyway, it's not for long, " growled the Colonel, finding speech atlast. "No, by..... " He emphasized the assurance by an unprintable oath. "If I spend the last shilling of my fortune and the last ship of theJamaica fleet, I'll have that rascal in a hempen necktie before I rest. And I'll not be long about it. " He had empurpled in his angry vehemence, and the veins of his forehead stood out like whipcord. Then he checked. 

"You did well to follow Lord Julian's instructions, " he commended theMajor. With that he turned from him, and took his lordship by the arm. "Come, my lord. We must take order about this, you and I. "

They went off together, skirting the redoubt, and so through courtyardand garden to the house where Arabella waited anxiously. The sight ofher uncle brought her infinite relief, not only on his own account, buton account also of Captain Blood. 

"You took a great risk, sir, " she gravely told Lord Julian after theordinary greetings had been exchanged. 

But Lord Julian answered her as he had answered Major Mallard. "Therewas no risk, ma'am. "

She looked at him in some astonishment. His long, aristocratic face worea more melancholy, pensive air than usual. He answered the enquiry inher glance:

"So that Blood's ship were allowed to pass the fort, no harm could cometo Colonel Bishop. Blood pledged me his word for that. "

A faint smile broke the set of her lips, which hitherto had beenwistful, and a little colour tinged her cheeks. She would have pursuedthe subject, but the Deputy-Governor's mood did not permit it. Hesneered and snorted at the notion of Blood's word being good foranything, forgetting that he owed to it his own preservation at thatmoment. 

At supper, and for long thereafter he talked of nothing but Blood--ofhow he would lay him by the heels, and what hideous things he wouldperform upon his body. And as he drank heavily the while, his speechbecame increasingly gross and his threats increasingly horrible; untilin the end Arabella withdrew, white-faced and almost on the verge oftears. It was not often that Bishop revealed himself to his niece. Oddlyenough, this coarse, overbearing planter went in a certain awe of thatslim girl. It was as if she had inherited from her father the respect inwhich he had always been held by his brother. 

Lord Julian, who began to find Bishop disgusting beyond endurance, excused himself soon after, and went in quest of the lady. He had yet todeliver the message from Captain Blood, and this, he thought, would behis opportunity. But Miss Bishop had retired for the night, andLord Julian must curb his impatience--it amounted by now to nothingless--until the morrow. 

Very early next morning, before the heat of the day came to render theopen intolerable to his lordship, he espied her from his window movingamid the azaleas in the garden. It was a fitting setting for one who wasstill as much a delightful novelty to him in womanhood as was the azaleaamong flowers. He hurried forth to join her, and when, aroused fromher pensiveness, she had given him a good-morrow, smiling and frank, heexplained himself by the announcement that he bore her a message fromCaptain Blood. 

He observed her little start and the slight quiver of her lips, andobserved thereafter not only her pallor and the shadowy rings about hereyes, but also that unusually wistful air which last night had escapedhis notice. 

They moved out of the open to one of the terraces, where a pergola oforange-trees provided a shaded sauntering space that was at once cooland fragrant. As they went, he considered her admiringly, and marvelledat himself that it should have taken him so long fully to realizeher slim, unusual grace, and to find her, as he now did, so entirelydesirable, a woman whose charm must irradiate all the life of a man, andtouch its commonplaces into magic. 

He noted the sheen of her red-brown hair, and how gracefully one of itsheavy ringlets coiled upon her slender, milk-white neck. She wore a gownof shimmering grey silk, and a scarlet rose, fresh-gathered, was pinnedat her breast like a splash of blood. Always thereafter when he thoughtof her it was as he saw her at that moment, as never, I think, untilthat moment had he seen her. 

In silence they paced on a little way into the green shade. Then shepaused and faced him. 

"You said something of a message, sir, " she reminded him, thus betrayingsome of her impatience. 

He fingered the ringlets of his periwig, a little embarrassed how todeliver himself, considering how he should begin. "He desired me, " hesaid at last, "to give you a message that should prove to you that thereis still something left in him of the unfortunate gentleman that... That.. , for which once you knew him. "

"That is not now necessary, " said she very gravely. He misunderstoodher, of course, knowing nothing of the enlightenment that yesterday hadcome to her. 

"I think... , nay, I know that you do him an injustice, " said he. 

Her hazel eyes continued to regard him. 

"If you will deliver the message, it may enable me to judge. "

To him, this was confusing. He did not immediately answer. He found thathe had not sufficiently considered the terms he should employ, and thematter, after all, was of an exceeding delicacy, demanding delicatehandling. It was not so much that he was concerned to deliver a messageas to render it a vehicle by which to plead his own cause. Lord Julian, well versed in the lore of womankind and usually at his ease with ladiesof the beau-monde, found himself oddly constrained before this frank andunsophisticated niece of a colonial planter. 

They moved on in silence and as if by common consent towards thebrilliant sunshine where the pergola was intersected by the avenueleading upwards to the house. Across this patch of light fluttered agorgeous butterfly, that was like black and scarlet velvet and largeas a man's hand. His lordship's brooding eyes followed it out of sightbefore he answered. 

"It is not easy. Stab me, it is not. He was a man who deserved well. Andamongst us we have marred his chances: your uncle, because he could notforget his rancour; you, because... Because having told him that in theKing's service he would find his redemption of what was past, you wouldnot afterwards admit to him that he was so redeemed. And this, althoughconcern to rescue you was the chief motive of his embracing that sameservice. "

She had turned her shoulder to him so that he should not see her face. 

"I know. I know now, " she said softly. Then after a pause she added thequestion: "And you? What part has your lordship had in this--that youshould incriminate yourself with us?"

"My part?" Again he hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, as men dowhen determined to perform a thing they fear. "If I understood himaright, if he understood aright, himself, my part, though entirelypassive, was none the less effective. I implore you to observe thatI but report his own words. I say nothing for myself. " His lordship'sunusual nervousness was steadily increasing. "He thought, then--sohe told me--that my presence here had contributed to his inability toredeem himself in your sight; and unless he were so redeemed, then wasredemption nothing. "

She faced him fully, a frown of perplexity bringing her brows togetherabove her troubled eyes. 

"He thought that you had contributed?" she echoed. It was clear sheasked for enlightenment. He plunged on to afford it her, his glance alittle scared, his cheeks flushing. 

"Aye, and he said so in terms which told me something that I hope aboveall things, and yet dare not believe, for, God knows, I am no coxcomb, Arabella. He said... But first let me tell you how I was placed. I hadgone aboard his ship to demand the instant surrender of your uncle whomhe held captive. He laughed at me. Colonel Bishop should be a hostagefor his safety. By rashly venturing aboard his ship, I afforded himin my own person yet another hostage as valuable at least as ColonelBishop. Yet he bade me depart; not from the fear of consequences, forhe is above fear, nor from any personal esteem for me whom he confessedthat he had come to find detestable; and this for the very reason thatmade him concerned for my safety. "

"I do not understand, " she said, as he paused. "Is not that acontradiction in itself?"

"It seems so only. The fact is, Arabella, this unfortunate man hasthe... The temerity to love you. "

She cried out at that, and clutched her breast whose calm was suddenlydisturbed. Her eyes dilated as she stared at him. 

"I... I've startled you, " said he, with concern. "I feared I should. Butit was necessary so that you may understand. "

"Go on, " she bade him. 

"Well, then: he saw in me one who made it impossible that he should winyou--so he said. Therefore he could with satisfaction have killed me. But because my death might cause you pain, because your happiness wasthe thing that above all things he desired, he surrendered that part ofhis guarantee of safety which my person afforded him. If his departureshould be hindered, and I should lose my life in what might follow, there was the risk that... That you might mourn me. That risk he wouldnot take. Him you deemed a thief and a pirate, he said, and addedthat--I am giving you his own words always--if in choosing between ustwo, your choice, as he believed, would fall on me, then were you in hisopinion choosing wisely. Because of that he bade me leave his ship, andhad me put ashore. "

She looked at him with eyes that were aswim with tears. He took a steptowards her, a catch in his breath, his hand held out. 

"Was he right, Arabella? My life's happiness hangs upon your answer. "

But she continued silently to regard him with those tear-laden eyes, without speaking, and until she spoke he dared not advance farther. 

A doubt, a tormenting doubt beset him. When presently she spoke, he sawhow true had been the instinct of which that doubt was born, for herwords revealed the fact that of all that he had said the only thingthat had touched her consciousness and absorbed it from all otherconsiderations was Blood's conduct as it regarded herself. 

"He said that!" she cried. "He did that! Oh!" She turned away, andthrough the slender, clustering trunks of the bordering orange-treesshe looked out across the glittering waters of the great harbour tothe distant hills. Thus for a little while, my lord standing stiffly, fearfully, waiting for fuller revelation of her mind. At last it came, slowly, deliberately, in a voice that at moments was half suffocated. "Last night when my uncle displayed his rancour and his evil rage, itbegan to be borne in upon me that such vindictiveness can belong only tothose who have wronged. It is the frenzy into which men whip themselvesto justify an evil passion. I must have known then, if I had not alreadylearnt it, that I had been too credulous of all the unspeakable thingsattributed to Peter Blood. Yesterday I had his own explanation of thattale of Levasseur that you heard in St. Nicholas. And now this... Thisbut gives me confirmation of his truth and worth. To a scoundrel such asI was too readily brought to believe him, the act of which you have justtold me would have been impossible. "

"That is my own opinion, " said his lordship gently. 

"It must be. But even if it were not, that would now weigh for nothing. What weighs--oh, so heavily and bitterly--is the thought that but forthe words in which yesterday I repelled him, he might have been saved. If only I could have spoken to him again before he went! I waited forhim; but my uncle was with him, and I had no suspicion that he was goingaway again. And now he is lost--back at his outlawry and piracy, inwhich ultimately he will be taken and destroyed. And the fault ismine--mine!"

"What are you saying? The only agents were your uncle's hostility andhis own obstinacy which would not study compromise. You must not blameyourself for anything. "

She swung to him with some impatience, her eyes aswim in tears. "You cansay that, and in spite of his message, which in itself tells how muchI was to blame! It was my treatment of him, the epithets I cast at himthat drove him. So much he has told you. I know it to be true. "

"You have no cause for shame, " said he. "As for your sorrow--why, if itwill afford you solace--you may still count on me to do what man can torescue him from this position. "

She caught her breath. 

"You will do that!" she cried with sudden eager hopefulness. "Youpromise?" She held out her hand to him impulsively. He took it in bothhis own. 

"I promise, " he answered her. And then, retaining still the hand shehad surrendered to him--"Arabella, " he said very gently, "there is stillthis other matter upon which you have not answered me. "

"This other matter?" Was he mad, she wondered. 

Could any other matter signify in such a moment. 

"This matter that concerns myself; and all my future, oh, so veryclosely. This thing that Blood believed, that prompted him... , that ... That you are not indifferent to me. " He saw the fair face change colourand grow troubled once more. 

"Indifferent to you?" said she. "Why, no. We have been good friends; weshall continue so, I hope, my lord. "

"Friends! Good friends?" He was between dismay and bitterness. "It isnot your friendship only that I ask, Arabella. You heard what I said, what I reported. You will not say that Peter Blood was wrong?"

Gently she sought to disengage her hand, the trouble in her faceincreasing. A moment he resisted; then, realizing what he did, he sether free. 

"Arabella!" he cried on a note of sudden pain. 

"I have friendship for you, my lord. But only friendship. " His castle ofhopes came clattering down about him, leaving him a little stunned. Ashe had said, he was no coxcomb. Yet there was something that he didnot understand. She confessed to friendship, and it was in his powerto offer her a great position, one to which she, a colonial planter'sniece, however wealthy, could never have aspired even in her dreams. This she rejected, yet spoke of friendship. Peter Blood had beenmistaken, then. How far had he been mistaken? Had he been as mistaken inher feelings towards himself as he obviously was in her feelings towardshis lordship? In that case ... His reflections broke short. To speculatewas to wound himself in vain. He must know. Therefore he asked her withgrim frankness:

"Is it Peter Blood?"

"Peter Blood?" she echoed. At first she did not understand the purportof his question. When understanding came, a flush suffused her face. 

"I do not know, " she said, faltering a little. 

This was hardly a truthful answer. For, as if an obscuring veil hadsuddenly been rent that morning, she was permitted at last to see PeterBlood in his true relations to other men, and that sight, vouchsafedher twenty-four hours too late, filled her with pity and regret andyearning. 

Lord Julian knew enough of women to be left in no further doubt. Hebowed his head so that she might not see the anger in his eyes, for asa man of honour he took shame in that anger which as a human being hecould not repress. 

And because Nature in him was stronger--as it is in most of us--thantraining, Lord Julian from that moment began, almost in spite ofhimself, to practise something that was akin to villainy. I regretto chronicle it of one for whom--if I have done him any sort ofjustice--you should have been conceiving some esteem. But the truthis that the lingering remains of the regard in which he had held PeterBlood were choked by the desire to supplant and destroy a rival. He hadpassed his word to Arabella that he would use his powerful influence onBlood's behalf. I deplore to set it down that not only did he forget hispledge, but secretly set himself to aid and abet Arabella's uncle in theplans he laid for the trapping and undoing of the buccaneer. He mightreasonably have urged--had he been taxed with it--that he conductedhimself precisely as his duty demanded. But to that he might have beenanswered that duty with him was but the slave of jealousy in this. 

When the Jamaica fleet put to sea some few days later, Lord Juliansailed with Colonel Bishop in Vice-Admiral Craufurd's flagship. Not onlywas there no need for either of them to go, but the Deputy-Governor'sduties actually demanded that he should remain ashore, whilst LordJulian, as we know, was a useless man aboard a ship. Yet both set outto hunt Captain Blood, each making of his duty a pretext for thesatisfaction of personal aims; and that common purpose became a linkbetween them, binding them in a sort of friendship that must otherwisehave been impossible between men so dissimilar in breeding and inaspirations. 

The hunt was up. They cruised awhile off Hispaniola, watching theWindward Passage, and suffering the discomforts of the rainy seasonwhich had now set in. But they cruised in vain, and after a month ofit, returned empty-handed to Port Royal, there to find awaiting them themost disquieting news from the Old World. 

The megalomania of Louis XIV had set Europe in a blaze of war. TheFrench legionaries were ravaging the Rhine provinces, and Spain hadjoined the nations leagued to defend themselves from the wild ambitionsof the King of France. And there was worse than this: there were rumoursof civil war in England, where the people had grown weary of the bigotedtyranny of King James. It was reported that William of Orange had beeninvited to come over. 

Weeks passed, and every ship from home brought additional news. Williamhad crossed to England, and in March of that year 1689 they learnt inJamaica that he had accepted the crown and that James had thrown himselfinto the arms of France for rehabilitation. 

To a kinsman of Sunderland's this was disquieting news, indeed. It wasfollowed by letters from King William's Secretary of State informingColonel Bishop that there was war with France, and that in view of itseffect upon the Colonies a Governor-General was coming out to theWest Indies in the person of Lord Willoughby, and that with him came asquadron under the command of Admiral van der Kuylen to reenforce theJamaica fleet against eventualities. 

Bishop realized that this must mean the end of his supreme authority, even though he should continue in Port Royal as Deputy-Governor. LordJulian, in the lack of direct news to himself, did not know what itmight mean to him. But he had been very close and confidential withColonel Bishop regarding his hopes of Arabella, and Colonel Bishop morethan ever, now that political events put him in danger of being retired, was anxious to enjoy the advantages of having a man of Lord Julian'seminence for his relative. 

They came to a complete understanding in the matter, and Lord Juliandisclosed all that he knew. 

"There is one obstacle in our path, " said he. "Captain Blood. The girlis in love with him. "

"Ye're surely mad!" cried Bishop, when he had recovered speech. 

"You are justified of the assumption, " said his lordship dolefully. "ButI happen to be sane, and to speak with knowledge. "

"With knowledge?"

"Arabella herself has confessed it to me. "

"The brazen baggage! By God, I'll bring her to her senses. " It was theslave-driver speaking, the man who governed with a whip. 

"Don't be a fool, Bishop. " His lordship's contempt did more thanany argument to calm the Colonel. "That's not the way with a girl ofArabella's spirit. Unless you want to wreck my chances for all time, you'll hold your tongue, and not interfere at all. "

"Not interfere? My God, what, then?"

"Listen, man. She has a constant mind. I don't think you know yourniece. As long as Blood lives, she will wait for him. "

"Then with Blood dead, perhaps she will come to her silly senses. "

"Now you begin to show intelligence, " Lord Julian commended him. "Thatis the first essential step. "

"And here is our chance to take it. " Bishop warmed to a sort ofenthusiasm. "This war with France removes all restrictions in the matterof Tortuga. We are free to invest it in the service of the Crown. Avictory there and we establish ourselves in the favour of this newgovernment. "

"Ah!" said Lord Julian, and he pulled thoughtfully at his lip. 

"I see that you understand, " Bishop laughed coarsely. "Two birds withone stone, eh? We'll hunt this rascal in his lair, right under thebeard of the King of France, and we'll take him this time, if we reduceTortuga to a heap of ashes. "

On that expedition they sailed two days later--which would be some threemonths after Blood's departure--taking every ship of the fleet, andseveral lesser vessels as auxiliaries. To Arabella and the world ingeneral it was given out that they were going to raid French Hispaniola, which was really the only expedition that could have afforded ColonelBishop any sort of justification for leaving Jamaica at all at sucha time. His sense of duty, indeed, should have kept him fast inPort Royal; but his sense of duty was smothered in hatred--that mostfruitless and corruptive of all the emotions. In the great cabin ofVice-Admiral Craufurd's flagship, the Imperator, the Deputy-Governor gotdrunk that night to celebrate his conviction that the sands of CaptainBlood's career were running out. 

CHAPTER XXV. THE SERVICE OF KING LOUIS

Meanwhile, some three months before Colonel Bishop set out to reduceTortuga, Captain Blood, bearing hell in his soul, had blown into itsrockbound harbour ahead of the winter gales, and two days ahead of thefrigate in which Wolverstone had sailed from Port Royal a day beforehim. 

In that snug anchorage he found his fleet awaiting him--the four shipswhich had been separated in that gale off the Lesser Antilles, and someseven hundred men composing their crews. Because they had been beginningto grow anxious on his behalf, they gave him the greater welcome. Gunswere fired in his honour and the ships made themselves gay with bunting. The town, aroused by all this noise in the harbour, emptied itselfupon the jetty, and a vast crowd of men and women of all creeds andnationalities collected there to be present at the coming ashore of thegreat buccaneer. 

Ashore he went, probably for no other reason than to obey the generalexpectation. His mood was taciturn; his face grim and sneering. LetWolverstone arrive, as presently he would, and all this hero-worshipwould turn to execration. 

His captains, Hagthorpe, Christian, and Yberville, were on the jetty toreceive him, and with them were some hundreds of his buccaneers. He cutshort their greetings, and when they plagued him with questions of wherehe had tarried, he bade them await the coming of Wolverstone, who wouldsatisfy their curiosity to a surfeit. On that he shook them off, andshouldered his way through that heterogeneous throng that was composedof bustling traders of several nations--English, French, and Dutch--ofplanters and of seamen of various degrees, of buccaneers who werefruit-selling half-castes, negro slaves, some doll-tearsheets anddunghill-queans from the Old World, and all the other types of the humanfamily that converted the quays of Cayona into a disreputable image ofBabel. 

Winning clear at last, and after difficulties, Captain Blood took hisway alone to the fine house of M. D'Ogeron, there to pay his respects tohis friends, the Governor and the Governor's family. 

At first the buccaneers jumped to the conclusion that Wolverstone wasfollowing with some rare prize of war, but gradually from the reducedcrew of the Arabella a very different tale leaked out to stem theirsatisfaction and convert it into perplexity. Partly out of loyalty totheir captain, partly because they perceived that if he was guilty ofdefection they were guilty with him, and partly because being simple, sturdy men of their hands, they were themselves in the main a littleconfused as to what really had happened, the crew of the Arabellapractised reticence with their brethren in Tortuga during those twodays before Wolverstone's arrival. But they were not reticent enoughto prevent the circulation of certain uneasy rumours and extravagantstories of discreditable adventures--discreditable, that is, from thebuccaneering point of view--of which Captain Blood had been guilty. 

But that Wolverstone came when he did, it is possible that there wouldhave been an explosion. When, however, the Old Wolf cast anchor in thebay two days later, it was to him all turned for the explanation theywere about to demand of Blood. 

Now Wolverstone had only one eye; but he saw a deal more with thatone eye than do most men with two; and despite his grizzled head--sopicturesquely swathed in a green and scarlet turban--he had the soundheart of a boy, and in that heart much love for Peter Blood. 

The sight of the Arabella at anchor in the bay had at first amazed himas he sailed round the rocky headland that bore the fort. He rubbed hissingle eye clear of any deceiving film and looked again. Still he couldnot believe what it saw. And then a voice at his elbow--the voice ofDyke, who had elected to sail with him--assured him that he was notsingular in his bewilderment. 

"In the name of Heaven, is that the Arabella or is it the ghost of her?"

The Old Wolf rolled his single eye over Dyke, and opened his mouth tospeak. Then he closed it again without having spoken; closed it tightly. He had a great gift of caution, especially in matters that he did notunderstand. That this was the Arabella he could no longer doubt. Thatbeing so, he must think before he spoke. What the devil should theArabella be doing here, when he had left her in Jamaica? And was CaptainBlood aboard and in command, or had the remainder of her hands made offwith her, leaving the Captain in Port Royal?

Dyke repeated his question. This time Wolverstone answered him. 

"Ye've two eyes to see with, and ye ask me, who's only got one, what itis ye see!"

"But I see the Arabella. "

"Of course, since there she rides. What else was you expecting?"

"Expecting?" Dyke stared at him, open-mouthed. "Was you expecting tofind the Arabella here?"

Wolverstone looked him over in contempt, then laughed and spoke loudenough to be heard by all around him. "Of course. What else?" And helaughed again, a laugh that seemed to Dyke to be calling him a fool. On that Wolverstone turned to give his attention to the operation ofanchoring. 

Anon when ashore he was beset by questioning buccaneers, it was fromtheir very questions that he gathered exactly how matters stood, andperceived that either from lack of courage or other motive Blood, himself, had refused to render any account of his doings since theArabella had separated from her sister ships. Wolverstone congratulatedhimself upon the discretion he had used with Dyke. 

"The Captain was ever a modest man, " he explained to Hagthorpe and thoseothers who came crowding round him. "It's not his way to be sounding hisown praises. Why, it was like this. We fell in with old Don Miguel, and when we'd scuttled him we took aboard a London pimp sent out by theSecretary of State to offer the Captain the King's commission if so behim'd quit piracy and be o' good behaviour. The Captain damned his soulto hell for answer. And then we fell in wi' the Jamaica fleet and thatgrey old devil Bishop in command, and there was a sure end to CaptainBlood and to every mother's son of us all. So I goes to him, and 'acceptthis poxy commission, ' says I; 'turn King's man and save your neck andours. ' He took me at my word, and the London pimp gave him the King'scommission on the spot, and Bishop all but choked hisself with rage whenhe was told of it. But happened it had, and he was forced to swallowit. We were King's men all, and so into Port Royal we sailed alongo' Bishop. But Bishop didn't trust us. He knew too much. But for hislordship, the fellow from London, he'd ha' hanged the Captain, King'scommission and all. Blood would ha' slipped out o' Port Royal again thatsame night. But that hound Bishop had passed the word, and the fort kepta sharp lookout. In the end, though it took a fortnight, Blood bubbledhim. He sent me and most o' the men off in a frigate that I bought forthe voyage. His game--as he'd secretly told me--was to follow and givechase. Whether that's the game he played or not I can't tell ye; buthere he is afore me as I'd expected he would be. "

There was a great historian lost in Wolverstone. He had the rightimagination that knows just how far it is safe to stray from the truthand just how far to colour it so as to change its shape for his ownpurposes. 

Having delivered himself of his decoction of fact and falsehood, andthereby added one more to the exploits of Peter Blood, he enquiredwhere the Captain might be found. Being informed that he kept his ship, Wolverstone stepped into a boat and went aboard, to report himself, ashe put it. 

In the great cabin of the Arabella he found Peter Blood alone and veryfar gone in drink--a condition in which no man ever before remembered tohave seen him. As Wolverstone came in, the Captain raised bloodshot eyesto consider him. A moment they sharpened in their gaze as he broughthis visitor into focus. Then he laughed, a loose, idiot laugh, that yetsomehow was half a sneer. 

"Ah! The Old Wolf!" said he. "Got here at last, eh? And whatchergonnerdo wi' me, eh?" He hiccoughed resoundingly, and sagged backloosely in his chair. 

Old Wolverstone stared at him in sombre silence. He had looked withuntroubled eye upon many a hell of devilment in his time, but the sightof Captain Blood in this condition filled him with sudden grief. Toexpress it he loosed an oath. It was his only expression for emotionof all kinds. Then he rolled forward, and dropped into a chair at thetable, facing the Captain. 

"My God, Peter, what's this?"

"Rum, " said Peter. "Rum, from Jamaica. " He pushed bottle and glasstowards Wolverstone. 

Wolverstone disregarded them. 

"I'm asking you what ails you?" he bawled. 

"Rum, " said Captain Blood again, and smiled. "Jus' rum. I answer allyour queshons. Why donjerr answer mine? Whatcher gonerdo wi' me?"

"I've done it, " said Wolverstone. "Thank God, ye had the sense to holdyour tongue till I came. Are ye sober enough to understand me?"

"Drunk or sober, allus 'derstand you. "

"Then listen. " And out came the tale that Wolverstone had told. TheCaptain steadied himself to grasp it. 

"It'll do as well asertruth, " said he when Wolverstone had finished. "And... Oh, no marrer! Much obliged to ye, Old Wolf--faithful Old Wolf!But was it worthertrouble? I'm norrer pirate now; never a pirate again. 'S finished'" He banged the table, his eyes suddenly fierce. 

"I'll come and talk to you again when there's less rum in your wits, "said Wolverstone, rising. "Meanwhile ye'll please to remember the taleI've told, and say nothing that'll make me out a liar. They all believesme, even the men as sailed wi' me from Port Royal. I've made 'em. Ifthey thought as how you'd taken the King's commission in earnest, andfor the purpose o' doing as Morgan did, ye guess what would follow. "

"Hell would follow, " said the Captain. "An' tha's all I'm fit for. "

"Ye're maudlin, " Wolverstone growled. "We'll talk again to-morrow. "

They did; but to little purpose, either that day or on any daythereafter while the rains--which set in that night--endured. Soon theshrewd Wolverstone discovered that rum was not what ailed Blood. Rumwas in itself an effect, and not by any means the cause of the Captain'slistless apathy. There was a canker eating at his heart, and the OldWolf knew enough to make a shrewd guess of its nature. He cursed allthings that daggled petticoats, and, knowing his world, waited for thesickness to pass. 

But it did not pass. When Blood was not dicing or drinking in thetaverns of Tortuga, keeping company that in his saner days he hadloathed, he was shut up in his cabin aboard the Arabella, alone anduncommunicative. His friends at Government House, bewildered atthis change in him, sought to reclaim him. Mademoiselle d'Ogeron, particularly distressed, sent him almost daily invitations, to few ofwhich he responded. 

Later, as the rainy season approached its end, he was sought by hiscaptains with proposals of remunerative raids on Spanish settlements. But to all he manifested an indifference which, as the weeks passedand the weather became settled, begot first impatience and thenexasperation. 

Christian, who commanded the Clotho, came storming to him one day, upbraiding him for his inaction, and demanding that he should take orderabout what was to do. 

"Go to the devil!" Blood said, when he had heard him out. Christiandeparted fuming, and on the morrow the Clotho weighed anchor and sailedaway, setting an example of desertion from which the loyalty of Blood'sother captains would soon be unable to restrain their men. 

Sometimes Blood asked himself why had he come back to Tortuga at all. Held fast in bondage by the thought of Arabella and her scorn of him fora thief and a pirate, he had sworn that he had done with buccaneering. Why, then, was he here? That question he would answer with another:Where else was he to go? Neither backward nor forward could he move, itseemed. 

He was degenerating visibly, under the eyes of all. He had entirely lostthe almost foppish concern for his appearance, and was grown carelessand slovenly in his dress. He allowed a black beard to grow on cheeksthat had ever been so carefully shaven; and the long, thick black hair, once so sedulously curled, hung now in a lank, untidy mane about a facethat was changing from its vigorous swarthiness to an unhealthy sallow, whilst the blue eyes, that had been so vivid and compelling, were nowdull and lacklustre. 

Wolverstone, the only one who held the clue to this degeneration, ventured once--and once only--to beard him frankly about it. 

"Lord, Peter! Is there never to be no end to this?" the giant hadgrowled. "Will you spend your days moping and swilling 'cause awhite-faced ninny in Port Royal'll have none o' ye? 'Sblood and 'ounds!If ye wants the wench, why the plague doesn't ye go and fetch her?"

The blue eyes glared at him from under the jet-black eyebrows, andsomething of their old fire began to kindle in them. But Wolverstonewent on heedlessly. 

"I'll be nice wi' a wench as long as niceness be the key to her favour. But sink me now if I'd rot myself in rum on account of anything thatwears a petticoat. That's not the Old Wolf's way. If there's no otherexpedition'll tempt you, why not Port Royal? What a plague do it matterif it is an English settlement? It's commanded by Colonel Bishop, andthere's no lack of rascals in your company'd follow you to hell if itmeant getting Colonel Bishop by the throat. It could be done, I tellyou. We've but to spy the chance when the Jamaica fleet is away. There'senough plunder in the town to tempt the lads, and there's the wench foryou. Shall I sound them on 't?"

Blood was on his feet, his eyes blazing, his livid face distorted. "Ye'll leave my cabin this minute, so ye will, or, by Heaven, it's yourcorpse'll be carried out of it. Ye mangy hound, d'ye dare come to mewith such proposals?"

He fell to cursing his faithful officer with a virulence the like ofwhich he had never yet been known to use. And Wolverstone, in terrorbefore that fury, went out without another word. The subject was notraised again, and Captain Blood was left to his idle abstraction. 

But at last, as his buccaneers were growing desperate, somethinghappened, brought about by the Captain's friend M. D'Ogeron. One sunnymorning the Governor of Tortuga came aboard the Arabella, accompaniedby a chubby little gentleman, amiable of countenance, amiable andself-sufficient of manner. 

"My Captain, " M. D'Ogeron delivered himself, "I bring you M. De Cussy, the Governor of French Hispaniola, who desires a word with you. "

Out of consideration for his friend, Captain Blood pulled the pipe fromhis mouth, shook some of the rum out of his wits, and rose and made aleg to M. De Cussy. 

"Serviteur!" said he. 

M. De Cussy returned the bow and accepted a seat on the locker under thestem windows. 

"You have a good force here under your command, my Captain, " said he. 

"Some eight hundred men. "

"And I understand they grow restive in idleness. "

"They may go to the devil when they please. "

M. De Cussy took snuff delicately. "I have something better than that topropose, " said he. 

"Propose it, then, " said Blood, without interest. 

M. De Cussy looked at M. D'Ogeron, and raised his eyebrows a little. He did not find Captain Blood encouraging. But M. D'Ogeron noddedvigorously with pursed lips, and the Governor of Hispaniola propoundedhis business. 

"News has reached us from France that there is war with Spain. "

"That is news, is it?" growled Blood. 

"I am speaking officially, my Captain. I am not alluding to unofficialskirmishes, and unofficial predatory measures which we have condoned outhere. There is war--formally war--between France and Spain in Europe. Itis the intention of France that this war shall be carried into the NewWorld. A fleet is coming out from Brest under the command of M. Le Baronde Rivarol for that purpose. I have letters from him desiring me toequip a supplementary squadron and raise a body of not less than athousand men to reenforce him on his arrival. What I have come topropose to you, my Captain, at the suggestion of our good friend M. D'Ogeron, is, in brief, that you enroll your ships and your force underM. De Rivarol's flag. "

Blood looked at him with a faint kindling of interest. "You areoffering to take us into the French service?" he asked. "On what terms, monsieur?"

"With the rank of Capitaine de Vaisseau for yourself, and suitable ranksfor the officers serving under you. You will enjoy the pay of that rank, and you will be entitled, together with your men, to one-tenth share inall prizes taken. "

"My men will hardly account it generous. They will tell you that theycan sail out of here to-morrow, disembowel a Spanish settlement, andkeep the whole of the plunder. "

"Ah, yes, but with the risks attaching to acts of piracy. With us yourposition will be regular and official, and considering the powerfulfleet by which M. De Rivarol is backed, the enterprises to be undertakenwill be on a much vaster scale than anything you could attempt on yourown account. So that the one tenth in this case may be equal to morethan the whole in the other. "

Captain Blood considered. This, after all, was not piracy that was beingproposed. It was honourable employment in the service of the King ofFrance. 

"I will consult my officers, " he said; and he sent for them. 

They came and the matter was laid before them by M. De Cussy himself. Hagthorpe announced at once that the proposal was opportune. The menwere grumbling at their protracted inaction, and would no doubt be readyto accept the service which M. De Cussy offered on behalf of France. Hagthorpe looked at Blood as he spoke. Blood nodded gloomy agreement. Emboldened by this, they went on to discuss the terms. Yberville, theyoung French filibuster, had the honour to point out to M. De Cussythat the share offered was too small. For one fifth of the prizes, theofficers would answer for their men; not for less. 

M. De Cussy was distressed. He had his instructions. It was taking adeal upon himself to exceed them. The buccaneers were firm. Unless M. DeCussy could make it one fifth there was no more to be said. M. De Cussyfinally consenting to exceed his instructions, the articles were drawnup and signed that very day. The buccaneers were to be at Petit Goaveby the end of January, when M. De Rivarol had announced that he might beexpected. 

After that followed days of activity in Tortuga, refitting the ships, boucanning meat, laying in stores. In these matters which once wouldhave engaged all Captain Blood's attention, he now took no part. He continued listless and aloof. If he had given his consent to theundertaking, or, rather, allowed himself to be swept into it by thewishes of his officers--it was only because the service offered was of aregular and honourable kind, nowise connected with piracy, with which heswore in his heart that he had done for ever. But his consent remainedpassive. The service entered awoke no zeal in him. He was perfectlyindifferent--as he told Hagthorpe, who ventured once to offer aremonstrance--whether they went to Petit Goave or to Hades, and whetherthey entered the service of Louis XIV or of Satan. 

CHAPTER XXVI. M. De RIVAROL

Captain Blood was still in that disgruntled mood when he sailed fromTortuga, and still in that mood when he came to his moorings in the bayof Petit Goave. In that same mood he greeted M. Le Baron de Rivarol whenthis nobleman with his fleet of five men-of-war at last dropped anchoralongside the buccaneer ships, in the middle of February. The Frenchmanhad been six weeks on the voyage, he announced, delayed by unfavourableweather. 

Summoned to wait on him, Captain Blood repaired to the Castle ofPetit Goave, where the interview was to take place. The Baron, a tall, hawk-faced man of forty, very cold and distant of manner, measuredCaptain Blood with an eye of obvious disapproval. Of Hagthorpe, Yberville, and Wolverstone who stood ranged behind their captain, hetook no heed whatever. M. De Cussy offered Captain Blood a chair. 

"A moment, M. De Cussy. I do not think M. Le Baron has observed thatI am not alone. Let me present to you, sir, my companions: CaptainHagthorpe of the Elizabeth, Captain Wolverstone of the Atropos, andCaptain Yberville of the Lachesis. "

The Baron stared hard and haughtily at Captain Blood, then verydistantly and barely perceptibly inclined his head to each of the otherthree. His manner implied plainly that he despised them and that hedesired them at once to understand it. It had a curious effect uponCaptain Blood. It awoke the devil in him, and it awoke at the same timehis self-respect which of late had been slumbering. A sudden shame ofhis disordered, ill-kempt appearance made him perhaps the more defiant. There was almost a significance in the way he hitched his sword-beltround, so that the wrought hilt of his very serviceable rapier wasbrought into fuller view. He waved his captains to the chairs that stoodabout. 

"Draw up to the table, lads. We are keeping the Baron waiting. "

They obeyed him, Wolverstone with a grin that was full of understanding. Haughtier grew the stare of M. De Rivarol. To sit at table with thesebandits placed him upon what he accounted a dishonouring equality. It had been his notion that--with the possible exception of CaptainBlood--they should take his instructions standing, as became men oftheir quality in the presence of a man of his. He did the only thingremaining to mark a distinction between himself and them. He put on hishat. 

"Ye're very wise now, " said Blood amiably. "I feel the draught myself. "And he covered himself with his plumed castor. 

M. De Rivarol changed colour. He quivered visibly with anger, and wasa moment controlling himself before venturing to speak. M. De Cussy wasobviously very ill at ease. 

"Sir, " said the Baron frostily, "you compel me to remind you that therank you hold is that of Capitaine de Vaisseau, and that you are inthe presence of the General of the Armies of France by Sea and Land inAmerica. You compel me to remind you further that there is a deferencedue from your rank to mine. "

"I am happy to assure you, " said Captain Blood, "that the reminder isunnecessary. I am by way of accounting myself a gentleman, little thoughI may look like one at present; and I should not account myself thatwere I capable of anything but deference to those whom nature or fortunemay have placed above me, or to those who being placed beneath me inrank may labour under a disability to resent my lack of it. " It was aneatly intangible rebuke. M. De Rivarol bit his lip. Captain Blood swepton without giving him time to reply: "Thus much being clear, shall wecome to business?"

M. De Rivarol's hard eyes considered him a moment. "Perhaps it will bebest, " said he. He took up a paper. "I have here a copy of the articlesinto which you entered with M. De Cussy. Before going further, I have toobserve that M. De Cussy has exceeded his instructions in admittingyou to one fifth of the prizes taken. His authority did not warrant hisgoing beyond one tenth. "

"That is a matter between yourself and M. De Cussy, my General. "

"Oh, no. It is a matter between myself and you. "

"Your pardon, my General. The articles are signed. So far as we areconcerned, the matter is closed. Also out of regard for M. De Cussy, weshould not desire to be witnesses of the rebukes you may consider thathe deserves. "

"What I may have to say to M. De Cussy is no concern of yours. "

"That is what I am telling you, my General. "

"But--nom de Dieu!--it is your concern, I suppose, that we cannotaward you more than one tenth share. " M. De Rivarol smote the table inexasperation. This pirate was too infernally skillful a fencer. 

"You are quite certain of that, M. Le Baron--that you cannot?"

"I am quite certain that I will not. "

Captain Blood shrugged, and looked down his nose. "In that case, "said he, "it but remains for me to present my little account for ourdisbursement, and to fix the sum at which we should be compensated forour loss of time and derangement in coming hither. That settled, we canpart friends, M. Le Baron. No harm has been done. "

"What the devil do you mean?" The Baron was on his feet, leaning forwardacross the table. 

"Is it possible that I am obscure? My French, perhaps, is not of thepurest, but.... "

"Oh, your French is fluent enough; too fluent at moments, if I maypermit myself the observation. Now, look you here, M. Le filibustier, Iam not a man with whom it is safe to play the fool, as you may very soondiscover. You have accepted service of the King of France--you and yourmen; you hold the rank and draw the pay of a Capitaine de Vaisseau, and these your officers hold the rank of lieutenants. These ranks carryobligations which you would do well to study, and penalties for failingto discharge them which you might study at the same time. They aresomething severe. The first obligation of an officer is obedience. Icommend it to your attention. You are not to conceive yourselves, as youappear to be doing, my allies in the enterprises I have in view, but mysubordinates. In me you behold a commander to lead you, not a companionor an equal. You understand me, I hope. "

"Oh, be sure that I understand, " Captain Blood laughed. He wasrecovering his normal self amazingly under the inspiring stimulus ofconflict. The only thing that marred his enjoyment was the reflectionthat he had not shaved. "I forget nothing, I assure you, my General. I do not forget, for instance, as you appear to be doing, that thearticles we signed are the condition of our service; and the articlesprovide that we receive one-fifth share. Refuse us that, and you cancelthe articles; cancel the articles, and you cancel our services withthem. From that moment we cease to have the honour to hold rank in thenavies of the King of France. "

There was more than a murmur of approval from his three captains. 

Rivarol glared at them, checkmated. 

"In effect... " M. De Cussy was beginning timidly. 

"In effect, monsieur, this is your doing, " the Baron flashed on him, glad to have some one upon whom he could fasten the sharp fangs of hisirritation. "You should be broke for it. You bring the King's serviceinto disrepute; you force me, His Majesty's representative, into animpossible position. "

"Is it impossible to award us the one-fifth share?" quoth Captain Bloodsilkily. "In that case, there is no need for beat or for injuries toM. De Cussy. M. De Cussy knows that we would not have come for less. We depart again upon your assurance that you cannot award us more. Andthings are as they would have been if M. De Cussy had adhered rigidlyto his instructions. I have proved, I hope, to your satisfaction, M. Le Baron, that if you repudiate the articles you can neither claim ourservices nor hinder our departure--not in honour. "

"Not in honour, sir? To the devil with your insolence! Do you imply thatany course that were not in honour would be possible to me?"

"I do not imply it, because it would not be possible, " said CaptainBlood. "We should see to that. It is, my General, for you to say whetherthe articles are repudiated. "

The Baron sat down. "I will consider the matter, " he said sullenly. "Youshall be advised of my resolve. "

Captain Blood rose, his officers rose with him. Captain Blood bowed. 

"M. Le Baron!" said he. 

Then he and his buccaneers removed themselves from the August and iratepresence of the General of the King's Armies by Land and Sea in America. 

You conceive that there followed for M. De Cussy an extremely badquarter of an hour. M. De Cussy, in fact, deserves your sympathy. Hisself-sufficiency was blown from him by the haughty M. De Rivarol, asdown from a thistle by the winds of autumn. The General of the King'sArmies abused him--this man who was Governor of Hispaniola--as if hewere a lackey. M. De Cussy defended himself by urging the thing thatCaptain Blood had so admirably urged already on his behalf--that if theterms he had made with the buccaneers were not confirmed there was noharm done. M. De Rivarol bullied and browbeat him into silence. 

Having exhausted abuse, the Baron proceeded to indignities. Since heaccounted that M. De Cussy had proved himself unworthy of the post heheld, M. De Rivarol took over the responsibilities of that post for aslong as he might remain in Hispaniola, and to give effect to this hebegan by bringing soldiers from his ships, and setting his own guard inM. De Cussy's castle. 

Out of this, trouble followed quickly. Wolverstone coming ashore nextmorning in the picturesque garb that he affected, his head swathed in acoloured handkerchief, was jeered at by an officer of the newly landedFrench troops. Not accustomed to derision, Wolverstone replied in kindand with interest. The officer passed to insult, and Wolverstone struckhim a blow that felled him, and left him only the half of his poorsenses. Within the hour the matter was reported to M. De Rivarol, andbefore noon, by M. De Rivarol's orders, Wolverstone was under arrest inthe castle. 

The Baron had just sat down to dinner with M. De Cussy when the negrowho waited on them announced Captain Blood. Peevishly M. De Rivarol badehim be admitted, and there entered now into his presence a spruce andmodish gentleman, dressed with care and sombre richness in black andsilver, his swarthy, clear-cut face scrupulously shaven, his long blackhair in ringlets that fell to a collar of fine point. In his right handthe gentleman carried a broad black hat with a scarlet ostrich-plume, in his left hand an ebony cane. His stockings were of silk, a bunch ofribbons masked his garters, and the black rosettes on his shoes werefinely edged with gold. 

For a moment M. De Rivarol did not recognize him. For Blood lookedyounger by ten years than yesterday. But the vivid blue eyes under theirlevel black brows were not to be forgotten, and they proclaimed him forthe man announced even before he had spoken. His resurrected pride haddemanded that he should put himself on an equality with the baron andadvertise that equality by his exterior. 

"I come inopportunely, " he courteously excused himself. "My apologies. My business could not wait. It concerns, M. De Cussy, CaptainWolverstone of the Lachesis, whom you have placed under arrest. "

"It was I who placed him under arrest, " said M. De Rivarol. 

"Indeed! But I thought that M. De Cussy was Governor of Hispaniola. "

"Whilst I am here, monsieur, I am the supreme authority. It is as wellthat you should understand it. "

"Perfectly. But it is not possible that you are aware of the mistakethat has been made. "

"Mistake, do you say?"

"I say mistake. On the whole, it is polite of me to use that word. Alsoit is expedient. It will save discussions. Your people have arrested thewrong man, M. De Rivarol. Instead of the French officer, who used thegrossest provocation, they have arrested Captain Wolverstone. It is amatter which I beg you to reverse without delay. "

M. De Rivarol's hawk-face flamed scarlet. His dark eyes bulged. 

"Sir, you... You are insolent! But of an insolence that is intolerable!"Normally a man of the utmost self-possession he was so rudely shaken nowthat he actually stammered. 

"M. Le Baron, you waste words. This is the New World. It is not merelynew; it is novel to one reared amid the superstitions of the Old. Thatnovelty you have not yet had time, perhaps, to realize; therefore Ioverlook the offensive epithet you have used. But justice is justice inthe New World as in the Old, and injustice as intolerable here as there. Now justice demands the enlargement of my officer and the arrest andpunishment of yours. That justice I invite you, with submission, toadminister. "

"With submission?" snorted the Baron in furious scorn. 

"With the utmost submission, monsieur. But at the same time I willremind M. Le Baron that my buccaneers number eight hundred; your troopsfive hundred; and M. De Cussy will inform you of the interesting factthat any one buccaneer is equal in action to at least three soldiers ofthe line. I am perfectly frank with you, monsieur, to save time and hardwords. Either Captain Wolverstone is instantly set at liberty, or wemust take measures to set him at liberty ourselves. The consequences maybe appalling. But it is as you please, M. Le Baron. You are the supremeauthority. It is for you to say. "

M. De Rivarol was white to the lips. In all his life he had never beenso bearded and defied. But he controlled himself. 

"You will do me the favour to wait in the ante-room, M. Le Capitaine. I desire a word with M. De Cussy. You shall presently be informed of mydecision. "

When the door had closed, the baron loosed his fury upon the head of M. De Cussy. 

"So, these are the men you have enlisted in the King's service, the menwho are to serve under me--men who do not serve, but dictate, and thisbefore the enterprise that has brought me from France is even under way!What explanations do you offer me, M. De Cussy? I warn you that I amnot pleased with you. I am, in fact, as you may perceive, exceedinglyangry. "

The Governor seemed to shed his chubbiness. He drew himself stifflyerect. 

"Your rank, monsieur, does not give you the right to rebuke me; nordo the facts. I have enlisted for you the men that you desired me toenlist. It is not my fault if you do not know how to handle them better. As Captain Blood has told you, this is the New World. "

"So, so!" M. De Rivarol smiled malignantly. "Not only do you offer noexplanation, but you venture to put me in the wrong. Almost I admireyour temerity. But there!" he waved the matter aside. He was supremelysardonic. "It is, you tell me, the New World, and--new worlds, newmanners, I suppose. In time I may conform my ideas to this new world, orI may conform this new world to my ideas. " He was menacing on that. "Forthe moment I must accept what I find. It remains for you, monsieur, who have experience of these savage by-ways, to advise me out of thatexperience how to act. "

"M. Le Baron, it was a folly to have arrested the buccaneer captain. Itwould be madness to persist. We have not the forces to meet force. "

"In that case, monsieur, perhaps you will tell me what we are to do withregard to the future. Am I to submit at every turn to the dictatesof this man Blood? Is the enterprise upon which we are embarked to beconducted as he decrees? Am I, in short, the King's representative inAmerica, to be at the mercy of these rascals?"

"Oh, by no means. I am enrolling volunteers here in Hispaniola, and Iam raising a corps of negroes. I compute that when this is done we shallhave a force of a thousand men, the buccaneers apart. "

"But in that case why not dispense with them?"

"Because they will always remain the sharp edge of any weapon that weforge. In the class of warfare that lies before us they are so skilledthat what Captain Blood has just said is not an overstatement. Abuccaneer is equal to three soldiers of the line. At the same time weshall have a sufficient force to keep them in control. For the rest, monsieur, they have certain notions of honour. They will stand by theirarticles, and so that we deal justly with them, they will deal justlywith us, and give no trouble. I have experience of them, and I pledgeyou my word for that. "

M. De Rivarol condescended to be mollified. It was necessary that heshould save his face, and in a degree the Governor afforded him themeans to do so, as well as a certain guarantee for the future in thefurther force he was raising. 

"Very well, " he said. "Be so good as to recall this Captain Blood. "

The Captain came in, assured and very dignified. M. De Rivarol found himdetestable; but dissembled it. 

"M. Le Capitaine, I have taken counsel with M. Le Gouverneur. From whathe tells me, it is possible that a mistake has been committed. Justice, you may be sure, shall be done. To ensure it, I shall myself presideover a council to be composed of two of my senior officers, yourselfand an officer of yours. This council shall hold at once an impartialinvestigation into the affair, and the offender, the man guilty ofhaving given provocation, shall be punished. "

Captain Blood bowed. It was not his wish to be extreme. "Perfectly, M. Le Baron. And now, sir, you have had the night for reflection in thismatter of the articles. Am I to understand that you confirm or that yourepudiate them?"

M. De Rivarol's eyes narrowed. His mind was full of what M. De Cussy hadsaid--that these buccaneers must prove the sharp edge of any weapon hemight forge. He could not dispense with them. He perceived that hehad blundered tactically in attempting to reduce the agreed share. Withdrawal from a position of that kind is ever fraught with loss ofdignity. But there were those volunteers that M. De Cussy was enrollingto strengthen the hand of the King's General. Their presence might admitanon of the reopening of this question. Meanwhile he must retire in thebest order possible. 

"I have considered that, too, " he announced. "And whilst my opinionremains unaltered, I must confess that since M. De Cussy has pledged us, it is for us to fulfil the pledges. The articles are confirmed, sir. "

Captain Blood bowed again. In vain M. De Rivarol looked searchinglyfor the least trace of a smile of triumph on those firm lips. Thebuccaneer's face remained of the utmost gravity. 

Wolverstone was set at liberty that afternoon, and his assailantsentenced to two months' detention. Thus harmony was restored. But ithad been an unpromising beginning, and there was more to follow shortlyof a similar discordant kind. 

Blood and his officers were summoned a week later to a council which satto determine their operations against Spain. M. De Rivarol laid beforethem a project for a raid upon the wealthy Spanish town of Cartagena. Captain Blood professed astonishment. Sourly invited by M. De Rivarol tostate his grounds for it, he did so with the utmost frankness. 

"Were I General of the King's Armies in America, " said he, "I shouldhave no doubt or hesitation as to the best way in which to serve myRoyal master and the French nation. That which I think will be obviousto M. De Cussy, as it is to me, is that we should at once invade SpanishHispaniola and reduce the whole of this fruitful and splendid islandinto the possession of the King of France. "

"That may follow, " said M. De Rivarol. "It is my wish that we begin withCartagena. "

"You mean, sir, that we are to sail across the Caribbean on anadventurous expedition, neglecting that which lies here at our verydoor. In our absence, a Spanish invasion of French Hispaniola ispossible. If we begin by reducing the Spaniards here, that possibilitywill be removed. We shall have added to the Crown of France themost coveted possession in the West Indies. The enterprise offersno particular difficulty; it may be speedily accomplished, and onceaccomplished, it would be time to look farther afield. That would seemthe logical order in which this campaign should proceed. "

He ceased, and there was silence. M. De Rivarol sat back in his chair, the feathered end of a quill between his teeth. Presently he cleared histhroat and asked a question. 

"Is there anybody else who shares Captain Blood's opinion?"

None answered him. His own officers were overawed by him; Blood'sfollowers naturally preferred Cartagena, because offering the greaterchance of loot. Loyalty to their leader kept them silent. 

"You seem to be alone in your opinion, " said the Baron with his vinegarysmile. 

Captain Blood laughed outright. He had suddenly read the Baron's mind. His airs and graces and haughtiness had so imposed upon Blood thatit was only now that at last he saw through them, into the fellow'speddling spirit. Therefore he laughed; there was really nothing else todo. But his laughter was charged with more anger even than contempt. Hehad been deluding himself that he had done with piracy. The convictionthat this French service was free of any taint of that was the onlyconsideration that had induced him to accept it. Yet here was thishaughty, supercilious gentleman, who dubbed himself General of theArmies of France, proposing a plundering, thieving raid which, whenstripped of its mean, transparent mask of legitimate warfare, wasrevealed as piracy of the most flagrant. 

M. De Rivarol, intrigued by his mirth, scowled upon him disapprovingly. 

"Why do you laugh, monsieur?"

"Because I discover here an irony that is supremely droll. You, M. LeBaron, General of the King's Armies by Land and Sea in America, propose an enterprise of a purely buccaneering character; whilst I, the buccaneer, am urging one that is more concerned with upholding thehonour of France. You perceive how droll it is. "

M. De Rivarol perceived nothing of the kind. M. De Rivarol in fact wasextremely angry. He bounded to his feet, and every man in the room rosewith him--save only M. De Cussy, who sat on with a grim smile on hislips. He, too, now read the Baron like an open book, and reading himdespised him. 

"M. Le filibustier, " cried Rivarol in a thick voice, "it seems that Imust again remind you that I am your superior officer. "

"My superior officer! You! Lord of the World! Why, you are just a commonpirate! But you shall hear the truth for once, and that before all thesegentlemen who have the honour to serve the King of France. It is forme, a buccaneer, a sea-robber, to stand here and tell you what is in theinterest of French honour and the French Crown. Whilst you, the FrenchKing's appointed General, neglecting this, are for spending the King'sresources against an outlying settlement of no account, shedding Frenchblood in seizing a place that cannot be held, only because it has beenreported to you that there is much gold in Cartagena, and that theplunder of it will enrich you. It is worthy of the huckster who soughtto haggle with us about our share, and to beat us down after thearticles pledging you were already signed. If I am wrong--let M. DeCussy say so. If I am wrong, let me be proven wrong, and I will beg yourpardon. Meanwhile, monsieur, I withdraw from this council. I will haveno further part in your deliberations. I accepted the service of theKing of France with intent to honour that service. I cannot honour thatservice by lending countenance to a waste of life and resources in raidsupon unimportant settlements, with plunder for their only object. Theresponsibility for such decisions must rest with you, and with youalone. I desire M. De Cussy to report me to the Ministers of France. Forthe rest, monsieur, it merely remains for you to give me your orders. Iawait them aboard my ship--and anything else, of a personal nature, thatyou may feel I have provoked by the terms I have felt compelled to usein this council. M. Le Baron, I have the honour to wish you good-day. "

He stalked out, and his three captains--although they thought himmad--rolled after him in loyal silence. 

M. De Rivarol was gasping like a landed fish. The stark truth had robbedhim of speech. When he recovered, it was to thank Heaven vigorously thatthe council was relieved by Captain Blood's own act of that gentleman'sfurther participation in its deliberations. Inwardly M. De Rivarolburned with shame and rage. The mask had been plucked from him, and hehad been held up to scorn--he, the General of the King's Armies by Seaand Land in America. 

Nevertheless, it was to Cartagena that they sailed in the middle ofMarch. Volunteers and negroes had brought up the forces directly underM. De Rivarol to twelve hundred men. With these he thought he could keepthe buccaneer contingent in order and submissive. 

They made up an imposing fleet, led by M. De Rivarol's flagship, theVictorieuse, a mighty vessel of eighty guns. Each of the four otherFrench ships was at least as powerful as Blood's Arabella, which wasof forty guns. Followed the lesser buccaneer vessels, the Elizabeth, Lachesis, and Atropos, and a dozen frigates laden with stores, besidescanoes and small craft in tow. 

Narrowly they missed the Jamaica fleet with Colonel Bishop, whichsailed north for Tortuga two days after the Baron de Rivarol's southwardpassage. 

CHAPTER XXVII. CARTAGENA

Having crossed the Caribbean in the teeth of contrary winds, it was notuntil the early days of April that the French fleet hove in sight ofCartagena, and M. De Rivarol summoned a council aboard his flagship todetermine the method of assault. 

"It is of importance, messieurs, " he told them, "that we take the cityby surprise, not only before it can put itself into a state of defence;but before it can remove its treasures inland. I propose to land aforce sufficient to achieve this to the north of the city to-night afterdark. " And he explained in detail the scheme upon which his wits hadlaboured. 

He was heard respectfully and approvingly by his officers, scornfullyby Captain Blood, and indifferently by the other buccaneer captainspresent. For it must be understood that Blood's refusal to attendcouncils had related only to those concerned with determining the natureof the enterprise to be undertaken. 

Captain Blood was the only one amongst them who knew exactly what layahead. Two years ago he had himself considered a raid upon the place, and he had actually made a survey of it in circumstances which he waspresently to disclose. 

The Baron's proposal was one to be expected from a commander whoseknowledge of Cartagena was only such as might be derived from maps. 

Geographically and strategically considered, it is a curious place. Itstands almost four-square, screened east and north by hills, and itmay be said to face south upon the inner of two harbours by which itis normally approached. The entrance to the outer harbour, which is inreality a lagoon some three miles across, lies through a neck known asthe Boca Chica--or Little Mouth--and defended by a fort. A long strip ofdensely wooded land to westward acts here as a natural breakwater, andas the inner harbour is approached, another strip of land thrusts acrossat right angles from the first, towards the mainland on the east. Justshort of this it ceases, leaving a deep but very narrow channel, averitable gateway, into the secure and sheltered inner harbour. Anotherfort defends this second passage. East and north of Cartagena liesthe mainland, which may be left out of account. But to the west andnorthwest this city, so well guarded on every other side, lies directlyopen to the sea. It stands back beyond a half-mile of beach, and besidesthis and the stout Walls which fortify it, would appear to have no otherdefences. But those appearances are deceptive, and they had utterlydeceived M. De Rivarol, when he devised his plan. 

It remained for Captain Blood to explain the difficulties when M. DeRivarol informed him that the honour of opening the assault in themanner which he prescribed was to be accorded to the buccaneers. 

Captain Blood smiled sardonic appreciation of the honour reservedfor his men. It was precisely what he would have expected. For thebuccaneers the dangers; for M. De Rivarol the honour, glory and profitof the enterprise. 

"It is an honour which I must decline, " said he quite coldly. 

Wolverstone grunted approval and Hagthorpe nodded. Yberville, whoas much as any of them resented the superciliousness of his noblecompatriot, never wavered in loyalty to Captain Blood. The Frenchofficers--there were six of them present--stared their haughty surpriseat the buccaneer leader, whilst the Baron challengingly fired a questionat him. 

"How? You decline it, 'sir? You decline to obey orders, do you say?"

"I understood, M. Le Baron, that you summoned us to deliberate upon themeans to be adopted. "

"Then you understood amiss, M. Le Capitaine. You are here to receivemy commands. I have already deliberated, and I have decided. I hope youunderstand. "

"Oh, I understand, " laughed Blood. "But, I ask myself, do you?" Andwithout giving the Baron time to set the angry question that wasbubbling to his lips, he swept on: "You have deliberated, you say, andyou have decided. But unless your decision rests upon a wish to destroymy buccaneers, you will alter it when I tell you something of whichI have knowledge. This city of Cartagena looks very vulnerable onthe northern side, all open to the sea as it apparently stands. Askyourself, M. Le Baron, how came the Spaniards who built it where it isto have been at such trouble to fortify it to the south, if from thenorth it is so easily assailable. "

That gave M. De Rivarol pause. 

"The Spaniards, " Blood pursued, "are not quite the fools you aresupposing them. Let me tell you, messieurs, that two years ago I made asurvey of Cartagena as a preliminary to raiding it. I came hither withsome friendly trading Indians, myself disguised as an Indian, and inthat guise I spent a week in the city and studied carefully all itsapproaches. On the side of the sea where it looks so temptingly open toassault, there is shoal water for over half a mile out--far enough out, I assure you, to ensure that no ship shall come within bombarding rangeof it. It is not safe to venture nearer land than three quarters of amile. "

"But our landing will be effected in canoes and piraguas and openboats, " cried an officer impatiently. 

"In the calmest season of the year, the surf will hinder any suchoperation. And you will also bear in mind that if landing were possibleas you are suggesting, that landing could not be covered by the ships'guns. In fact, it is the landing parties would be in danger from theirown artillery. "

"If the attack is made by night, as I propose, covering will beunnecessary. You should be ashore in force before the Spaniards areaware of the intent. "

"You are assuming that Cartagena is a city of the blind, that at thisvery moment they are not conning our sails and asking themselves who weare and what we intend. "

"But if they feel themselves secure from the north, as you suggest, "cried the Baron impatiently, "that very security will lull them. "

"Perhaps. But, then, they are secure. Any attempt to land on this sideis doomed to failure at the hands of Nature. "

"Nevertheless, we make the attempt, " said the obstinate Baron, whosehaughtiness would not allow him to yield before his officers. 

"If you still choose to do so after what I have said, you are, ofcourse, the person to decide. But I do not lead my men into fruitlessdanger. "

"If I command you... " the Baron was beginning. But Blood unceremoniouslyinterrupted him. 

"M. Le Baron, when M. De Cussy engaged us on your behalf, it was as muchon account of our knowledge and experience of this class of warfareas on account of our strength. I have placed my own knowledge andexperience in this particular matter at your disposal. I will add thatI abandoned my own project of raiding Cartagena, not being in sufficientstrength at the time to force the entrance of the harbour, which is theonly way into the city. The strength which you now command is ample forthat purpose. "

"But whilst we are doing that, the Spaniards will have time toremove great part of the wealth this city holds. We must take them bysurprise. "

Captain Blood shrugged. "If this is a mere pirating raid, that, ofcourse, is a prime consideration. It was with me. But if you areconcerned to abate the pride of Spain and plant the Lilies of Franceon the forts of this settlement, the loss of some treasure should notreally weigh for much. "

M. De Rivarol bit his lip in chagrin. His gloomy eye smouldered as itconsidered the self-contained buccaneer. 

"But if I command you to go--to make the attempt?" he asked. "Answer me, monsieur, let us know once for all where we stand, and who commands thisexpedition. "

"Positively, I find you tiresome, " said Captain Blood, and he swung toM. De Cussy, who sat there gnawing his lip, intensely uncomfortable. "Iappeal to you, monsieur, to justify me to the General. "

M. De Cussy started out of his gloomy abstraction. He cleared histhroat. He was extremely nervous. 

"In view of what Captain Blood has submitted.... "

"Oh, to the devil with that!" snapped Rivarol. "It seems that I amfollowed by poltroons. Look you, M. Le Capitaine, since you are afraidto undertake this thing, I will myself undertake it. The weather iscalm, and I count upon making good my landing. If I do so, I shall haveproved you wrong, and I shall have a word to say to you to-morrow whichyou may not like. I am being very generous with you, sir. " He waved hishand regally. "You have leave to go. "

It was sheer obstinacy and empty pride that drove him, and he receivedthe lesson he deserved. The fleet stood in during the afternoon towithin a mile of the coast, and under cover of darkness three hundredmen, of whom two hundred were negroes--the whole of the negro contingenthaving been pressed into the undertaking--were pulled away for the shorein the canoes, piraguas, and ships' boats. Rivarol's pride compelledhim, however much he may have disliked the venture, to lead them inperson. 

The first six boats were caught in the surf, and pounded into fragmentsbefore their occupants could extricate themselves. The thunder of thebreakers and the cries of the shipwrecked warned those who followed, and thereby saved them from sharing the same fate. By the Baron's urgentorders they pulled away again out of danger, and stood about to pickup such survivors as contrived to battle towards them. Close upon fiftylives were lost in the adventure, together with half-a-dozen boatsstored with ammunition and light guns. 

The Baron went back to his flagship an infuriated, but by no means awiser man. Wisdom--not even the pungent wisdom experience thrusts uponus--is not for such as M. De Rivarol. His anger embraced all things, butfocussed chiefly upon Captain Blood. In some warped process of reasoninghe held the buccaneer chiefly responsible for this misadventure. He wentto bed considering furiously what he should say to Captain Blood uponthe morrow. 

He was awakened at dawn by the rolling thunder of guns. Emerging uponthe poop in nightcap and slippers, he beheld a sight that increased hisunreasonable and unreasoning fury. The four buccaneer ships under canvaswere going through extraordinary manoeuvre half a mile off the BocaChica and little more than half a mile away from the remainder of thefleet, and from their flanks flame and smoke were belching each timethey swung broadside to the great round fort that guarded that narrowentrance. The fort was returning the fire vigorously and viciously. Butthe buccaneers timed their broadsides with extraordinary judgment tocatch the defending ordnance reloading; then as they drew the Spaniards'fire, they swung away again not only taking care to be ever movingtargets, but, further, to present no more than bow or stern to the fort, their masts in line, when the heaviest cannonades were to be expected. 

Gibbering and cursing, M. De Rivarol stood there and watched thisaction, so presumptuously undertaken by Blood on his own responsibility. The officers of the Victorieuse crowded round him, but it was not untilM. De Cussy came to join the group that he opened the sluices of hisrage. And M. De Cussy himself invited the deluge that now caught him. He had come up rubbing his hands and taking a proper satisfaction in theenergy of the men whom he had enlisted. 

"Aha, M. De Rivarol!" he laughed. "He understands his business, eh, this Captain Blood. He'll plant the Lilies of France on that fort beforebreakfast. "

The Baron swung upon him snarling. "He understands his business, eh? Hisbusiness, let me tell you, M. De Cussy, is to obey my orders, and I havenot ordered this. Par la Mordieu! When this is over I'll deal with himfor his damned insubordination. "

"Surely, M. Le Baron, he will have justified it if he succeeds. "

"Justified it! Ah, parbleu! Can a soldier ever justify acting withoutorders?" He raved on furiously, his officers supporting him out of theirdetestation of Captain Blood. 

Meanwhile the fight went merrily on. The fort was suffering badly. Yetfor all their manoeuvring the buccaneers were not escaping punishment. The starboard gunwale of the Atropos had been hammered into splinters, and a shot had caught her astern in the coach. The Elizabeth was badlybattered about the forecastle, and the Arabella's maintop had beenshot away, whilst' towards the end of that engagement the Lachesis camereeling out of the fight with a shattered rudder, steering herself bysweeps. 

The absurd Baron's fierce eyes positively gleamed with satisfaction. 

"I pray Heaven they may sink all his infernal ships!" he cried in hisfrenzy. 

But Heaven didn't hear him. Scarcely had he spoken than there was aterrific explosion, and half the fort went up in fragments. A lucky shotfrom the buccaneers had found the powder magazine. 

It may have been a couple of hours later, when Captain Blood, asspruce and cool as if he had just come from a levee, stepped upon thequarter-deck of the Victoriense, to confront M. De Rivarol, still inbedgown and nightcap. 

"I have to report, M. Le Baron, that we are in possession of the forton Boca Chica. The standard of France is flying from what remains of itstower, and the way into the outer harbour is open to your fleet. "

M. De Rivarol was compelled to swallow his fury, though it chokedhim. The jubilation among his officers had been such that he could notcontinue as he had begun. Yet his eyes were malevolent, his face palewith anger. 

"You are fortunate, M. Blood, that you succeeded, " he said. "It wouldhave gone very ill with you had you failed. Another time be so good asto await my orders, lest you should afterwards lack the justificationwhich your good fortune has procured you this morning. "

Blood smiled with a flash of white teeth, and bowed. "I shall be glad ofyour orders now, General, for pursuing our advantage. You realize thatspeed in striking is the first essential. "

Rivarol was left gaping a moment. Absorbed in his ridiculous anger, hehad considered nothing. But he made a quick recovery. "To my cabin, ifyou please, " he commanded peremptorily, and was turning to lead the way, when Blood arrested him. 

"With submission, my General, we shall be better here. You behold therethe scene of our coming action. It is spread before you like a map. "He waved his hand towards the lagoon, the country flanking it andthe considerable city standing back from the beach. "If it is not apresumption in me to offer a suggestion.... " He paused. M. De Rivarollooked at him sharply, suspecting irony. But the swarthy face was bland, the keen eyes steady. 

"Let us hear your suggestion, " he consented. 

Blood pointed out the fort at the mouth of the inner harbour, which wasjust barely visible above the waving palms on the intervening tongue ofland. He announced that its armament was less formidable than thatof the outer fort, which they had reduced; but on the other hand, thepassage was very much narrower than the Boca Chica, and before theycould attempt to make it in any case, they must dispose of thosedefences. He proposed that the French ships should enter the outerharbour, and proceed at once to bombardment. Meanwhile, he would landthree hundred buccaneers and some artillery on the eastern side of thelagoon, beyond the fragrant garden islands dense with richly bearingfruit-trees, and proceed simultaneously to storm the fort in the rear. Thus beset on both sides at once, and demoralized by the fate of themuch stronger outer fort, he did not think the Spaniards would offer avery long resistance. Then it would be for M. De Rivarol to garrison thefort, whilst Captain Blood would sweep on with his men, and seizethe Church of Nuestra Senora de la Poupa, plainly visible on its hillimmediately eastward of the town. Not only did that eminence afford thema valuable and obvious strategic advantage, but it commanded the onlyroad that led from Cartagena to the interior, and once it were heldthere would be no further question of the Spaniards attempting to removethe wealth of the city. 

That to M. De Rivarol was--as Captain Blood had judged that it wouldbe--the crowning argument. Supercilious until that moment, and disposedfor his own pride's sake to treat the buccaneer's suggestions withcavalier criticism, M. De Rivarol's manner suddenly changed. He becamealert and brisk, went so far as tolerantly to commend Captain Blood'splan, and issued orders that action might be taken upon it at once. 

It is not necessary to follow that action step by step. Blunders onthe part of the French marred its smooth execution, and the indifferenthandling of their ships led to the sinking of two of them in the courseof the afternoon by the fort's gunfire. But by evening, owing largely tothe irresistible fury with which the buccaneers stormed the place fromthe landward side, the fort had surrendered, and before dusk Blood andhis men with some ordnance hauled thither by mules dominated the cityfrom the heights of Nuestra Senora de la Poupa. 

At noon on the morrow, shorn of defences and threatened withbombardment, Cartagena sent offers of surrender to M. De Rivarol. 

Swollen with pride by a victory for which he took the entire creditto himself, the Baron dictated his terms. He demanded that all publiceffects and office accounts be delivered up; that the merchantssurrender all moneys and goods held by them for their correspondents;the inhabitants could choose whether they would remain in the city ordepart; but those who went must first deliver up all their property, andthose who elected to remain must surrender half, and become the subjectsof France; religious houses and churches should be spared, but they mustrender accounts of all moneys and valuables in their possession. 

Cartagena agreed, having no choice in the matter, and on the nextday, which was the 5th of April, M. De Rivarol entered the city andproclaimed it now a French colony, appointing M. De Cussy its Governor. Thereafter he proceeded to the Cathedral, where very properly a Te Deumwas sung in honour of the conquest. This by way of grace, whereafter M. De Rivarol proceeded to devour the city. The only detail in which theFrench conquest of Cartagena differed from an ordinary buccaneering raidwas that under the severest penalties no soldier was to enter thehouse of any inhabitant. But this apparent respect for the persons andproperty of the conquered was based in reality upon M. De Rivarol'sanxiety lest a doubloon should be abstracted from all the wealth thatwas pouring into the treasury opened by the Baron in the name of theKing of France. Once the golden stream had ceased, he removed allrestrictions and left the city in prey to his men, who proceeded furtherto pillage it of that part of their property which the inhabitants whobecame French subjects had been assured should remain inviolate. Theplunder was enormous. In the course of four days over a hundred mulesladen with gold went out of the city and down to the boats waiting atthe beach to convey the treasure aboard the ships. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE HONOUR OF M. DE RIVAROL

During the capitulation and for some time after, Captain Blood and thegreater portion of his buccaneers had been at their post on the heightsof Nuestra Senora de la Poupa, utterly in ignorance of what was takingplace. Blood, although the man chiefly, if not solely, responsiblefor the swift reduction of the city, which was proving a veritabletreasure-house, was not even shown the consideration of being called tothe council of officers which with M. De Rivarol determined the terms ofthe capitulation. 

This was a slight that at another time Captain Blood would not haveborne for a moment. But at present, in his odd frame of mind, and itsdivorcement from piracy, he was content to smile his utter contempt ofthe French General. Not so, however, his captains, and still lesshis men. Resentment smouldered amongst them for a while, to flameout violently at the end of that week in Cartagena. It was only byundertaking to voice their grievance to the Baron that their captain wasable for the moment to pacify them. That done, he went at once in questof M. De Rivarol. 

He found him in the offices which the Baron had set up in the town, witha staff of clerks to register the treasure brought in and to cast up thesurrendered account-books, with a view to ascertaining precisely whatwere the sums yet to be delivered up. The Baron sat there scrutinizingledgers, like a city merchant, and checking figures to make sure thatall was correct to the last peso. A choice occupation this for theGeneral of the King's Armies by Sea and Land. He looked up irritated bythe interruption which Captain Blood's advent occasioned. 

"M. Le Baron, " the latter greeted him. "I must speak frankly; and youmust suffer it. My men are on the point of mutiny. "

M. De Rivarol considered him with a faint lift of the eyebrows. 

"Captain Blood, I, too, will speak frankly; and you, too, must sufferit. If there is a mutiny, you and your captains shall be held personallyresponsible. The mistake you make is in assuming with me the tone of anally, whereas I have given you clearly to understand from the first thatyou are simply in the position of having accepted service under me. Your proper apprehension of that fact will save the waste of a deal ofwords. "

Blood contained himself with difficulty. One of these fine days, hefelt, that for the sake of humanity he must slit the comb of thissupercilious, arrogant cockerel. 

"You may define our positions as you please, " said he. "But I'll remindyou that the nature of a thing is not changed by the name you give it. I am concerned with facts; chiefly with the fact that we enteredinto definite articles with you. Those articles provide for a certaindistribution of the spoil. My men demand it. They are not satisfied. "

"Of what are they not satisfied?" demanded the Baron. 

"Of your honesty, M. De Rivarol. "

A blow in the face could scarcely have taken the Frenchman more aback. He stiffened, and drew himself up, his eyes blazing, his face of adeathly pallor. The clerks at the tables laid down their pens, andawaited the explosion in a sort of terror. 

For a long moment there was silence. Then the great gentleman deliveredhimself in a voice of concentrated anger. "Do you really dare so much, you and the dirty thieves that follow you? God's Blood! You shall answerto me for that word, though it entail a yet worse dishonour to meet you. Faugh!"

"I will remind you, " said Blood, "that I am speaking not for myself, but for my men. It is they who are not satisfied, they who threaten thatunless satisfaction is afforded them, and promptly, they will take it. "

"Take it?" said Rivarol, trembling in his rage. "Let them attempt it, and.... "

"Now don't be rash. My men are within their rights, as you are aware. They demand to know when this sharing of the spoil is to take place, andwhen they are to receive the fifth for which their articles provide. "

"God give me patience! How can we share the spoil before it has beencompletely gathered?"

"My men have reason to believe that it is gathered; and, anyway, theyview with mistrust that it should all be housed aboard your ships, andremain in your possession. They say that hereafter there will be noascertaining what the spoil really amounts to. "

"But--name of Heaven!--I have kept books. They are there for all tosee. "

"They do not wish to see account-books. Few of them can read. They wantto view the treasure itself. They know--you compel me to be blunt--thatthe accounts have been falsified. Your books show the spoil of Cartagenato amount to some ten million livres. The men know--and they are veryskilled in these computations--that it exceeds the enormous total offorty millions. They insist that the treasure itself be produced andweighed in their presence, as is the custom among the Brethren of theCoast. "

"I know nothing of filibuster customs. " The gentleman was disdainful. 

"But you are learning quickly. "

"What do you mean, you rogue? I am a leader of armies, not of plunderingthieves. "

"Oh, but of course!" Blood's irony laughed in his eyes. "Yet, whateveryou may be, I warn you that unless you yield to a demand that I considerjust and therefore uphold, you may look for trouble, and it would notsurprise me if you never leave Cartagena at all, nor convey a singlegold piece home to France. "

"Ah, pardieu! Am I to understand that you are threatening me?"

"Come, come, M. Le Baron! I warn you of the trouble that a littleprudence may avert. You do not know on what a volcano you are sitting. You do not know the ways of buccaneers. If you persist, Cartagena willbe drenched in blood, and whatever the outcome the King of France willnot have been well served. "

That shifted the basis of the argument to less hostile ground. Awhileyet it continued, to be concluded at last by an ungracious undertakingfrom M. De Rivarol to submit to the demands of the buccaneers. He gaveit with an extreme ill-grace, and only because Blood made him realize atlast that to withhold it longer would be dangerous. In an engagement, he might conceivably defeat Blood's followers. But conceivably he mightnot. And even if he succeeded, the effort would be so costly to him inmen that he might not thereafter find himself in sufficient strength tomaintain his hold of what he had seized. 

The end of it all was that he gave a promise at once to make thenecessary preparations, and if Captain Blood and his officers would waitupon him on board the Victorieuse to-morrow morning, the treasureshould be produced, weighed in their presence, and their fifth sharesurrendered there and then into their own keeping. 

Among the buccaneers that night there was hilarity over the suddenabatement of M. De Rivarol's monstrous pride. But when the next dawnbroke over Cartagena, they had the explanation of it. The only shipsto be seen in the harbour were the Arabella and the Elizabeth ridingat anchor, and the Atropos and the Lachesis careened on the beach forrepair of the damage sustained in the bombardment. The French ships weregone. They had been quietly and secretly warped out of the harbour undercover of night, and three sails, faint and small, on the horizon towestward was all that remained to be seen of them. The absconding M. DeRivarol had gone off with the treasure, taking with him the troops andmariners he had brought from France. He had left behind him at Cartagenanot only the empty-handed buccaneers, whom he had swindled, but alsoM. De Cussy and the volunteers and negroes from Hispaniola, whom he hadswindled no less. 

The two parties were fused into one by their common fury, and before theexhibition of it the inhabitants of that ill-fated town were strickenwith deeper terror than they had yet known since the coming of thisexpedition. 

Captain Blood alone kept his head, setting a curb upon his deep chagrin. He had promised himself that before parting from M. De Rivarol he wouldpresent a reckoning for all the petty affronts and insults to which thatunspeakable fellow--now proved a scoundrel--had subjected him. 

"We must follow, " he declared. "Follow and punish. "

At first that was the general cry. Then came the consideration thatonly two of the buccaneer ships were seaworthy--and these couldnot accommodate the whole force, particularly being at the momentindifferently victualled for a long voyage. The crews of the Lachesisand Atropos and with them their captains, Wolverstone and Yberville, renounced the intention. After all, there would be a deal of treasurestill hidden in Cartagena. They would remain behind to extort it whilstfitting their ships for sea. Let Blood and Hagthorpe and those whosailed with them do as they pleased. 

Then only did Blood realize the rashness of his proposal, and inattempting to draw back he almost precipitated a battle between the twoparties into which that same proposal had now divided the buccaneers. And meanwhile those French sails on the horizon were growing less andless. Blood was reduced to despair. If he went off now, Heaven knew whatwould happen to the town, the temper of those whom he was leaving beingwhat it was. Yet if he remained, it would simply mean that his ownand Hagthorpe's crews would join in the saturnalia and increase thehideousness of events now inevitable. Unable to reach a decision, hisown men and Hagthorpe's took the matter off his hands, eager to givechase to Rivarol. Not only was a dastardly cheat to be punished butan enormous treasure to be won by treating as an enemy this Frenchcommander who, himself, had so villainously broken the alliance. 

When Blood, torn as he was between conflicting considerations, stillhesitated, they bore him almost by main force aboard the Arabella. 

Within an hour, the water-casks at least replenished and stowed aboard, the Arabella and the Elizabeth put to sea upon that angry chase. 

"When we were well at sea, and the Arabella's course was laid, " writesPitt, in his log, "I went to seek the Captain, knowing him to be ingreat trouble of mind over these events. I found him sitting alonein his cabin, his head in his hands, torment in the eyes that staredstraight before him, seeing nothing. "

"What now, Peter?" cried the young Somerset mariner. "Lord, man, what isthere here to fret you? Surely 't isn't the thought of Rivarol!"

"No, " said Blood thickly. And for once he was communicative. It may wellbe that he must vent the thing that oppressed him or be driven mad byit. And Pitt, after all, was his friend and loved him, and, so, a properman for confidences. "But if she knew! If she knew! O God! I had thoughtto have done with piracy; thought to have done with it for ever. Yethere have I been committed by this scoundrel to the worst piracy thatever I was guilty of. Think of Cartagena! Think of the hell those devilswill be making of it now! And I must have that on my soul!"

"Nay, Peter--'t isn't on your soul; but on Rivarol's. It is that dirtythief who has brought all this about. What could you have done toprevent it?"

"I would have stayed if it could have availed. "

"It could not, and you know it. So why repine?"

"There is more than that to it, " groaned Blood. "What now? What remains?Loyal service with the English was made impossible for me. Loyal servicewith France has led to this; and that is equally impossible hereafter. What to live clean, I believe the only thing is to go and offer my swordto the King of Spain. "

But something remained--the last thing that he could haveexpected--something towards which they were rapidly sailing overthe tropical, sunlit sea. All this against which he now inveighed sobitterly was but a necessary stage in the shaping of his odd destiny. 

Setting a course for Hispaniola, since they judged that thither mustRivarol go to refit before attempting to cross to France, the Arabellaand the Elizabeth ploughed briskly northward with a moderatelyfavourable wind for two days and nights without ever catching aglimpse of their quarry. The third dawn brought with it a haze whichcircumscribed their range of vision to something between two and threemiles, and deepened their growing vexation and their apprehension thatM. De Rivarol might escape them altogether. 

Their position then--according to Pitt's log--was approximately 75 deg. 30' W. Long. By 17 deg. 45' N. Lat. , so that they had Jamaica on theirlarboard beam some thirty miles to westward, and, indeed, away to thenorthwest, faintly visible as a bank of clouds, appeared the great ridgeof the Blue Mountains whose peaks were thrust into the clear upper airabove the low-lying haze. The wind, to which they were sailing veryclose, was westerly, and it bore to their ears a booming sound which inless experienced ears might have passed for the breaking of surf upon alee shore. 

"Guns!" said Pitt, who stood with Blood upon the quarter-deck. Bloodnodded, listening. 

"Ten miles away, perhaps fifteen--somewhere off Port Royal, I shouldjudge, " Pitt added. Then he looked at his captain. "Does it concern us?"he asked. 

"Guns off Port Royal... That should argue Colonel Bishop at work. Andagainst whom should he be in action but against friends of ours I thinkit may concern us. Anyway, we'll stand in to investigate. Bid them putthe helm over. "

Close-hauled they tacked aweather, guided by the sound of combat, whichgrew in volume and definition as they approached it. Thus for an hour, perhaps. Then, as, telescope to his eye, Blood raked the haze, expectingat any moment to behold the battling ships, the guns abruptly ceased. 

They held to their course, nevertheless, with all hands on deck, eagerly, anxiously scanning the sea ahead. And presently an objectloomed into view, which soon defined itself for a great ship on fire. Asthe Arabella with the Elizabeth following closely raced nearer on theirnorth-westerly tack, the outlines of the blazing vessel grew clearer. Presently her masts stood out sharp and black above the smoke andflames, and through his telescope Blood made out plainly the pennon ofSt. George fluttering from her maintop. 

"An English ship!" he cried. 

He scanned the seas for the conqueror in the battle of which this grimevidence was added to that of the sounds they had heard, and whenat last, as they drew closer to the doomed vessel, they made out theshadowy outlines of three tall ships, some three or four miles away, standing in toward Port Royal, the first and natural assumption wasthat these ships must belong to the Jamaica fleet, and that the burningvessel was a defeated buccaneer, and because of this they sped on topick up the three boats that were standing away from the blazing hulk. But Pitt, who through the telescope was examining the receding squadron, observed things apparent only to the eye of the trained mariner, andmade the incredible announcement that the largest of these three vesselswas Rivarol's Victorieuse. 

They took in sail and hove to as they came up with the drifting boats, laden to capacity with survivors. And there were others adrift on someof the spars and wreckage with which the sea was strewn, who must berescued. 

CHAPTER XXIX. THE SERVICE OF KING WILLIAM

One of the boats bumped alongside the Arabella, and up the entranceladder came first a slight, spruce little gentleman in a coat ofmulberry satin laced with gold, whose wizened, yellow, rather peevishface was framed in a heavy black periwig. His modish and costly apparelhad nowise suffered by the adventure through which he had passed, andhe carried himself with the easy assurance of a man of rank. Here, quiteclearly, was no buccaneer. He was closely followed by one who in everyparticular, save that of age, was his physical opposite, corpulent ina brawny, vigorous way, with a full, round, weather-beaten face whosemouth was humourous and whose eyes were blue and twinkling. He waswell dressed without fripperies, and bore with him an air of vigorousauthority. 

As the little man stepped from the ladder into the waist, whitherCaptain Blood had gone to receive him, his sharp, ferrety dark eyesswept the uncouth ranks of the assembled crew of the Arabella. 

"And where the devil may I be now?" he demanded irritably. "Are youEnglish, or what the devil are you?"

"Myself, I have the honour to be Irish, sir. My name is Blood--CaptainPeter Blood, and this is my ship the Arabella, all very much at yourservice. 

"Blood!" shrilled the little man. "O 'Sblood! A pirate!" He swung tothe Colossus who followed him--"A damned pirate, van der Kuylen. Rend myvitals, but we're come from Scylla to Charybdis. "

"So?" said the other gutturally, and again, "So?" Then the humour of ittook him, and he yielded to it. 

"Damme! What's to laugh at, you porpoise?" spluttered mulberry-coat. "Afine tale this'll make at home! Admiral van der Kuylen first loses hisfleet in the night, then has his flagship fired under him by a Frenchsquadron, and ends all by being captured by a pirate. I'm glad you findit matter for laughter. Since for my sins I happen to be with you, I'mdamned if I do. "

"There's a misapprehension, if I may make so bold as to point it out, "put in Blood quietly. "You are not captured, gentlemen; you are rescued. When you realize it, perhaps it will occur to you to acknowledge thehospitality I am offering you. It may be poor, but it is the best at mydisposal. "

The fierce little gentleman stared at him. "Damme! Do you permityourself to be ironical?" he disapproved him, and possibly with a viewto correcting any such tendency, proceeded to introduce himself. "I amLord Willoughby, King William's Governor-General of the West Indies, andthis is Admiral van der Kuylen, commander of His Majesty's West Indianfleet, at present mislaid somewhere in this damned Caribbean Sea. "

"King William?" quoth Blood, and he was conscious that Pitt and Dyke, who were behind him, now came edging nearer, sharing his own wonder. "And who may be King William, and of what may he be King?"

"What's that?" In a wonder greater than his own, Lord Willoughbystared back at him. At last: "I am alluding to His Majesty King WilliamIII--William of Orange--who, with Queen Mary, has been ruling Englandfor two months and more. "

There was a moment's silence, until Blood realized what he was beingtold. 

"D'ye mean, sir, that they've roused themselves at home, and kicked outthat scoundrel James and his gang of ruffians?"

Admiral van der Kuylen nudged his lordship, a humourous twinkle in hisblue eyes. 

"His bolitics are fery sound, I dink, " he growled. 

His lordship's smile brought lines like gashes into his leathery cheeks. "'Slife! hadn't you heard? Where the devil have you been at all?"

"Out of touch with the world for the last three months, " said Blood. 

"Stab me! You must have been. And in that three months the world hasundergone some changes. " Briefly he added an account of them. KingJames was fled to France, and living under the protection of King Louis, wherefore, and for other reasons, England had joined the league againsther, and was now at war with France. That was how it happened that theDutch Admiral's flagship had been attacked by M. De Rivarol's fleetthat morning, from which it clearly followed that in his voyage fromCartagena, the Frenchman must have spoken some ship that gave him thenews. 

After that, with renewed assurances that aboard his ship they shouldbe honourably entreated, Captain Blood led the Governor-General and theAdmiral to his cabin, what time the work of rescue went on. The newshe had received had set Blood's mind in a turmoil. If King James wasdethroned and banished, there was an end to his own outlawry for hisalleged share in an earlier attempt to drive out that tyrant. It becamepossible for him to return home and take up his life again at the pointwhere it was so unfortunately interrupted four years ago. He was dazzledby the prospect so abruptly opened out to him. The thing so filled hismind, moved him so deeply, that he must afford it expression. In doingso, he revealed of himself more than he knew or intended to the astutelittle gentleman who watched him so keenly the while. 

"Go home, if you will, " said his lordship, when Blood paused. "Youmay be sure that none will harass you on the score of your piracy, considering what it was that drove you to it. But why be in haste? Wehave heard of you, to be sure, and we know of what you are capable uponthe seas. Here is a great chance for you, since you declare yourselfsick of piracy. Should you choose to serve King William out here duringthis war, your knowledge of the West Indies should render you a veryvaluable servant to His Majesty's Government, which you would not findungrateful. You should consider it. Damme, sir, I repeat: it is a greatchance you are given. 

"That your lordship gives me, " Blood amended, "I am very grateful. Butat the moment, I confess, I can consider nothing but this great news. Italters the shape of the world. I must accustom myself to view it as itnow is, before I can determine my own place in it. "

Pitt came in to report that the work of rescue was at an end, and themen picked up--some forty-five in all--safe aboard the two buccaneerships. He asked for orders. Blood rose. 

"I am negligent of your lordship's concerns in my consideration of myown. You'll be wishing me to land you at Port Royal. "

"At Port Royal?" The little man squirmed wrathfully on his seat. Wrathfully and at length he informed Blood that they had put into PortRoyal last evening to find its Deputy-Governor absent. "He had gone onsome wild-goose chase to Tortuga after buccaneers, taking the whole ofthe fleet with him. "

Blood stared in surprise a moment; then yielded to laughter. 

"He went, I suppose, before news reached him of the change of governmentat home, and the war with France?"

"He did not, " snapped Willoughby. "He was informed of both, and also ofmy coming before he set out. "

"Oh, impossible!"

"So I should have thought. But I have the information from a MajorMallard whom I found in Port Royal, apparently governing in this fool'sabsence. "

"But is he mad, to leave his post at such a time?" Blood was amazed. 

"Taking the whole fleet with him, pray remember, and leaving the placeopen to French attack. That is the sort of Deputy-Governor that the lateGovernment thought fit to appoint: an epitome of its misrule, damme!He leaves Port Royal unguarded save by a ramshackle fort that can bereduced to rubble in an hour. Stab me! It's unbelievable!"

The lingering smile faded from Blood's face. "Is Rivarol aware of this?"he cried sharply. 

It was the Dutch Admiral who answered him. "Vould he go dere if he werenot? M. De Rivarol he take some of our men prisoners. Berhabs dey dellhim. Berhabs he make dem tell. Id is a great obbordunidy. "

His lordship snarled like a mountain-cat. "That rascal Bishop shallanswer for it with his head if there's any mischief done through thisdesertion of his post. What if it were deliberate, eh? What if he ismore knave than fool? What if this is his way of serving King James, from whom he held his office?"

Captain Blood was generous. "Hardly so much. It was just vindictivenessthat urged him. It's myself he's hunting at Tortuga, my lord. But, I'mthinking that while he's about it, I'd best be looking after Jamaica forKing William. " He laughed, with more mirth than he had used in the lasttwo months. 

"Set a course for Port Royal, Jeremy, and make all speed. We'll belevel yet with M. De Rivarol, and wipe off some other scores at the sametime. "

Both Lord Willoughby and the Admiral were on their feet. 

"But you are not equal to it, damme!" cried his lordship. "Any one ofthe Frenchman's three ships is a match for both yours, my man. "

"In guns--aye, " said Blood, and he smiled. "But there's more than gunsthat matter in these affairs. If your lordship would like to seean action fought at sea as an action should be fought, this is youropportunity. "

Both stared at him. "But the odds!" his lordship insisted. 

"Id is imbossible, " said van der Kuylen, shaking his great head. "Seamanship is imbordand. Bud guns is guns. "

"If I can't defeat him, I can sink my own ships in the channel, andblock him in until Bishop gets back from his wild-goose chase with hissquadron, or until your own fleet turns up. "

"And what good will that be, pray?" demanded Willoughby. 

"I'll be after telling you. Rivarol is a fool to take this chance, considering what he's got aboard. He carried in his hold the treasureplundered from Cartagena, amounting to forty million livres. " Theyjumped at the mention of that colossal sum. "He has gone into Port Royalwith it. Whether he defeats me or not, he doesn't come out of Port Royalwith it again, and sooner or later that treasure shall find its way intoKing William's coffers, after, say, one fifth share shall have been paidto my buccaneers. Is that agreed, Lord Willoughby?"

His lordship stood up, and shaking back the cloud of lace from hiswrist, held out a delicate white hand. 

"Captain Blood, I discover greatness in you, " said he. 

"Sure it's your lordship has the fine sight to perceive it, " laughed theCaptain. 

"Yes, yes! Bud how vill you do id?" growled van der Kuylen. 

"Come on deck, and it's a demonstration I'll be giving you before theday's much older. "

CHAPTER XXX. THE LAST FIGHT OF THE ARABELLA

"VHY do you vait, my friend?" growled van der Kuylen. 

"Aye--in God's name!" snapped Willoughby. 

It was the afternoon of that same day, and the two buccaneer shipsrocked gently with idly flapping sails under the lee of the long spitof land forming the great natural harbour of Port Royal, and less than amile from the straits leading into it, which the fort commanded. It wastwo hours and more since they had brought up thereabouts, having creptthither unobserved by the city and by M. De Rivarol's ships, and all thetime the air had been aquiver with the roar of guns from sea and land, announcing that battle was joined between the French and the defendersof Port Royal. That long, inactive waiting was straining the nerves ofboth Lord Willoughby and van der Kuylen. 

"You said you vould show us zome vine dings. Vhere are dese vine dings?"

Blood faced them, smiling confidently. He was arrayed for battle, inback-and-breast of black steel. "I'll not be trying your patience muchlonger. Indeed, I notice already a slackening in the fire. But it's thisway, now: there's nothing at all to be gained by precipitancy, and adeal to be gained by delaying, as I shall show you, I hope. "

Lord Willoughby eyed him suspiciously. "Ye think that in the meantimeBishop may come back or Admiral van der Kuylen's fleet appear?"

"Sure, now, I'm thinking nothing of the kind. What I'm thinking is thatin this engagement with the fort M. De Rivarol, who's a lubberly fellow, as I've reason to know, will be taking some damage that may make theodds a trifle more even. Sure, it'll be time enough to go forward whenthe fort has shot its bolt. "

"Aye, aye!" The sharp approval came like a cough from the littleGovernor-General. "I perceive your object, and I believe ye're entirelyright. Ye have the qualities of a great commander, Captain Blood. I begyour pardon for having misunderstood you. "

"And that's very handsome of your lordship. Ye see, I have someexperience of this kind of action, and whilst I'll take any risk thatI must, I'll take none that I needn't. But.... " He broke off tolisten. "Aye, I was right. The fire's slackening. It'll mean the end ofMallard's resistance in the fort. Ho there, Jeremy!"

He leaned on the carved rail and issued orders crisply. The bo'sun'spipe shrilled out, and in a moment the ship that had seemed to slumberthere, awoke to life. Came the padding of feet along the decks, thecreaking of blocks and the hoisting of sail. The helm was put overhard, and in a moment they were moving, the Elizabeth following, ever inobedience to the signals from the Arabella, whilst Ogle the gunner, whom he had summoned, was receiving Blood's final instructions beforeplunging down to his station on the main deck. 

Within a quarter of an hour they had rounded the head, and stood in tothe harbour mouth, within saker shot of Rivarol's three ships, to whichthey now abruptly disclosed themselves. 

Where the fort had stood they now beheld a smoking rubbish heap, and thevictorious Frenchman with the lily standard trailing from his mastheadswas sweeping forward to snatch the rich prize whose defences he hadshattered. 

Blood scanned the French ships, and chuckled. The Victorieuse and theMedusa appeared to have taken no more than a few scars; but the thirdship, the Baleine, listing heavily to larboard so as to keep the greatgash in her starboard well above water, was out of account. 

"You see!" he cried to van der Kuylen, and without waiting for theDutchman's approving grunt, he shouted an order: "Helm, hard-a-port!"

The sight of that great red ship with her gilt beak-head and openports swinging broadside on must have given check to Rivarol's soaringexultation. Yet before he could move to give an order, before he couldwell resolve what order to give, a volcano of fire and metal burstupon him from the buccaneers, and his decks were swept by the murderousscythe of the broadside. The Arabella held to her course, giving placeto the Elizabeth, which, following closely, executed the same manoeuver. And then whilst still the Frenchmen were confused, panic-stricken byan attack that took them so utterly by surprise, the Arabella had goneabout, and was returning in her tracks, presenting now her larboardguns, and loosing her second broadside in the wake of the first. Came yet another broadside from the Elizabeth and then the Arabella'strumpeter sent a call across the water, which Hagthorpe perfectlyunderstood. 

"On, now, Jeremy!" cried Blood. "Straight into them before they recovertheir wits. Stand by, there! Prepare to board! Hayton ... The grapnels!And pass the word to the gunner in the prow to fire as fast as he canload. "

He discarded his feathered hat, and covered himself with a steelhead-piece, which a negro lad brought him. He meant to lead thisboarding-party in person. Briskly he explained himself to histwo guests. "Boarding is our only chance here. We are too heavilyoutgunned. "

Of this the fullest demonstration followed quickly. The Frenchmenhaving recovered their wits at last, both ships swung broadside on, andconcentrating upon the Arabella as the nearer and heavier and thereforemore immediately dangerous of their two opponents, volleyed upon herjointly at almost the same moment. 

Unlike the buccaneers, who had fired high to cripple their enemies abovedecks, the French fifed low to smash the hull of their assailant. TheArabella rocked and staggered under that terrific hammering, althoughPitt kept her headed towards the French so that she should offer thenarrowest target. For a moment she seemed to hesitate, then she plungedforward again, her beak-head in splinters, her forecastle smashed, and agaping hole forward, that was only just above the water-line. Indeed, to make her safe from bilging, Blood ordered a prompt jettisoning of theforward guns, anchors, and water-casks and whatever else was moveable. 

Meanwhile, the Frenchmen going about, gave the like reception to theElizabeth. The Arabella, indifferently served by the wind, pressedforward to come to grips. But before she could accomplish her object, the Victorieuse had loaded her starboard guns again, and pounded heradvancing enemy with a second broadside at close quarters. Amid thethunder of cannon, the rending of timbers, and the screams of maimedmen, the half-necked Arabella plunged and reeled into the cloud of smokethat concealed her prey, and then from Hayton went up the cry that shewas going down by the head. 

Blood's heart stood still. And then in that very moment of his despair, the blue and gold flank of the Victorieuse loomed through the smoke. But even as he caught that enheartening glimpse he perceived, too, howsluggish now was their advance, and how with every second it grew moresluggish. They must sink before they reached her. 

Thus, with an oath, opined the Dutch Admiral, and from Lord Willoughbythere was a word of blame for Blood's seamanship in having risked allupon this gambler's throw of boarding. 

"There was no other chance!" cried Blood, in broken-hearted frenzy. "Ifye say it was desperate and foolhardy, why, so it was; but the occasionand the means demanded nothing less. I fail within an ace of victory. "

But they had not yet completely failed. Hayton himself, and a score ofsturdy rogues whom his whistle had summoned, were crouching for shelteramid the wreckage of the forecastle with grapnels ready. Within seven oreight yards of the Victorieuse, when their way seemed spent, and theirforward deck already awash under the eyes of the jeering, cheeringFrenchmen, those men leapt up and forward, and hurled their grapnelsacross the chasm. Of the four they flung, two reached the Frenchman'sdecks, and fastened there. Swift as thought itself, was then the actionof those sturdy, experienced buccaneers. Unhesitatingly all threwthemselves upon the chain of one of those grapnels, neglecting theother, and heaved upon it with all their might to warp the shipstogether. Blood, watching from his own quarter-deck, sent out his voicein a clarion call:

"Musketeers to the prow!"

The musketeers, at their station at the waist, obeyed him with the speedof men who know that in obedience is the only hope of life. Fifty ofthem dashed forward instantly, and from the ruins of the forecastle theyblazed over the heads of Hayton's men, mowing down the French soldierswho, unable to dislodge the irons, firmly held where they had deeplybitten into the timbers of the Victorieuse, were themselves preparing tofire upon the grapnel crew. 

Starboard to starboard the two ships swung against each other with ajarring thud. By then Blood was down in the waist, judging and actingwith the hurricane speed the occasion demanded. Sail had been loweredby slashing away the ropes that held the yards. The advance guard ofboarders, a hundred strong, was ordered to the poop, and his grapnel-menwere posted, and prompt to obey his command at the very moment ofimpact. As a result, the foundering Arabella was literally kept afloatby the half-dozen grapnels that in an instant moored her firmly to theVictorieuse. 

Willoughby and van der Kuylen on the poop had watched in breathlessamazement the speed and precision with which Blood and his desperatecrew had gone to work. And now he came racing up, his bugler soundingthe charge, the main host of the buccaneers following him, whilst thevanguard, led by the gunner Ogle, who had been driven from his guns bywater in the gun-deck, leapt shouting to the prow of the Victorieuse, towhose level the high poop of the water-logged Arabella had sunk. Led nowby Blood himself, they launched themselves upon the French like houndsupon the stag they have brought to bay. After them went others, untilall had gone, and none but Willoughby and the Dutchman were left towatch the fight from the quarter-deck of the abandoned Arabella. 

For fully half-an-hour that battle raged aboard the Frenchman. Beginningin the prow, it surged through the forecastle to the waist, where itreached a climax of fury. The French resisted stubbornly, and they hadthe advantage of numbers to encourage them. But for all their stubbornvalour, they ended by being pressed back and back across the decks thatwere dangerously canted to starboard by the pull of the water-loggedArabella. The buccaneers fought with the desperate fury of men who knowthat retreat is impossible, for there was no ship to which they couldretreat, and here they must prevail and make the Victorieuse their own, or perish. 

And their own they made her in the end, and at a cost of nearly halftheir numbers. Driven to the quarter-deck, the surviving defenders, urged on by the infuriated Rivarol, maintained awhile their desperateresistance. But in the end, Rivarol went down with a bullet in his head, and the French remnant, numbering scarcely a score of whole men, calledfor quarter. 

Even then the labours of Blood's men were not at an end. The Elizabethand the Medusa were tight-locked, and Hagthorpe's followers were beingdriven back aboard their own ship for the second time. Prompt measureswere demanded. Whilst Pitt and his seamen bore their part with thesails, and Ogle went below with a gun-crew, Blood ordered the grapnelsto be loosed at once. Lord Willoughby and the Admiral were alreadyaboard the Victorieuse. As they swung off to the rescue of Hagthorpe, Blood, from the quarter-deck of the conquered vessel, looked his lastupon the ship that had served him so well, the ship that had become tohim almost as a part of himself. A moment she rocked after her release, then slowly and gradually settled down, the water gurgling and eddyingabout her topmasts, all that remained visible to mark the spot where shehad met her death. 

As he stood there, above the ghastly shambles in the waist of theVictorieuse, some one spoke behind him. "I think, Captain Blood, that itis necessary I should beg your pardon for the second time. Never beforehave I seen the impossible made possible by resource and valour, orvictory so gallantly snatched from defeat. "

He turned, and presented to Lord Willoughby a formidable front. Hishead-piece was gone, his breastplate dinted, his right sleeve a raghanging from his shoulder about a naked arm. He was splashed from headto foot with blood, and there was blood from a scalp-wound that he hadtaken matting his hair and mixing with the grime of powder on his faceto render him unrecognizable. 

But from that horrible mask two vivid eyes looked out preternaturallybright, and from those eyes two tears had ploughed each a furrow throughthe filth of his cheeks. 

CHAPTER XXXI. HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR

When the cost of that victory came to be counted, it was found that ofthree hundred and twenty buccaneers who had left Cartagena with CaptainBlood, a bare hundred remained sound and whole. The Elizabeth hadsuffered so seriously that it was doubtful if she could ever again berendered seaworthy, and Hagthorpe, who had so gallantly commanded herin that last action, was dead. Against this, on the other side of theaccount, stood the facts that, with a far inferior force and by sheerskill and desperate valour, Blood's buccaneers had saved Jamaica frombombardment and pillage, and they had captured the fleet of M. DeRivarol, and seized for the benefit of King William the splendidtreasure which she carried. 

It was not until the evening of the following day that van der Kuylen'struant fleet of nine ships came to anchor in the harbour of Port Royal, and its officers, Dutch and English, were made acquainted with theirAdmiral's true opinion of their worth. 

Six ships of that fleet were instantly refitted for sea. There wereother West Indian settlements demanding the visit of inspection of thenew Governor-General, and Lord Willoughby was in haste to sail for theAntilles. 

"And meanwhile, " he complained to his Admiral, "I am detained here bythe absence of this fool of a Deputy-Governor. "

"So?" said van der Kuylen. "But vhy should dad dedam you?"

"That I may break the dog as he deserves, and appoint his successorin some man gifted with a sense of where his duty lies, and with theability to perform it. "

"Aha! But id is not necessary you remain for dat. And he vill require noinsdrucshons, dis one. He vill know how to make Port Royal safe, beddernor you or me. "

"You mean Blood?"

"Of gourse. Could any man be bedder? You haf seen vhad he can do. "

"You think so, too, eh? Egad! I had thought of it; and, rip me, why not?He's a better man than Morgan, and Morgan was made Governor. "

Blood was sent for. He came, spruce and debonair once more, havingexploited the resources of Port Royal so to render himself. He was atrifle dazzled by the honour proposed to him, when Lord Willoughby madeit known. It was so far beyond anything that he had dreamed, and he wasassailed by doubts of his capacity to undertake so onerous a charge. 

"Damme!" snapped Willoughby, "Should I offer it unless I were satisfiedof your capacity? If that's your only objection.... "

"It is not, my lord. I had counted upon going home, so I had. I amhungry for the green lanes of England. " He sighed. "There will beapple-blossoms in the orchards of Somerset. "

"Apple-blossoms!" His lordship's voice shot up like a rocket, andcracked on the word. "What the devil... ? Apple-blossoms!" He looked atvan der Kuylen. 

The Admiral raised his brows and pursed his heavy lips. His eyestwinkled humourously in his great face. 

"So!" he said. "Fery boedical!"

My lord wheeled fiercely upon Captain Blood. "You've a past score towipe out, my man!" he admonished him. "You've done something towards it, I confess; and you've shown your quality in doing it. That's why I offeryou the governorship of Jamaica in His Majesty's name--because I accountyou the fittest man for the office that I have seen. "

Blood bowed low. "Your lordship is very good. But.... "

"Tchah! There's no 'but' to it. If you want your past forgotten, andyour future assured, this is your chance. And you are not to treat itlightly on account of apple-blossoms or any other damned sentimentalnonsense. Your duty lies here, at least for as long as the war lasts. When the war's over, you may get back to Somerset and cider or yournative Ireland and its potheen; but until then you'll make the best ofJamaica and rum. "

Van der Kuylen exploded into laughter. But from Blood the pleasantryelicited no smile. He remained solemn to the point of glumness. Histhoughts were on Miss Bishop, who was somewhere here in this very housein which they stood, but whom he had not seen since his arrival. Had shebut shown him some compassion.... 

And then the rasping voice of Willoughby cut in again, upbraiding himfor his hesitation, pointing out to him his incredible stupidity intrifling with such a golden opportunity as this. He stiffened and bowed. 

"My lord, you are in the right. I am a fool. But don't be accountingme an ingrate as well. If I have hesitated, it is because there areconsiderations with which I will not trouble your lordship. "

"Apple-blossoms, I suppose?" sniffed his lordship. 

This time Blood laughed, but there was still a lingering wistfulness inhis eyes. 

"It shall be as you wish--and very gratefully, let me assure yourlordship. I shall know how to earn His Majesty's approbation. You maydepend upon my loyal service. 

"If I didn't, I shouldn't offer you this governorship. "

Thus it was settled. Blood's commission was made out and sealed inthe presence of Mallard, the Commandant, and the other officers ofthe garrison, who looked on in round-eyed astonishment, but kept theirthoughts to themselves. 

"Now ve can aboud our business go, " said van der Kuylen. 

"We sail to-morrow morning, " his lordship announced. 

Blood was startled. 

"And Colonel Bishop?" he asked. 

"He becomes your affair. You are now the Governor. You will deal withhim as you think proper on his return. Hang him from his own yardarm. Hedeserves it. "

"Isn't the task a trifle invidious?" wondered Blood. 

"Very well. I'll leave a letter for him. I hope he'll like it. "

Captain Blood took up his duties at once. There was much to be done toplace Port Royal in a proper state of defence, after what had happenedthere. He made an inspection of the ruined fort, and issued instructionsfor the work upon it, which was to be started immediately. Next heordered the careening of the three French vessels that they mightbe rendered seaworthy once more. Finally, with the sanction of LordWilloughby, he marshalled his buccaneers and surrendered to them onefifth of the captured treasure, leaving it to their choice thereaftereither to depart or to enrol themselves in the service of King William. 

A score of them elected to remain, and amongst these were Jeremy Pitt, Ogle, and Dyke, whose outlawry, like Blood's, had come to an end withthe downfall of King James. They were--saving old Wolverstone, whohad been left behind at Cartagena--the only survivors of that band ofrebels-convict who had left Barbados over three years ago in the CincoLlagas. 

On the following morning, whilst van der Kuylen's fleet was makingfinally ready for sea, Blood sat in the spacious whitewashed room thatwas the Governor's office, when Major Mallard brought him word thatBishop's homing squadron was in sight. 

"That is very well, " said Blood. "I am glad he comes before LordWilloughby's departure. The orders, Major, are that you place him underarrest the moment he steps ashore. Then bring him here to me. A moment. "He wrote a hurried note. "That to Lord Willoughby aboard Admiral van derKuylen's flagship. "

Major Mallard saluted and departed. Peter Blood sat back in his chairand stared at the ceiling, frowning. Time moved on. Came a tap at thedoor, and an elderly negro slave presented himself. Would his excellencyreceive Miss Bishop?

His excellency changed colour. He sat quite still, staring at the negroa moment, conscious that his pulses were drumming in a manner whollyunusual to them. Then quietly he assented. 

He rose when she entered, and if he was not as pale as she was, it wasbecause his tan dissembled it. For a moment there was silence betweenthem, as they stood looking each at the other. Then she moved forward, and began at last to speak, haltingly, in an unsteady voice, amazing inone usually so calm and deliberate. 

"I... I... Major Mallard has just told me.... "

"Major Mallard exceeded his duty, " said Blood, and because of the efforthe made to steady his voice it sounded harsh and unduly loud. 

He saw her start, and stop, and instantly made amends. "You alarmyourself without reason, Miss Bishop. Whatever may lie between me andyour uncle, you may be sure that I shall not follow the example he hasset me. I shall not abuse my position to prosecute a private vengeance. On the contrary, I shall abuse it to protect him. Lord Willoughby'srecommendation to me is that I shall treat him without mercy. My ownintention is to send him back to his plantation in Barbados. "

She came slowly forward now. "I... I am glad that you will do that. Glad, above all, for your own sake. " She held out her hand to him. 

He considered it critically. Then he bowed over it. "I'll not presume totake it in the hand of a thief and a pirate, " said he bitterly. 

"You are no longer that, " she said, and strove to smile. 

"Yet I owe no thanks to you that I am not, " he answered. "I thinkthere's no more to be said, unless it be to add the assurance that LordJulian Wade has also nothing to apprehend from me. That, no doubt, willbe the assurance that your peace of mind requires?"

"For your own sake--yes. But for your own sake only. I would not haveyou do anything mean or dishonouring. "

"Thief and pirate though I be?"

She clenched her hand, and made a little gesture of despair andimpatience. 

"Will you never forgive me those words?"

"I'm finding it a trifle hard, I confess. But what does it matter, whenall is said?"

Her clear hazel eyes considered him a moment wistfully. Then she put outher hand again. 

"I am going, Captain Blood. Since you are so generous to my uncle, I shall be returning to Barbados with him. We are not like to meetagain--ever. Is it impossible that we should part friends? Once Iwronged you, I know. And I have said that I am sorry. Won't you... Won'tyou say 'good-bye'?"

He seemed to rouse himself, to shake off a mantle of deliberateharshness. He took the hand she proffered. Retaining it, he spoke, hiseyes sombrely, wistfully considering her. 

"You are returning to Barbados?" he said slowly. "Will Lord Julian begoing with you?"

"Why do you ask me that?" she confronted him quite fearlessly. 

"Sure, now, didn't he give you my message, or did he bungle it?"

"No. He didn't bungle it. He gave it me in your own words. It touched mevery deeply. It made me see clearly my error and my injustice. I oweit to you that I should say this by way of amend. I judged too harshlywhere it was a presumption to judge at all. "

He was still holding her hand. "And Lord Julian, then?" he asked, hiseyes watching her, bright as sapphires in that copper-coloured face. 

"Lord Julian will no doubt be going home to England. There is nothingmore for him to do out here. "

"But didn't he ask you to go with him?"

"He did. I forgive you the impertinence. "

A wild hope leapt to life within him. 

"And you? Glory be, ye'll not be telling me ye refused to become mylady, when.... "

"Oh! You are insufferable!" She tore her hand free and backed away fromhim. "I should not have come. Good-bye!" She was speeding to the door. 

He sprang after her, and caught her. Her face flamed, and her eyesstabbed him like daggers. "These are pirate's ways, I think! Releaseme!"

"Arabella!" he cried on a note of pleading. "Are ye meaning it? Must Irelease ye? Must I let ye go and never set eyes on ye again? Or will yestay and make this exile endurable until we can go home together? Och, ye're crying now! What have I said to make ye cry, my dear?"

"I... I thought you'd never say it, " she mocked him through her tears. 

"Well, now, ye see there was Lord Julian, a fine figure of a.... "

"There was never, never anybody but you, Peter. "

They had, of course, a deal to say thereafter, so much, indeed, thatthey sat down to say it, whilst time sped on, and Governor Blood forgotthe duties of his office. He had reached home at last. His odyssey wasended. 

And meanwhile Colonel Bishop's fleet had come to anchor, and the Colonelhad landed on the mole, a disgruntled man to be disgruntled further yet. He was accompanied ashore by Lord Julian Wade. 

A corporal's guard was drawn up to receive him, and in advance ofthis stood Major Mallard and two others who were unknown to theDeputy-Governor: one slight and elegant, the other big and brawny. 

Major Mallard advanced. "Colonel Bishop, I have orders to arrest you. Your sword, sir!"

"By order of the Governor of Jamaica, " said the elegant little manbehind Major Mallard. Bishop swung to him. 

"The Governor? Ye're mad!" He looked from one to the other. "I am theGovernor. "

"You were, " said the little man dryly. "But we've changed that in yourabsence. You're broke for abandoning your post without due cause, andthereby imperiling the settlement over which you had charge. It's aserious matter, Colonel Bishop, as you may find. Considering that youheld your office from the Government of King James, it is even possiblethat a charge of treason might lie against you. It rests with yoursuccessor entirely whether ye're hanged or not. "

Bishop rapped out an oath, and then, shaken by a sudden fear: "Who thedevil may you be?" he asked. 

"I am Lord Willoughby, Governor General of His Majesty's colonies in theWest Indies. You were informed, I think, of my coming. "

The remains of Bishop's anger fell from him like a cloak. He broke intoa sweat of fear. Behind him Lord Julian looked on, his handsome facesuddenly white and drawn. 

"But, my lord... " began the Colonel. 

"Sir, I am not concerned to hear your reasons, " his lordship interruptedhim harshly. "I am on the point of sailing and I have not the time. TheGovernor will hear you, and no doubt deal justly by you. " He waved toMajor Mallard, and Bishop, a crumpled, broken man, allowed himself to beled away. 

To Lord Julian, who went with him, since none deterred him, Bishopexpressed himself when presently he had sufficiently recovered. 

"This is one more item to the account of that scoundrel Blood, " hesaid, through his teeth. "My God, what a reckoning there will be when wemeet!"

Major Mallard turned away his face that he might conceal his smile, andwithout further words led him a prisoner to the Governor's house, thehouse that so long had been Colonel Bishop's own residence. He was leftto wait under guard in the hall, whilst Major Mallard went ahead toannounce him. 

Miss Bishop was still with Peter Blood when Major Mallard entered. Hisannouncement startled them back to realities. 

"You will be merciful with him. You will spare him all you can for mysake, Peter, " she pleaded. 

"To be sure I will, " said Blood. "But I'm afraid the circumstanceswon't. "

She effaced herself, escaping into the garden, and Major Mallard fetchedthe Colonel. 

"His excellency the Governor will see you now, " said he, and threw widethe door. 

Colonel Bishop staggered in, and stood waiting. 

At the table sat a man of whom nothing was visible but the top of acarefully curled black head. Then this head was raised, and a pair ofblue eyes solemnly regarded the prisoner. Colonel Bishop made a noisein his throat, and, paralyzed by amazement, stared into the face of hisexcellency the Deputy-Governor of Jamaica, which was the face of the manhe had been hunting in Tortuga to his present undoing. 

The situation was best expressed to Lord Willoughby by van der Kuylen asthe pair stepped aboard the Admiral's flagship. 

"Id is fery boedigal!" he said, his blue eyes twinkling. "Cabdain Bloodis fond of boedry--you remember de abble-blossoms. So? Ha, ha!"