not one a timid man would care to hear in a dark night; nor did it come
from his heart, as any one might have discovered from the ferocious
gleam of inward passion which shot out in the cold sparkle of his eyes
and flitted away over his grating teeth.

Controlling his feelings, however, and stepping out on the veranda, he
drew aside the curtains and sung out to the men in the huts, "One of you
fellows, tell the boatswain I want him."

The men started up, and a moment after a man in a blue jacket stood out
from one of the sheds and threw up his hand to his straw hat.

[Illustration: THE "PANCHITA"]

"Get together the people! Let run the cable at the Alligator's mouth,
and have three or four warps ready for the schooner when she passes the
point! The 'Panchita' is coming too, so look out, and have enough lines
to tow both vessels in case the breeze fails. Tell Mr. Gibbs to moor
close under the other shore in the old berth, and to come to me when
he's anchored! D'ye hear?"

All this was said in a sharp tone of command, and by the alacrity with
which the orders were executed the men seemed to be accustomed to a
master who knew how to rule them.

CHAPTER IX.

CAPTAIN AND MATE.

"So I hauled him off to the gallows' foot,
And blinded him in his bags;
'Twas a weary job to heave him up,
For a doomed man always lags;
But by ten of the clock he was off his legs
In the wind, and airing his rags!"

A couple of hours had passed since the occupant of the stone building
had last spoken to his subordinates down at the inlet, but the
interval he devoted to a minute inspection of weapons in the armory
adjoining his bedroom. They were all in excellent order, of the best
make, and very neatly arranged in stands and cases around the room.
When he emerged again, after locking the door, he held an exquisite
pair of small pistols inlaid with gold in his hand, which he gently
polished with his cambric handkerchief, and then slipped them into
his trowsers pockets. Then he held short dialogues with the voice at
the signal-station, and, without looking out of the window, he
informed himself of what was doing outside, and what progress the
vessels made toward their haven. When, however, the schooner poked her
slim, low black bows, with her sails down, around the point, he gave one
stealthy peep, or glare rather, at her. He took all in at that glance,
from the patches of sheet-lead nailed over the sh