fault about it, and that was
that he didn't speak the truth. He spoke of our seizure of the ship as
a crime. Well, maybe it is, according to the law, but we all know by
this time that the laws are made in favour of the rich and against the
poor; and we know, too, that law is not justice. For my own part, when
I perform an act of justice I don't feel very particular about whether
what I am doing is legal or illegal, if it is _just_ it is quite
sufficient to satisfy my conscience. The law, shipmates, is nothing--is
no safe guide for a man's conscience, for we know that many a wrong,
cruel, and unjust act is still perfectly legal--more shame to those that
have the making and the powers of the laws in their hands. If you and I
had been dealt with _justly_ instead of merely legally, the money that
bought this ship and cargo would have gone into our pockets as wages for
the toil and hardship, the suffering and danger that we have been daily
exposed to, instead of going as profit into the pockets of the
merchants. Therefore I maintain that in seizing this ship and her cargo
we have acted with strict justice, inasmuch as that we have merely taken
possession of what ought in justice to have been ours at the outset--we
have repaid ourselves a portion of the wages that we have been defrauded
of during the many years that we have followed the sea. Why, mates, is
it fair, or reasonable, or just, to ask a man to risk his life every
day, as we do, for _three pounds a month_? Why, if our wages were
_three pounds a day_ it would not be too much. Reckon that up, you Bill
Rogers, for all the years you've been following the sea, and how much
will it amount to? Why, a precious sight more than your share of this
ship and her cargo. But, lads, we've agreed to have our dues, and we'll
have them, too, every penny of them; and if our only way of getting them
is by turning pirates, why let the blame rest with those who have driven
us to it. Justice is our right, and we will have it, let who will
suffer for it, and upon that point we are all agreed. Aren't we,
shipmates?"

"Ay, ay, of course we are--certainly, give us justice--give us our just
rights, we want no more," murmured the men in response to Williams'
appeal.

"There is only one thing I should like to know," remarked one man
timidly, "and that is, how we are going to manage without murder if
we're going into the pirating business?"

"Ha! is that you, Tom?" remarked William