cording to
promise, cheerfully took upon himself the duties of messman for the
party to which he belonged, and presenting himself with the others, he
obtained without difficulty the wherewithal to set before our friends a
very respectable meal.

While they were at dinner, Lance tore a leaf out of his pocket-book and
jotted down the various articles, such as bedding, crockery, and
utensils of various kinds which they required, and on the completion of
the list he hurried away with it to Johnson, who at once wrote at its
foot an order to the storekeeper for the issue of the articles named.
These were soon conveyed to the hut, and by sunset they had the place in
very tolerable order.

Now that they were on shore, however, they felt that the time had
arrived when a little more privacy could be enjoyed by the ladies of the
party; so a few boards were obtained and with them a partition knocked
up, dividing the upper room into two equal parts, the half which was
approached through the trap-door being devoted to the ladies, while the
men obtained access to their sleeping apartment by means of a ladder and
the open window, the ladder being drawn up into the room at night.

At six o'clock the bell rang again, upon which all hands knocked off
work for the day, and after half an hour devoted to cleaning up,
etcetera, tea, or supper as most of the men termed it, was served.

On this particular evening, however, there was a slight deviation from
the usual order of procedure; the messmen being detained at the galley
until all were present (instead of being served and despatched in the
order of their arrival), when Johnson made his appearance on the scene
and announced that the kegs of dollars landed that day from the brig
would be distributed in the capstan-house that evening at eight o'clock,
and that any of the prisoners not yet belonging to the "brotherhood" who
chose to present themselves there at that hour, and would sign the "bond
of brotherhood," would be entitled to an equal share of the spoil. Bob
duly mentioned this item of information on his arrival with the viands;
and it was at once decided that, as all the pirates would thus be
engaged for some time, advantage should be taken of so favourable an
opportunity to give the ladies a little fresh air and exercise.

They waited until all the pirates appeared to have betaken themselves to
the capstan-house, and then sallied out in a body upon an exploring
expedition up the