ss to come, but you have not?"

"_Aha! c'est comme ca_--it is like zat, my friend? You may come here,
and I must not?"

"Of course," said Vince. "This land belongs to his father, and you have
no right to put smuggled things here."

"Aha! you sink it ees like zat, eh, _mon ami_? Ve sall see. You vill
put yourselves down to sit."

"No, thank you," said Vince. "We must go now."

"To fetch ze peoples to come and fight and be killed?"

"No," said Vince; "we will not say a word about where we have been."

"But we must, Vince," said Mike. "They will ask us; and what are we to
say?"

"To be certain, my friend--of course," said the captain, showing his
teeth. "You see it is so. Zey vill ask vere you go all night, and you
vill say to see le Capitaine Lebrun and his cargo of silk and lace and
glove and scent bottaile and ze spice; and vat zen?"

Vince had no answer ready.

"You do not speak, my friend. Zen I vill. I cannot spare you to go and
speak like zat. Nobodies must know that I have my leetle place to hide
here. No, I cannot spare you. You will not go back _chez vous_--to
your place vere you live. You understand?"

Vince looked at the man very hard, and he nodded, and went on:

"I am glad to see you bose. I make myself very glad of vat you call you
compagnie. But I do not ask you to come; and so I say you go back
nevaire more."

"You don't mean that!" said Vince, with a laugh that was very
artificial.

"Aha! I do not mean? You vill see I mean. I sall see you vill sit
down."

"No," said Vince firmly. "I am not frightened, and I insist upon going
now."

"It is so? How you go?"

"Out by the passage yonder."

"Faith of a good man, no. I say to myselfs, `People have come down
zere, and it muss not be,' so ze place is stop up vis big stone--so big
you nevaire move zem. But zere's ze ozaire vay."

"Well, we will go the other way," said Vince firmly. "Ready, Mike?"

"Yes, I'm ready," said Mike, pressing to his side.

"You know ze ozaire vay, my young friend?" said the captain.

"No: how do you go?"

"You take a boat, and a good pilot. You have ze good boat and pilot?"

"No," said Vince, who had hard work to be calm, with a great fear coming
over him like a cloud; "but you will set us ashore, please."

The captain laughed in a peculiar way, and he was about to speak, when
one of his men came up and said something.

"Aha!" he cried, "but it is good. You go, my young friends,