prinkling of dark
skinned natives. All the white women had been taken prisoners at some
time or other from vessels which had fallen into the pirates' hands,
and though most of them must have been miserable enough at heart, poor
creatures, they all made a show of being glad to see the men back again.
It was but a week, I learned, since the pirates had sailed, and it was
considered a great stroke of luck that they should so soon have effected
a capture.

"No one attended to me, but I worked hard all day with the others rowing
backward and forward between the shore and the ship. When it became dusk
they knocked off work, and the men went off to their huts, for it seemed
that each of them had a wife, brown skinned or white. Seeing that nobody
paid any attention to me, I went off to the little captain, who was
making his way up to a hut of a better class than the others.

"'What is to become of me, captain?' I asked. 'Ah! I had not thought of
you,' he said; 'well, you can go up with me and get some supper, and
you can have a blanket and sleep on my veranda for tonight; we will see
where you can be lodged in the morning.' I followed him into his house,
and was astonished as I entered at the luxury of the apartment, which
far exceeded anything I had ever seen before. The plank walls were
concealed by hangings of light green silk, a rich carpet covered the
floor, the furniture was most handsome and massive, and had no doubt
been intended for the palace of the Spanish governor of some of the
islands. A pair of candelabra of solid silver stood on the table, and
the white candles in them, which had just been lighted, threw a soft
glow of light over the room and lighted up the table, on which was a
service, also of solid silver, with vases and, lovely flowers. A young
woman rose from a couch as he entered: 'I have been expecting you for
the last half hour, Eugene. You have worked longer than usual this
evening; if the fish are spoiled you must not blame Zoe.'

"The speaker was a tall and very handsome woman, and I now understood
how it was that my captor spoke such excellent English. There was a deep
expression of melancholy on her face, but she smiled when speaking to
the pirate, and her tone was one of affection.

"'I have brought home a countryman of yours, Ellen. I forgot to allot
him quarters until it was too late, so please give him over to the care
of Zoe and ask her to give him some supper and a blanket; he will sleep
i