ulty,' said Olivarez.

"`I do not know that, Sir,' I replied, `for I think Mr Musgrave may get
over it.'

"`Indeed,' he returned, `well, then, so much the worse for him.'

"As he, Olivarez, said this, the whole of the crew, to do them justice,
cried out, that there should be no murder, for if there was, they not
only would have nothing to do with the affair, but would make it known
at the first port to which they came. That you had always been a kind,
good officer, and were too brave a man to die in that way."

"`Well, my men,' said Olivarez, `I never had an idea of the kind, and I
promise you, if he lives through it, there shall be no murder; I will
put him on shore at the first port we arrive at, but in such a way as to
secure our safety--that we must look to.'

"The men said that that was all right, and then they all agreed to join
him."

"`And you, Ingram,' said Olivarez, `what do you say?'

"`What I said before,' I replied; `that as long as Mr Musgrave lives I
will come to no agreement whatever.'

"`Well,' said Olivarez, `it is but postponing your decision; I know that
you will join us. So now, my lads, as we're all agreed, we may as well
go to dinner.'"

"The scoundrel shall pay for this," cried I.

"Hush, Sir, hush, I pray; say nothing, but wait patiently and see what
turns up. We are not yet at Rio, and when we are, we may be able to do
something, but everything depends upon keeping quiet, for if the men
become alarmed, they may be persuaded to kill you to save themselves."

"That is very true, Ingram," replied I. "Leave me now for half an hour,
I wish to be alone."

You may imagine, my dear Madam, my agitation at hearing this
intelligence. I, who had thought that I was within a few days' sail of
Liverpool, to be there received by my cherished Amy, to find myself in
the hands of pirates, and close to the Brazils with a cargo of slaves;
which they, or rather Olivarez, had taken in the vessel to Rio that he
might not be discovered; for he might have found a better mart for his
live cargo. And then what would be the anxiety of Amy and her father
when I was not heard of? It would be supposed that the schooner was
upset in a squall, and all hands had perished. Excited and angry as I
was, I felt the truth of what Ingram said, and that it was necessary to
be quiet. Perhaps I might by that means not only preserve my life, but
again find myself in my own country. When Ingram returned, I asked him