eason
that in that city there were a great many nuns, monks, and priests, and
if they could capture them, they might ask as ransom for them, a sum a
great deal larger than they could expect to get from the pillage of an
ordinary town. But Havana was considered to be too strong a place for a
profitable venture, and after several suggestions had been made, at last
a deserter from the Spanish army, who had joined them, came forward with
a good idea. He told the pirates of a town in Cuba, to which he knew the
way; it was named Port-au-Prince, and was situated so far inland that it
had never been sacked. When the pirates heard that there existed an
entirely fresh and unpillaged town, they were filled with as much
excited delight as if they had been a party of school-boys who had just
been told where they might find a tree full of ripe apples which had
been overlooked by the men who had been gathering the crop.

When Morgan's fleet arrived at the nearest harbor to Port-au-Prince, he
landed his men and marched toward the town, but he did not succeed in
making a secret attack, as he had hoped. One of his prisoners, a
Spaniard, let himself drop overboard as soon as the vessels cast anchor,
and swimming ashore, hurried to Port-au-Prince and informed the Governor
of the attack which was about to be made on the town. Thus prepared,
this able commander knew just what to do. He marched a body of soldiers
along the road by which the pirates must come, and when he found a
suitable spot he caused great trees to be cut down and laid across the
road, thus making a formidable barricade. Behind this his soldiers were
posted with their muskets and their cannon, and when the pirates should
arrive they would find that they would have to do some extraordinary
fighting before they could pass this well-defended barrier.

When Morgan came within sight of this barricade, he understood that the
Spaniards had discovered his approach, and so he called a halt. He had
always been opposed to unnecessary work, and he considered that it would
be entirely unnecessary to attempt to disturb this admirable defence, so
he left the road, marched his men into the woods, led them entirely
around the barricades, and then, after proceeding a considerable
distance, emerged upon a wide plain which lay before the town. Here he
found that he would have to fight his way into the city, and, probably
much to his surprise, his men were presently charged by a body of
cavalr