other tidbits, when
an Englishman came along, picked up the bone, and carried it away.

Now even in the chronicles of Mother Goose we are told of the intimate
connection between Welshmen, thievery, and marrow-bones; for

"Taffy was a Welshman,
Taffy was a thief,
Taffy came to my house
And stole a leg of beef.

"I went to Taffy's house,
Taffy wasn't home,
Taffy went to my house,
And stole a marrow-bone."

What happened to Taffy we do not know, but Morgan was a Welshman, Morgan
was a thief, and one of his men had stolen a marrow-bone; therefore came
trouble. The Frenchman challenged the Englishman; but the latter, being
a mean scoundrel, took advantage of his opponent, unfairly stabbed him
in the back and killed him.

Now all the Frenchmen in the company rose in furious protest, and
Morgan, wishing to pacify them, had the English assassin put in chains,
and promised that he would take him to Jamaica and deliver him to
justice. But the Frenchmen declined to be satisfied; they had received
but very little money after they had pillaged a rich town, and they
believed that their English companions were inclined to take advantage
of them in every way, and consequently the greater part of them banded
together and deliberately deserted Morgan, who was obliged to go back to
Jamaica with not more than half his regular forces, doubtless wishing
that the cattle on the island of Cuba had been able to get along without
marrow-bones.

Chapter XVII

How Morgan was helped by Some Religious People

When the Welsh buccaneer started out on another expedition his company
consisted entirely of Englishmen, and was not nearly so large as it had
been; when he announced to his followers that he intended to attack the
fortified town of Porto Bello, on the mainland, there was a general
murmuring among the men, for Porto Bello was one of the strongest towns
possessed by the Spaniards, and the buccaneers did not believe that
their comparatively small force would be able to take it. But Morgan
made them a speech in which he endeavored to encourage them to follow
him in this difficult undertaking. One of his arguments was, that
although their numbers were small, their hearts were large; but he
produced the greatest effect upon them when he said that as they were
but a few, each man's share of the booty would be much larger than if it
must be divided among a great number. This touched the soul