and a French Indiaman. I will not repeat it; it
was mere butchery, with features of diabolic cruelty; but what affected
me more violently than the horrors of the narrative was his cool and
easy recital of his own and the deeds of his companions. You saw that he
had no more conscience in him than the death's head he puffed at, and
that his idea was there was no true greatness to be met with out of
enormity. Well, thought I, as I stepped to the corner for some coal, if
I was afraid of this creature when he was dead, to what condition of
mind shall I be reduced by his being alive?

CHAPTER XVII.

THE TREASURE.

When his pipe was out he rose and made several strides about the
cook-room, then took the lanthorn, and entering the cabin stood awhile
surveying the place.

"So this would have been my coffin but for you, Mr. Rodney?" said he. "I
was in good company, though," pointing over his shoulder at the crucifix
with his thumb. "Lord, how the rogues prayed and cursed in this same
cabin! In fine weather, and when all was well, the sharks in our wake
had more religion than they; but the instant they were in danger, down
they tumbled upon their quivering knees, and if heaven was twice as big
as it is, it could not have held saints enough for those varlets to
petition."

"You were nearly all Spaniards?"

"Ay; the worst class of men a ship could enter these seas with. But for
our calling they are the fittest of all the nations in the world; better
even than the Portuguese, and with truer trade instincts than the
trained mulatto--nimbler artists in roguery than ever a one of them. I
despise their superstition, but they are the better pirates for it. They
carry it as a man might a feather bed; it enables them to fall soft.
D'ye take me?" He gave one of his short loud laughs, and said, "I hope
this slope won't increase. The angle's stiff enough as it is. 'Twill be
like living on the roof of a house. I have a mind to see how she lies.
What d'ye say, Mr. Rodney? shall I venture into the open?"

"Why not?" said I. "You can move briskly. You have as much life as ever
you had."

"Let's go, then," he exclaimed, and climbing the ladder he pushed open
the companion-door and stepped on to the deck. I followed with but
little solicitude, as you may suppose, as to what might attend his
exposure. The blast of the gale though it was broken into downwards
eddying dartings by the rocks, made him bawl out with the sting of it,
an