astro."

Even then he seemed not to hear; but at last he looked into my face
balefully, as if he wished to convey the plague to me.

"Hold your tongue," he said very quickly in Spanish. "This is folly!"
His little hawk's beak of a nose nestled in his moustache. He waved his
arm and declared forcibly, "I don't know you. I am Nicola el Demonio,
the Mexican."

Poor old Cowper groaned. The reputation of Nicola el Demonio, if rumours
were to be trusted, was a horrible thing for a man with women depending
on him.

Five or six of these bandits were standing about Lumsden, the major,
and myself, fingering the locks of their guns. Poor old Cowper, breaking
away from his guard, was raging up and down the poop; and the big pirate
kept him off the companion truculently. The major wanted to get below;
the little girl was screaming in the cuddy, and we could hear her very
plainly. It was rather horrible. Castro had gone forward into the crowd
of scoundrels round the hatchway. It was only then that I realized that
Major Cowper was in a state of delirious apprehension and fury; I seemed
to remember at last that for a long time he had been groaning somewhere
near me. He kept on saying:

"Oh, for God's sake--for God's sake--my poor wife."

I understood that he must have been asking me to do something.

It came as a shock to me. I had a vague sensation of his fears. Up till
then I hadn't realized that any one could be much interested in Mrs.
Cowper.

He caught hold of my arm, as if he wanted support, and stuttered:

"Couldn't you--couldn't you speak to------" He nodded in the direction
of Tomas Castro, who was bent and shouting down the hatch. "Try
to-------" the old man gasped. "Didn't you hear the child scream?" His
face was pallid and wrinkled, like a piece of crumpled paper; his mouth
was drawn on one side, and his lips quivered one against the other.

I went to Castro and caught him by the arm. He spun round and smiled
discreetly.

"We shall be using force upon you directly. Pray resist, Senor; but not
too much. What? His wife? Tell that stupid Inglez with whispers that she
is safe." He whispered with an air of profound intelligence, "We shall
be ready to go as soon as these foul swine have finished their stealing.
I cannot stop them," he added.

I could not pause to think what he might mean. The child's shrieks
resounding louder and louder, I ran below. There were a couple of men
in the cabin with the women. Mrs. Cowp