ny as half a dozen with them; and, at a hint from me,
Anstey and his shipmates zealously assisted in getting these precious
bottles safely up over the ship's side for their owners, who at once
took them below and stowed them away in their hammocks. Among the
earliest of the main body of arrivals, so to speak, came Dumaresq; he
was perfectly sober, and I was gratified to observe that his countenance
wore a quite unmistakable expression of fiery indignation, in which I
thought I could also trace indications of horror and disgust. He caught
my eye for an instant, as he sprang in over the rail; threw up his hands
expressively, laid his finger on his lips, and vanished below.

Only the schooner's gig and the Spanish ship's pinnace now remained to
join, and I had found time to observe that the latter was being loaded
with a number of very small but apparently heavy packages, the nature of
which I shrewdly suspected, for I had seen something very like them
before. At length the operation of loading the pinnace appeared to be
complete. There was a pause of about a quarter of an hour, and then the
gig started for the schooner, with the pinnace in tow. As soon as I saw
these two boats coming I directed my four shipmates to go below and turn
into their hammocks, as at least half the Frenchmen had done, and to
remain there, if possible, until I should call them, at the same time
warning them not to touch a drop of liquor, as they valued their lives.
In a few minutes the two boats were alongside, and I saw that my
suspicion as to the nature of the small packages was correct. There
were just forty of them, weighing about one hundred pounds each; each
package was carefully sewn up in raw hide, and I knew that these small
but exceedingly heavy packages were so many gold ingots! So the _Jean
Bart_ had made a very handsome haul, apart from the probably valuable
bales that had come up out of the Spaniard's hold. As Renouf and his
brother came up over the side I observed that their faces were flushed,
as with excitement, or wine, or both, and their voices were thick and
husky, but neither of them was what might be called intoxicated. As
they turned to go aft to the cabin the brothers glanced at the Spanish
ship, and the elder gave utterance to a brutal jest that made my hands
tingle to take him by the throat and heave him overboard. But I seldom
permit my passion to conquer prudence, and I allowed him to go,
promising myself that