d shaking him almost savagely in my agitation; "rouse
yourself, man, and listen to me! I want to ask you a question or two.
You have been aboard the Spanish ship, and were an eye-witness, I
suppose, of some at least of the deeds of Renouf and his crew. I want
to hear the particulars, as briefly as possible, and I also want to know
what is your feeling in the matter."

He removed his hands from his face and looked up at me, and even in the
dim uncertain light of the 'tween-decks I could read the horror, sorrow,
and indignation in his eyes.

"Bowen, my friend," he replied in low, cautious tones, "do not ask me
for I cannot tell you; I could not find words to describe the scenes of
which I have been a helpless, horrified eye-witness this day.
Everything may be summed up in a few words: Renouf and his crew are
pirates of the most ruthless character; men who absolutely revel in
wickedness of the vilest description, who take positive delight in
inflicting the most horrible indignities upon those who unfortunately
happen to fall into their power, who gloat over the unavailing tears and
entreaties of their victims, and who scoff at the mere mention of the
word `mercy'. Picture to yourself the very worst that you have ever
heard or read of piratical atrocities, and you will be able to arrive at
a very accurate conception of the horrors of which that unfortunate ship
was the theatre to-day. And I, my friend, I was compelled to look on,
powerless to mitigate a single horror; nay, worse, my remonstrances were
jeered at, and if I ventured to intercede in behalf of a victim, some
additional insult or barbarity was at once inflicted upon the unhappy
creature. And these are the fiends into whose power we have fallen. It
would have been a thousand times better had we perished in the gig!"

"Is that your view of the matter?" I exclaimed contemptuously. "Then I
can only say, Monsieur Dumaresq, that I have been mistaken in you. Man,
man!" I continued angrily; "what are you thinking about? Are you going
to crouch here, dumb, abject, and inactive, like a whipped hound,
instead of bestirring yourself and helping me to put an end to the
career of these fiends and bring them to justice, to say nothing of the
possibility of saving those unhappy wretches on board the Spanish ship,
unless I am to understand from you that they have all been murdered in
cold blood."

"No, no, it was not quite so bad as all that," he answered, looking a