ce in these
waters, and of your atrocious act of piracy, throughout the length and
breadth of the Spanish Main, with the result that you will be hunted by
every Spanish ship of war in the Caribbean Sea, with consequences to
yourself and your piratical crew which I leave to your own imagination
to picture. Come, senor, I beg you to think better of this, and to
return the pearls to me. You will find it pay you far better in the
long run."

"Senor," retorted George, "if I understand you aright, you would buy
back your pearls at the expense of your own countrymen in the various
settlements scattered along the coast, by leaving them unwarned of my
presence in these seas, so that I may have the opportunity to fall upon
them unawares. If you are sincere in making this proposal, senor
cavalier, you are a traitor to your own countrymen; if not, you have it
in your mind to betray me and my crew. In either case your proposal
smacks of treachery, and I will have none of it. Now, mark you this,
senor. You are at perfect liberty to take whatever steps you please to
warn your countrymen of my presence in the region which Spain arrogantly
claims as exclusively her own. And you will be doing your compatriots a
service by acquainting them with the reason for my presence here.

"Last year Captain Hawkins, my countryman, had occasion to put into San
Juan de Ulua in distress. He entered into a solemn covenant and
agreement with Don Martin Enriquez, the new Viceroy of Mexico, whereby
the English were to be permitted to refit their ships in peace, without
let or hindrance from the Spaniards. Yet, despite this covenant, the
Spaniards most shamefully and treacherously attacked the English at the
very moment when they were least capable of defending themselves, with
the result that many of my countrymen were slain--_murdered_, senor, is
the right word--and many ethers taken prisoners, my brother, Mr Hubert
Saint Leger, among them. Now, my business here is to rescue that
gentleman, and to exact reparation for his imprisonment and such
hardships and suffering as he may have been called upon to endure in
consequence of the treachery of the Spaniards. My first act, in
pursuance of this policy, is the seizure of your pearls. If by any
chance you happen to know anything of my brother's whereabouts, you will
be rendering your countrymen a signal service by imparting such
information to me. For I intend to carry fire and sword throughout t