y of Spaniards for many
a long year. It is in pursuance of my policy of exacting reparation for
my brother's detention that I have captured your ship. I shall take
from her whatever I may find aboard her that will be of use to me; and,
that done, I shall land you all here on the island of Margarita, and
either sink or burn the _Santa Maria_."

"I presume, senor, from what you say, that you hold a commission from
the Queen of England, and that it is she who has dispatched you upon
your mission of retribution, in revenge for the attack upon her ships at
San Juan de Ulua. Is that so?" demanded Don Pasquale.

"No, senor, it is not so," answered George. "The Queen of England knows
nothing of this expedition, which is entirely a private venture of my
own."

"And the senor holds no commission?" continued the Don.

"No commission save what is conferred by this," answered George,
touching his sword.

"Then it would appear that I have fallen into the hands of a common
pirate, senor," remarked Don Pasquale through his teeth.

"If you choose to so regard me," answered George.

"_Bueno_!" remarked the Spaniard. "Then I shall know what to do. There
is no question of how I choose to regard you, senor. You hold no
commission from your Queen, yet you have dared to make war upon the
lieges of his Most Catholic Majesty. Therefore you are a pirate,
neither more nor less. And as soon as it pleases you to release me I
shall make the best of my way to the Main, there to warn my countrymen
of your presence upon the coast, and your alleged object. And you may
rest assured, senor, that within a month from this time every Spanish
ship in these seas will be on the look-out for you. Your career of
piracy will then soon be cut short; and I shall live in the hope of
seeing you hanged as a warning and example to all other pirates."

"That is as may be," retorted George. "You may be assured, Don
Pasquale, that I did not enter upon this expedition without a full
realisation of all the risks which it involved. Let me again impress
upon you the urgency of remembering the words _alive and unhurt_ in
relation to my brother, when you make your report; for if anything has
been allowed to happen to him, I will hold responsible every Spaniard
who falls into my hands. By the way, was there not something that you
were about to add when you were enumerating the items of your ship's
cargo?"

"There was, senor," answered Don Pasquale, "but I