o 'e say? Will that
arrangement suit 'e?"

"It will suit me admirably, Mr Radlett, and I agree to your proposal
with a thousand thanks and the greatest pleasure," said George.
"Indeed," he added, "it was precisely such an agreement as I desired to
enter into with Mr Marshall, or some other merchant, but none of them
would listen to me. And very lucky it is for me that they would not,
for with none of them should I have got such a ship as the _Nonsuch_.
What is her tonnage?"

"Just three tons bigger than the _Bonaventure_, accordin' to her
measurements," answered Radlett, "but she'll have twice so much
accommodation for a crew as Marshall's ship have got; because the
_Bonaventure_ be built for cargo carryin' while the _Nonsuch_ be built
more for fightin' and sailin'. _Now_ do 'e see?" And the old fellow
accompanied his explanation with a dig in the ribs that was intended to
convey to George several things that it was best not to discuss too
openly.

Of course George fully understood his companion's meaning, understood--
that is to say--that the _Nonsuch_ had been specially designed and built
with a view to her employment as a freebooter, free-trader--as it was
then euphemistically termed--or a pirate! But let not the reader be too
greatly shocked at this frank admission. For in the days of George
Saint Leger piracy was regarded as a perfectly legitimate and honourable
trade--always provided that the acts of piracy were perpetrated only
against the enemies of one's country. A pirate, indeed, in those days,
was synonymous with the individual who was termed a privateersman at the
time of the Napoleonic wars. George Saint Leger, although a perfectly
honest and even God-fearing young man, received old Radlett's hint, with
all that it implied, without turning a hair, for it implied nothing
worse than he had contemplated from the moment when he first heard of
his brother's capture. It was generally agreed, at that time, that it
was not only quite lawful but actually meritorious to make war upon and
spoil the enemy of one's country, and Spain was England's enemy just
then, secretly at all events. Many people maintained that she was God's
enemy as well, therefore it was deemed doubly meritorious to make war
upon her; so George Saint Leger had not the ghost of a scruple with
regard to his projected raid upon the ports of the Spanish Main.

So the bargain was struck there and then, even to the drafting in
duplicate a