idn't like in either of
them, and I made sure that they were about no good. After I had spoken
my mind to the colonel, he didn't seem quite as friendly as at first,
though his daughter was just the same. The young gentlemen made
themselves happy, as they were sure to do, with plenty of grub, and no
watch to keep. The skipper, however, told me that as I couldn't be kept
for nothing, I must go forward and do duty. Of course I said, `Yes,
sir; it's what I'm always ready for.' I managed to make friends with
the ship's company, though they were a rough lot of blacks, browns, and
whites, and while I remained aboard I worked as hard as any of them.

"We had fine weather, with light winds, and in about a fortnight we
sighted this here coast. All the time we hadn't fallen in with any
vessel bound for Jamaica, or indeed any English craft. Instead of
steering for Carthagena, or one of the larger places, we put into a
small harbour, called Sapote, some miles away from the chief town. I
forgot to say that the day after we were taken off the wreck we had
fallen in with a sloop, the _Billy_, which kept company with us, and now
anchored astern of the brig. The skipper of the _Billy_ came aboard,
and from the way he and the colonel and Captain Crowhurst talked, I
guessed that there was something in the wind. As soon as it was dark, a
boat from the shore came off, bringing an officer-like looking Spaniard,
who shook hands with the colonel as if they were old friends. The
colonel introduced the skipper to the stranger, and after another long
talk we were ordered to get up a number of cases from the hold, and to
lower them into the boat alongside. Two of our boats, with one from the
sloop, were then got ready, with their crews all armed. The colonel and
the stranger went in one of them, and the two skippers in the other,
leaving the mate in charge. Just as they were ready to shove off, the
colonel and his daughter came on deck, followed by the three
midshipmen."

"`Oh, father, may Heaven protect you, but I cannot help trembling for
the danger you run,' I heard the young lady say.

"`No danger at all,' he answered, in a cheery tone; `and I am sure that
my three young friends here will take very good care of you.'

"`That we will, that we will;' they all cried out together, and thinks I
to myself, `and so will I as long as I've an arm to strike with, or a
head to think what to do.'

"Away the boats pulled into the darkness