g about these
creatures, my dear Abeuchapeta; and, by-the-way, can't we arbitrate that
name of yours? It would be fearful to remember in the excitement of a
fight."

"Call him Ab," suggested Sir Henry Morgan, with an ill-concealed sneer,
for he was deeply jealous of Abeuchapeta's preferral.

"If you do I'll call you Morgue, and change your appearance to fit,"
retorted Abeuchapeta, angrily.

"By the beards of all my sainted Buccaneers," began Morgan, springing
angrily to his feet, "I'll have your life!"

"Gentlemen! Gentlemen--my noble ruffians!" expostulated Kidd. "Come, come;
this will never do! I must have no quarrelling among my aides. This is no
time for divisions in our councils. An entirely unexpected element has
entered into our affairs, and it behooveth us to act in concert. It is no
light matter--"

"Excuse me, captain," said Abeuchapeta, "but that is where you and I do
not agree. We've got our ship and we've got our crew, and in addition we
find that the Fates have thrown in a hundred or more women to act as
ballast. Now I, for one, do not fear a woman. We can set them to work.
There is plenty for them to do keeping things tidy; and if we get into a
very hard fight, and come out of the melee somewhat the worse for wear, it
will be a blessing to have 'em along to mend our togas, sew buttons on our
uniforms, and darn our hosiery."

Morgan laughed sarcastically. "When did you flourish, if ever, colonel?"
he asked.

"Do you refer to me?" queried Abeuchapeta, with a frown.

"You have guessed correctly," replied Morgan, icily. "I have quite
forgotten your date; were you a success in the year one, or when?"

"Admiral Abeuchapeta, Sir Henry," interposed Kidd, fearing a further
outbreak of hostilities--"Admiral Abeuchapeta was the terror of the seas
in the seventh century, and what he undertook to do he did, and his
piratical enterprises were carried on on a scale of magnificence which is
without parallel off the comic-opera stage. He never went forth without at
least seventy galleys and a hundred other vessels."

Abeuchapeta drew himself up proudly.

"Six-ninety-eight was my great year," he said.

"That's what I thought," said Morgan. "That is to say, you got your ideas
of women twelve hundred years ago, and the ladies have changed somewhat
since that time. I have great respect for you, sir, as a ruffian. I have
no doubt that as a ruffian you are a complete success, but when it comes
to 'feminology' you