loomy and musty. We wandered
over every well-known place, shewed our dear house, now such a ruin, and
expatiated upon all its beauties and conveniences, until the captain
declared it must have been the most perfect house in the world, while
Smart vowed he would settle a score of pirates for daring to burn it
down.

And now we found out what the pirates had been so busy about during the
last fortnight, namely, building a perfect village of huts at the old
house by the plantation. The captain shook his head as he mournfully
said, "the whole colony are coming to settle here," while Smart coolly
declared, "he was mighty glad thereat, as he would not die happy unless
he could settle 'em all, big and little." And forthwith persuaded
everybody but Madame and Hargrave to take to ball practice as he called
it, that the army might be ready in case of any emergency. We thought it
no harm to practice with our neighbours' goods, though we meant to turn
them against themselves. But Smart knew where their magazine was, and in
a most unprincipled manner we abstracted whatever we could that would
not be immediately discovered.

Smart, who always had had a secret admiration for Schillie's _sang
froid_ and man-like propensities, treated her as his favourite pupil;
and after she had hit the mark seventeen times running, held her up to
us as worthy of imitation.

_Smart._--"I used to always be a-telling our cap'in they'll do well if
they mind Mrs. E, she has the soul of a man and the wits of a king; and
it's my belief even if they hadna gotten us back, she'd a outwitted them
ere----rascallion divildims."

Nothing delighted the boys so much as to put Smart into a rage, talking
about the pirates. The dooms they were all to meet with, if once he got
them into his power, would have done for Foxe's book of Martyrs. But
much as we enjoyed this time we were not idle; we were making constant
preparations for the great struggle that must, we knew, inevitably take
place between us and the pirates. And, calculating that they would
arrive with their colony a short time before the wet weather, to get
settled in their houses before it commenced, we should have that time to
mature our plans, besides settling what had best be done.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

The sight of two sail in the horizon one evening prepared us for seeing
them in harbour the next day. But conceive our indignation when the
captain told us that the other dirty, dingy, ill-looking