"Too mosh me no speakee Anglish!" he promptly replied, shrugging his
shoulders until they touched the great gold rings that adorned the lobes
of his ears, and spreading out his hands, palms upward, toward me.

"What _do_ you speak, then?" I demanded, still in English, for somehow
I did not for a moment believe the rascal's statement.

"Me Espanol," he answered, with another shrug and flourish of his hands.

"Good, then!" remarked I, in Spanish; "I will endeavour to converse with
you in your own tongue. What is your name?"

"I am called Jose Garcia, senor," he answered.

"And you were born--?" I continued interrogatively.

"In the city of Havana, thirty-two years ago, senor," was the reply.

"Then if you are a Spaniard--and consequently an enemy of Great
Britain--what were you doing in Kingston?" I demanded.

"Ah no, senor," he exclaimed protestingly; "I am no enemy of Great
Britain, although born a Spaniard. I have lived in Jamaica for the last
fifteen years, earning my living as a fisherman."

"Fifteen years!" I repeated. "Strange that you should have lived so
long among English-speaking people without acquiring some knowledge of
their language; and still more strange that you should have spoken
English last night in the grog shop in the presence and hearing of my
steward! How do you account for so very singular a circumstance as
that?"

The fellow was so completely taken aback that for a few seconds he could
find no reply. Then, seemingly convinced that further deception was
useless, he suddenly gave in, exclaiming, in excellent English--

"Ah, sir, forgive me; I have been lying to you!"

"With what purpose?" I demanded. "Instinct, perhaps," he answered,
with a short, uneasy laugh. "The moment I was brought on deck I
recognised that I was aboard a British ship-of-war, and I smelt danger."

"Ah," I remarked, "you afford another illustration of the adage that `a
guilty conscience needs no accuser.' What have you been doing that you
should `smell' danger upon finding yourself aboard a British man-o'-
war?"

"I have been doing nothing; but I feared that you intended to impress
me," answered the fellow.

"So I am," returned I, "but not for long, if you behave yourself. And
when you have rendered the service which I require of you, you shall be
richly rewarded, according as you serve me faithfully or otherwise."

"And--and--what is this service, sir?" demanded he, with some slight
uneasine