he continued, "very sorry; but I _must_ think of
myself before all else, and three thousand is not nearly tempting
enough. Possibly when you have had a little longer to think it over you
will be able to see your way to make a very considerable advance upon
that sum. There is plenty of time; the _Josefa_ is a grand little ship,
but she has one fault, she is slow, and I do not expect that we shall
reach Cariacou in less than a full week. You have therefore six or
seven days before you in which to consider the matter; and should you
see your way to raise the ten thousand, at any time before we sight the
island, I shall be happy to talk with you again. Meanwhile, there is
your bunk. Will you turn in at once, or would you prefer to take a turn
on deck first?"

"Thanks," answered I, with alacrity, delighted to discover that I was
not to be confined to the cabin. "I think I will go on deck for half an
hour or so, to get a breath of fresh air; it is rather close down here."

"As you will," returned Dominguez, amicably enough; "I have no fear of
your attempting to escape. You are scarcely likely, I think, to go
overboard and offer yourself as a meal to the sharks. Do you smoke? I
can recommend these," as he drew from a locker a box of cigars.

I helped myself to one mechanically, and lit it, Dominguez following my
example, and then politely offering me precedence up the companion
ladder. I accepted the courtesy, and made my way somewhat stiffly up
the steep steps; for my limbs were still cramped from the compression of
the ligatures wherewith I had been bound. After what I had passed
through it was an inexpressible relief to me to find myself once more
breathing the free, pure air of heaven, with the star-spangled sky
arching grandly overhead.

It was a brilliantly fine night,--or morning rather, for it was by this
time past two o'clock a.m.,--the sky cloudless save for a small shred of
thin, wool-like vapour skimming rapidly athwart the stars; the trade
wind was blowing a moderate breeze, and the felucca was bruising along
on an easy bowline with long, swinging plunges and soarings over the
low, jet-black, glistening surges at a pace of some five and a half
knots perhaps, with a perfect thunder of roaring, breaking seas under
her bluff bows, and a belt of winking, sparkling sea-fire, a couple of
fathoms wide, sweeping past her lee rail and swirling into the broad,
short wake that she trailed behind her. The land