f-war; and they, as well as Mesty, highly approved of a holiday.

It was, however, necessary that they should soon proceed to business,
for they had but their allowance of bread and grog for one day, and in
the vessel they found nothing except a few heads of garlic, for the
Spaniards coasting down shore had purchased their provisions as they
required them. There were only three prisoners on board, and they had
been put down in the hold among the beans; a bag of which had been
roused on deck, and a part put into the kettle to make soup. Jack did
not much admire the fare of the first day--it was bean-soup for
breakfast, bean-soup for dinner, and if you felt hungry during the
intervals it was still bean-soup, and nothing else.

One of the men could speak a little Lingua Franca, and the prisoners
were interrogated as to the vessels to windward. The ship was stated to
be valuable, and also one of the brigs. The ship carried guns, and that
was all that they knew about them. As the sun went down the vessels
dropped their anchors off the battery. The breeze continued light, and
the vessel which contained Jack and his fortunes was about four miles to
leeward. As for the _Harpy_, they had long lost sight of her, and it
was now time to proceed to some arrangement. As soon as it was dark
Jack turned his hands up and made a very long speech. He pointed out to
the men that his zeal had induced him not to return to the ship until he
had brought something with him worth having--that they had had nothing
but beans to eat during the whole day, which was anything but agreeable,
and that, therefore, it was absolutely necessary that they should better
their condition; and there was a large ship not four miles off, and that
he intended to take her; and as soon as he had taken her he intended to
take some more; that he trusted to their zeal to support him on this
occasion, and that he expected to do a great deal during the cruise. He
pointed out to them that they must consider themselves as on board of a
man-of-war, and be guided by the articles of war, which were written for
them all--and that in case they forgot them, he had a copy in his
pocket, which he would read to them to morrow morning, as soon as they
were comfortably settled on board of the ship. He then appointed Mesty
as first lieutenant; the marine as sergeant; the coxswain as boatswain;
two men as midshipmen to keep watch: two others as boatswain's mates,
leaving two