a French colony, appointing M. de Cussy its Governor.
Thereafter he proceeded to the Cathedral, where very properly a Te Deum
was sung in honour of the conquest. This by way of grace, whereafter M.
de Rivarol proceeded to devour the city. The only detail in which the
French conquest of Cartagena differed from an ordinary buccaneering raid
was that under the severest penalties no soldier was to enter the
house of any inhabitant. But this apparent respect for the persons and
property of the conquered was based in reality upon M. de Rivarol's
anxiety lest a doubloon should be abstracted from all the wealth that
was pouring into the treasury opened by the Baron in the name of the
King of France. Once the golden stream had ceased, he removed all
restrictions and left the city in prey to his men, who proceeded further
to pillage it of that part of their property which the inhabitants who
became French subjects had been assured should remain inviolate. The
plunder was enormous. In the course of four days over a hundred mules
laden with gold went out of the city and down to the boats waiting at
the beach to convey the treasure aboard the ships.

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE HONOUR OF M. DE RIVAROL

During the capitulation and for some time after, Captain Blood and the
greater portion of his buccaneers had been at their post on the heights
of Nuestra Senora de la Poupa, utterly in ignorance of what was taking
place. Blood, although the man chiefly, if not solely, responsible
for the swift reduction of the city, which was proving a veritable
treasure-house, was not even shown the consideration of being called to
the council of officers which with M. de Rivarol determined the terms of
the capitulation.

This was a slight that at another time Captain Blood would not have
borne for a moment. But at present, in his odd frame of mind, and its
divorcement from piracy, he was content to smile his utter contempt of
the French General. Not so, however, his captains, and still less
his men. Resentment smouldered amongst them for a while, to flame
out violently at the end of that week in Cartagena. It was only by
undertaking to voice their grievance to the Baron that their captain was
able for the moment to pacify them. That done, he went at once in quest
of M. de Rivarol.

He found him in the offices which the Baron had set up in the town, with
a staff of clerks to register the treasure brought in and to cast up the
surrendered account-bo