e hurried away and left me standing on the main-deck. My men,
meanwhile, had, in obedience to my instructions, made their way below to
the lower deck, and I could hear them now and then--during a momentary
cessation in the din on deck and around me caused by the Spaniards'
preparations for action--rummaging about below and calling to each
other.

About ten minutes later Don Luis rejoined me, with a drawn sword in his
hand and a pair of pistols in the sash which girded his waist, showing
that he, at all events, fully intended to do his part in the protection
of the ship and those within her.

"Where are your men?" he asked.

"Gone below, whither I must now join them," said I. "I can see that
your countrymen are already regarding my prolonged presence here with
jealous and mistrustful eyes."

"Come, then," said Don Luis, "I will go with you."

We descended to the lower deck, and I saw, by the dim light of a lantern
suspended from the beams, that most of my lads had provided themselves
with at least _something_ in the shape of a weapon. Some had armed
themselves with tail-blocks, which they had routed out from somewhere;
some carried marlinespikes; and others were balancing crowbars and
pieces of old iron in their hands; whilst one or two had dragged to
light some short lengths of chain, which, wielded by their sinewy arms,
might prove formidable weapons of offence.

Don Luis looked at them, then at me, and smiled.

"You English are a most extraordinary people," he said. "I believe you
are never more happy than when fighting. Those men of yours look more
like a parcel of schoolboys preparing for a holiday than men making
ready for a desperate life-and-death struggle. But I must be brief;
there is no time for anything like gossip now; the pirate schooner is
within two miles of us, and Don Felix expects her to open fire
immediately. I have tried to persuade him that he was hasty and ill-
advised to refuse your offer of assistance; but the fellow is as
obstinate as a pig; he will _not_ listen to reason, albeit I believe he
is growing more nervous every minute. Now, first, I want to ask you
what had I better do with my daughter?"

"Stow her away as low down in the run of the ship as you can put her,"
said I. "She will then be out of reach of the shot. It will also be
some little time before she can be discovered by the pirates--assuming,
of course, that they take the ship--and in the meantime there will be