g this offer had urged a
request to that effect, calculating on the captain's generosity to put
in and leave the lot at Bermuda, should they make a fair passage up to
the parallel of that island, but in the event of their being delayed by
foul winds or the voyage appearing as if it must be a long one, the
Haytians must be contented to cross the ocean.

"The bargain was struck at once, this proviso being accepted with
alacrity as it just suited their purpose, and never saw I men work as
those Haytians worked in the way of tumbling up at all hours and pulling
and hauling, shaking out reefs and setting fresh sail, the next day or
two when the weather was contrary, and we had to tack about a good deal
to windward in getting out into the open Atlantic.

"Heavens! How they exerted themselves; so much so that I quite shared
Captain Alphonse's admiration for them, but, unlike him, I watched them,
and I noticed that they and the coloured men of our crew who had been
picked up at La Guayra seemed on a more friendly footing than was
altogether warranted by the short time they had been on board. Captain
Alphonse and the other passengers, however, would not see this.

"But, sir, I had an old negro servant on board with me, who had followed
my fortunes from the States to Venezuela after the war, Louisiana then
being no longer a fit place for a white man to live in. Poor old Cato;
he was the most faithful soul the Almighty ever put breath into!

"Him I acquainted with my suspicions, and sent amongst the blacks, to
gather what information he could of their designs, for I was confident,
sirs, they had not boarded us for nothing, and were hatching some deep
plot with a view, very probably, of getting possession of our ship in
order the better to further the interests of the revolutionary party, to
which they belonged, that was opposed to Salomon, the president in
power.

"Whatever their object might be, however, I distrusted them in every
way, believing them, indeed, actuated by other motives than such as
might be prompted by their political aspirations, my suspicions being
confirmed by the looks and bearing of the gang, who seemed capable of
any atrocity, judging them by their villainous faces and generally hang-
dog appearance, besides which they were continually whispering together
amongst themselves, and consorting and confabbing with the mulattoes and
other coloured men belonging to the crew.

"In addition to that, Senor Ap