ome of my store of provisions?"

"I will accept it, and trust that you will be fully repaid."

"Oh, it's not worth talking about. I would willingly lend you a few
cannons, that you may not be captured on the way."

"I advise you not to do so, for if I had even two guns, I would try to
recover my stolen silver."

"You are a good fellow. We shall meet again somewhere. Till then,
farewell."

The two captains shook hands with each other. Meanwhile the pirates had
rolled several casks of biscuit and water from their vessel to the
brigantine. Barthelemy gave the sailors the key and, with a bound,
reached the deck of his own ship, the pirates shoved off from the
Neptune and, with three cheers, set sail. Half an hour later, two
vessels were seen moving across the sea in opposite directions, widening
the space between them every moment.

Chapter II

In Hispaniola

Robert Barthelemy's name became known everywhere on the high seas.
Holland and Portuguese sailors trembled before him; for when they
recognized his vessel and, after a desperate chase, gained the shelter
of a harbor, he followed them, robbed them under the very guns of the
port and, if attacked, ordered the town to be bombarded and its
fortifications given to the flames.

There was no end to the marvelous tales related about him.

* * * * *

On the southern coast of the beautiful Island of Hayti, in a pleasant
valley, stands a small wooden house, whose front is covered with
climbing vines, and whose windows are filled with flowers; doves coo
softly on the gable-roof, and a white cat lies purring on the threshold.

At both sides of the little house stretch cotton fields, whose green
foliage charms the traveler's eye as, coming from the interior, he sees
toward evening the little cottage in the quiet valley.

Who lived there?

One evening just at twilight, a light boat containing three men was
pulled to the shore. One left it, the two others remained.

The youth who climbed the bank was a handsome fellow, with a bright,
eager face; his complexion was bronzed by exposure to the weather and,
as the wind tossed back his hair, the locks bared a high, broad
forehead.

He gazed around him with the joyous expression of one who, after a long
absence, again treads his native soil, and to whom every tree and bush
is familiar.

A rough seaman's cape rested on his shoulders, his head was covered by a
round straw hat, and