tears glittered in his eyes, which now flashed fire; he was once more
the proud, bold, reckless corsair chief.

The haughty carriage of his head, his steady glance and resolute
movements all belied the gentle, dreamy lover of an hour before.

The first look from his keen eyes noticed the dissatisfaction on the
faces of the band. During his absence, their mood toward their leader
had changed. Some one had guessed its motive, and the rumor ran that
their captain was entangled by a love affair.

"What is the matter?" cried Barthelemy, his eyes wandering from face to
face. "Why do you look so sullen? Speak."

The pirates drew back defiantly. Moody thrust his hands into his
pockets, puffed violently at his short pipe, and gazed at the clouds.

"Speak, old Lucifer, what has happened to these fellows?"

"H'm, captain," replied the pirate, folding his arms and leaning with
his back against a beam, "don't you know the pirates' creed? The creed
of loving no one and fearing no one."

"I know it very well. Do _I_ fear any one?"

"But you love; and whoever loves, sighs, whoever loves, feels, and
whoever feels is not fit for a pirate."

"So you think that if I hold a woman dear, I may not be the equal of any
among you?"

"You could not, captain! Whoever is in love, is always thinking of the
future, and longing, sooner or later, to retire to some quiet nook where
he can be happy, grow old, and die; he is always gaping at the moon, he
scorns his comrades and wants to be better than they. Such a man is not
fit for us. Captain, I never loved any one in my life, never, and these
stout fellows around you have neither father, mother, wife, nor
sweetheart. Such men belong to the sea, men who, when tempests howl and
bullets hiss, do not think of quiet homes and loving maidens. These
flowers do not bloom for us. If a girl embraces and kisses you to-day,
she will deceive and betray you to-morrow. Once we thought of bringing a
cargo of wives from Paris. We chose them from the Salpetriere; at least
we had no cause to fear that we should fall in love with them. Huh! Even
that didn't last long; pirate folk are not used to joking; when they
are angered, instead of beating, they kill. At the end of a month, not
more than two of the women were alive. Such feelings demoralize
pirates."

"So you believe," replied Barthelemy, looking him full in the face,
"that your hearts are stouter than mine, because they expect nothing.
You will have an