orway, speedily brought the captain to terms and he promised to point
out the vessel in question, especially as he felt perfectly sure that,
if the pirates ventured to attack it, they would certainly be defeated.

"Dress yourself and come with us," said Barthelemy.

"What? To _your_ ship?"

"That you may not betray us by a signal to the other ships. No excuses.
I must have the _best_ cargo, unless you want me to content myself with
yours. Forward!"

The captain yielded, threw on his clothes, and surrounded by the three
pirates, without daring to attract the attention of his own men, he
followed Barthelemy and his companions into the boat, which returned to
the ship.

Meanwhile the men on board of the other vessels in the fleet quietly
witnessed the strange vessel's intercourse with the Triton, without the
slightest suspicion.

On reaching the Sea Devil, the abducted captain pointed out to Captain
Barthelemy the vessel he desired, assuring him, on his word of honor,
that it possessed the most valuable cargo, but withholding the fact that
it had forty guns and a crew of one hundred and fifty men.

The Sea Devil instantly turned and steered toward the ship.

She was a huge three-master of clumsy build; her elaborately ornamented
prow, the shape of her decks, and her rigging all marked her as an
old-fashioned merchantman.

The pirate had come so near that one could shout from one ship to the
other. The deepest silence reigned on board the former, the men stood
motionless at their posts beside the ropes, oars, or guns. Suddenly,
when every eye was fixed upon the approaching ship, whose mate watched
the craft with drowsy indifference, not feeling the slightest suspicion,
the captured captain perceived that no one was watching him and,
springing on the bulwark, shouted: "To arms, men!" threw himself into
the sea, and swam rapidly back to his own ship.

All this was done so quickly and unexpectedly that the pirates, in their
surprise, did not know what course to pursue.

The attention of the crew had been instantly roused by the captain's
warning shout, and the pirates saw with astonishment the superior force
that opposed them.

Some looked doubtfully at each other, and all thought that instant
flight was their only refuge.

Barthelemy gazed scornfully around, and quietly folded his arms.

"They are only Portuguese," he said contemptuously.

The corsairs burst into a loud roar of laughter and pressed closer to