dence of a large crew, there being many more than were necessary
for the work to be done. Most of them appeared to be able seamen, and
Haines drove them mercilessly, cursing them for lubbers, and twice
kicking viciously at a stooping form. There was no talking, only the
growl of an occasional oath, the slapping of the hawser on deck, and
the sharp orders of Haines. Then the great rope began to slip swiftly
through the hawse hole, and we heard the sharp splash as the iron
flukes struck the water, and sank. Almost at that same instant the
voice of Cavere rang out from the mast-head:

"A sail, M'sieur--a sail!"

"Where away?"

"Off ze port quarter. I make eet to be ze leetle boat--she just round
ze point"

CHAPTER XI

THE RETURN OF THE BOAT

Receiving no other orders, the moment all was secure, the crew eager
to welcome back the boat party, and learn the news, hurried over to
the port rail. Beyond doubt most of those aboard realized that this
had been an expedition of some importance, the culmination of their
long wait on the coast, part of some scheme of their chief, in the
spoils of which they expected to share. It was for this end they had
been inactive for weeks, hiding and skulking along shore; now they
hoped to reap their reward in gold and silver, and then be permitted
to return to the wilder, more adventurous life they loved on the high
seas. Moreover this boat approaching through the darkness was bringing
back their leader, and however else they might feel toward him, the
reckless daring, and audacious resourcefulness of Sanchez meant
success. These fellows, the scum of the seven seas, whom he had
gathered about him, might hate and fear, yet were glad to follow. They
had learned on many a bloody deck the merit of their chief, and in
their way were loyal to him.

I was made to comprehend all this by the low, muttered utterances of
those crowding near me, spoken in nearly every language of the world.
Much I could not even translate, yet enough reached my ears to
convince me of the temper of the crew--their feverish eagerness to be
again at sea, under command of a captain whom they both hated and
feared, yet whom they would follow to the very gates of hell. Even as
they cursed him with hot oaths, in memory of some act of discipline,
there came into their voices a tinge of admiration, which furnished me
an accurate etching of the man. They knew him, these hell-hounds of
the sea, and from out their mo