ck made the offer.
With a feeling of carefully suppressed relief, Jack accordingly led the
Spaniards forward to the forecastle, down into which the party
descended, and where they found three men--one of whom was the
carpenter--awaiting them with lighted lanterns. The forecastle was soon
examined, and then the hatch of the forepeak was lifted, and that
darksome storehouse very carefully explored. There was no passage from
the forepeak into the hold, as the collision bulkhead ran from the
keelson right up to the deck; and, Jack having pointed out this fact,
the party emerged on deck and descended into the officers' quarters,
proceeding from thence down into the main hold, where they found nothing
but iron ballast and the water tanks, every one of which Jack insisted
should be opened and looked into. Thence they proceeded to the engine-
room and stokehold, where they found much to admire in the scrupulous
cleanliness and unusual form of the machinery, but no sign or trace of
anything in the nature of contraband. Then they entered the main
saloon, and examined it and the sleeping cabins, finishing up with the
steward's storeroom, the sail-room, and the powder magazine. Jack was
quite prepared to be questioned about this last, and he was; but he had
his answer ready.

"Is it usual, Senor Singleton, for English yachts to go as heavily armed
as your vessel is?" suavely enquired Don Luis.

"Not when cruising in home waters," answered Jack. "But when the
intention is to `cruise foreign', as we phrase it, especially if the
cruise is to be round the world, it is usually considered prudent to
provide the vessel with an armament sufficiently powerful to protect her
from the attacks of pirates--Malays, Chinese, and so on--or, in fact,
aggressors of any description. For instance," he continued maliciously,
"if we had not happened to have been armed to-day, just consider, Senor,
how unpleasant would have been our predicament at this moment."

Don Luis frowned. "Pardon me, Senor," said he, "but I hope you are not
labouring under the misapprehension that it is because of your ship
being armed that I have refrained from arresting you; the suggestion is
injurious, Senor. Your freedom is due entirely to the fact that I
accepted the assurances which you offered to Lieutenant Fernandez, and
was willing to believe that an unfortunate mistake had somehow arisen.
And I trust you will also believe that, had the mistake resulted in
un