was fully prepared to go through with it, piracy or not. And therewith
he began to congratulate himself upon his foresight in employing his
spare time in the preparation of his wonderful disguise for the yacht,
an opportunity to use which he had been awaiting with steadily-growing
impatience.

It was past five o'clock when the steam pinnace appeared approaching the
yacht, with de Albareda in the stern-sheets; and that officer explained
his delay by stating that he had been obliged to go on duty during the
afternoon, and had only just escaped therefrom. He plunged at once into
the business on hand by reminding Jack that the choice of weapons was
his, and asking him whether he had yet decided what he would use. He
was at first inclined to be somewhat annoyed when Jack explained with
earnestness that he would prefer to fight with fists only, for he was a
man who had a profound respect for the duello, which he considered ought
to be conducted with all due formality and dignity; but finally burst
into a fit of hearty laughter at the absurdity--as he regarded it--of
two men attempting to settle a serious quarrel by pommelling each other
like a brace of schoolboys. He admitted that, if Jack chose to insist
upon fists as weapons, he would be strictly within his rights, but
dwelt, as Don Ramon also had done, upon the unusual character of such a
demand, and strongly hinted at his own partiality for pistols; whereupon
Jack gracefully conceded the point and agreed that pistols it should be.
The remaining details were speedily settled, the hour arranged being
sunrise on the following morning, and the place the Botanical Gardens.
Then de Albareda went ashore again to interview Alvaros' second and
apprise him of the nature of the arrangements, promising to return to
the yacht in time for dinner, and spend the night on board. And a very
pleasant, genial fellow he proved to be; and a very agreeable evening
Jack, Milsom, and he spent together.

There are many more cheerful places in the world than the Havana
Botanical Gardens just at sunrise, for at that hour the mists lie chill
and heavy upon the ground, the grass is saturated with dew, and the
numerous trees not only freely bespatter everything beneath their
widespreading branches with copious showers of dewdrops, as the wind
sweeps through them, but many of them have a trick of assuming a
singularly weird and uncanny appearance in the first faint light of the
early dawn; yet Ja