way he
courteously lifted his cap in salute; but the other man was far too
angry to acknowledge or return the salute. Instead, he made a step
forward, with corrugated brow and clenched fist, and exclaimed:

"Senor, I demand to know the reason of this outrage! Who are you; and
why have you dared to stop my ship upon the high seas?"

By way of reply to the man's menacing demeanour, Jack allowed his left
hand to drop on to the butt of one of the pair of revolvers which he
carried in his belt. And, instead of answering the very reasonable
question which had been put to him, he said:

"Captain, I greatly regret to trouble you, but I must ask you to have
the goodness to muster your prisoners on deck. Please do it at once;
for the light will soon be gone, and I am anxious to complete my;
business with you before the darkness falls."

"Muster my prisoners on deck?" stormed the captain. "For what reason,
Senor? And again I ask, Who are you; and by what authority--?"

Jack raised his hand deprecatingly. "My good sir," he exclaimed, "why
waste time in asking foolish and useless questions, when I have already
intimated to you that I am in a hurry? Will you have the very great
goodness--and, I may add, the wisdom--to comply with my request? Or
will you compel me to shoot you, in the hope that this gentleman--who, I
presume, is your chief officer--will be more reasonable and obliging
than yourself?"

This hint had the desired effect; the skipper turned away, and, giving
certain instructions to his companion, made his way up on to the bridge
again, while the other went below. Ten minutes later the prisoners,
under the charge of a strong guard of soldiers, began to make their way
up on deck; and presently the officer who had gone below to carry out
the skipper's instructions re-appeared, with the information that the
prisoners were now all paraded forward, and ready for the inspection
which he presumed the Senor wished to make of them. Whereupon Jack,
calling the coxswain up out of the boat alongside for the purpose of
keeping an eye upon things generally, and seeing that no trickery was
attempted, went forward to the fore deck, where about three hundred men,
women, and children were drawn up in four lines or ranks, two on each
side of the deck. The chief officer, or mate, accompanied him.

The first face he recognised was that of his friend and chum Carlos, but
oh, how shockingly changed! The poor fellow was thin a