nkistee_--something, of Hawaner, it sounded like to me, sir,"
answered the man.

"What did you say?" I yelled at the brig, raising the trumpet again to
my mouth.

"The _Con-quist-a-dor_, of Havana. What schooner is that?"

I assumed the most utter look of bewilderment I could upon the spur of
the moment, and then, waving my arm impatiently at our helmsman to sheer
still closer alongside the brig, whose quarter was now fair abreast of
our fore-rigging, repeated my question--

"_What_ did you say?"

My interlocutor, who was evidently the skipper of the brig, stamped on
the deck with vexation as he raised his hands to his mouth, and yelled
at the top of his voice--

"The _Con-quist-a-dor_, of Havana! Do not sheer so close to me, if you
please, senor. You will be foul of me if you do not look out!"

"That will do, Mr Dugdale," shouted Ryan in English, to the evident
astonishment and consternation of the brig's people, "we can manage now.
Stand by to jump aboard with me. I shall want you to act as
interpreter, for the deuce a word do I understand of their confounded
lingo."

And as he spoke he waved his hand to the helmsman, while at the same
moment Gowland, who stood close by, hauled down the Spanish and ran up
the British ensign to our peak. There was a shout of dismay from those
on board the brig, and a quick trampling of feet as her crew rushed to
their stations and hurriedly threw the coiled-up braces, halliards, and
sheets off the pins with some confused notion of doing something to
evade us even at the last moment. But they were altogether too late;
Somers, the quarter-master, who had seen what was afoot, and had
gradually worked his way aft, sprang to the tiller, and jamming it over
to port, sheered us very cleverly alongside the brig in the wake of her
main-rigging, into which Ryan and I instantly leaped, followed by our
twenty armed men. The surprise was so sudden and so complete that there
was no time for resistance, even had the Spaniards been disposed to
offer any, and in another moment we had reached the brig's deck and she
was in our possession, the schooner instantly sheering off again to a
short distance in order that the two craft might not do any damage to
each other.

Having taken so very decisive a step as to board and carry the brig,
there was now of course nothing for us but to go through with the affair
in the same high-handed fashion. I therefore demanded at once to see
the ship'