g of the slaves on board the two brigs which were waiting for
them proceeding immediately that you were clear of the creek, and both
vessels getting away to sea that same night. So that, you see, it is by
no means as difficult a matter to deceive and hoodwink you man-o'-war
people as you choose to suppose."

"No," answered I; "so it would seem. Yet, by your own showing, we were
not the only deceived parties; and, after all, the attack was
successful, so far as we were concerned."

"That is very true, and only confirms what I have always insisted upon;
namely, that, in making their plans, foreigners do not allow
sufficiently for British pluck and obstinacy. Now _I_ do; I never leave
anything to chance, but always lay my plans so carefully that the
destruction or capture of my enemies is an absolute certainty. But for
such careful forethought on my part, the _Sapphire's_ two boats would
never have fallen into my power."

"The _Sapphire's_ boats?" I exclaimed. "Surely you do not mean to tell
me that _you_ are responsible for the massacre of those two boats'
crews?"

"No, not the massacre of them, certainly, but their capture," answered
Mendouca, with a smile of gratified pride.

"And are the people still alive, then?" I asked.

"They were when I last heard of them," answered Mendouca. "But it is
quite possible that by this time they--or at least a part of them--have
been tortured to death by Matadi--the chief to whom I sold them--as a
sacrifice to his fetish."

"Gracious powers, how horrible!" I exclaimed. "And to think that you,
an Englishman, could consign your fellow-countrymen to such a fate as
that!"

"Why not?" demanded Mendouca fiercely; "why should I be more gentle to
my countrymen than they have been to me? Do you think that, because I
carry my fate lightly and gaily, I do not feel keenly the depth to which
I have fallen? I might have been a post-captain by this time, honoured
and distinguished for great services worthily rendered; but I am instead
a slaver and a pirate masquerading under the disguise of a Spanish name.
Do you think I am insensible of the immeasurable gulf that separates me
from what I might have been? And it is my own countrymen who have
opened that gulf--who have robbed me of the opportunity of reaching that
proud eminence that was at one time all but within my reach, and have
hurled me into the abyss of crime and infamy in which you find me. And
you are surprised, forsoo