ble? What about Captain Bonnet? He is
due off the bar two days hence. My uncle frowns upon my sailing with him
to seek the treasure. He insists that I steer clear of pirates."

"And that's entirely proper, Jack. I look at things different like, now
I be a worthy citizen. 'Tis better to fit out a little expedition of our
own, if we can drag silly Bill out of his rubbishy shop."

"Oh, he will come fast enough after a while. We are all tired of the sea
just now," said Jack. "What about Captain Bonnet and meeting him at
Sullivan's Island to pass the word that we must decline his courteous
invitation?"

"I shall tend to that," answered the retired buccaneer, "And from what
gossip I glean in the tavern, Cap'n Bonnet had best steer for his home
port of Barbadoes and quit his fancy piratin'. This fractious Governor
has set his heart on hangin' him. And Colonel Stuart is up and about
again and has ordered the _King George_ to fit for sea. 'Tis rumored he
has sent messages to the north'ard for Lieutenant Maynard to sail
another cruise in his company."

"Then be sure you warn Stede Bonnet," strongly advised Jack. "I would
not be disloyal to the Province or to mine own good uncle, but one good
turn deserves another."

Two days after this, Trimble Rogers vanished from the tavern and found
Jack's canoe tied in a cove beyond the settled part of the town. It was
in the evening of this same day that Jack was reading in his room by
candle-light when a tap-tap on the window shutter startled him. He threw
it open and dimly perceived that Dorothy Stuart stood there. Her face
was white in the gloom and she wore a dress of some dark stuff. At her
beckoning gesture, Jack slipped through the window and silently led her
into the lane.

"Oh, Jack, I have been so torn betwixt scruples," she softly confided.
"And I hope I am not doing wrong. If I am disloyal to my dear father,
may I be forgiven. But I have made myself believe that there is a
stronger obligation."

"It concerns Stede Bonnet," murmured Jack, reading the motive of this
secret errand.

"Yes, you are bound to befriend him, Jack, on your honor as a
gentleman."

"He has been warned to keep clear of Charles Town, Dorothy. Trimble
Rogers has gone off to meet him."

"But it is worse than that. The keeper of the gaol, Jason Cutter, was
closeted with my father this morning. I heard something that was said.
Soldiers have been sent to Sullivan's Island."

"To capture Captain Bonne