rashing through the hull of the _Saint-Ferdinand_.

"Heave to!" cried the captain gloomily.

The sailor who had commended the Parisian's law-abiding proclivities
showed himself a clever hand at working a ship after this desperate
order was given. The crew waited for half an hour in an agony of
suspense and the deepest dismay. The _Saint-Ferdinand_ had four millions
of piastres on board, the whole fortunes of the five passengers, and the
General's eleven hundred thousand francs. At length the _Othello_ lay
not ten gunshots away, so that those on the _Saint-Ferdinand_ could look
into the muzzles of her loaded guns. The vessel seemed to be borne along
by a breeze sent by the Devil himself, but the eyes of an expert would
have discovered the secret of her speed at once. You had but to look
for a moment at the rake of her stern, her long, narrow keel, her tall
masts, to see the cut of her sails, the wonderful lightness of her
rigging, and the ease and perfect seamanship with which her crew trimmed
her sails to the wind. Everything about her gave the impression of the
security of power in this delicately curved inanimate creature, swift
and intelligent as a greyhound or some bird of prey. The privateer
crew stood silent, ready in case of resistance to shatter the wretched
merchantman, which, luckily for her, remained motionless, like a
schoolboy caught in flagrant delict by a master.

"We have guns on board!" cried the General, clutching the Spanish
captain's hand. But the courage in Gomez's eyes was the courage of
despair.

"Have we men?" he said.

The Marquis looked round at the crew of the _Saint-Ferdinand_, and a
cold chill ran through him. There stood the four merchants, pale and
quaking for fear, while the crew gathered about some of their own number
who appeared to be arranging to go over in a body to the enemy. They
watched the _Othello_ with greed and curiosity in their faces. The
captain, the Marquis, and the mate exchanged glances; they were the only
three who had a thought for any but themselves.

"Ah! Captain Gomez, when I left my home and country, my heart was half
dead with the bitterness of parting, and now must I bid it good-bye once
more when I am bringing back happiness and ease for my children?"

The General turned his head away towards the sea, with tears of rage in
his eyes--and saw the steersman swimming out to the privateer.

"This time it will be good-bye for good," said the captain by way
of