arry."

"And you did not exceed your authority, Captain Alvarado. We contemn
treason in whatsoever guise it doth appear, and we hate and loathe a
traitor, but thy word is passed. It will be held inviolate as our own.
You are free, knave. I will appoint soldiers to guard you, for should my
men see you, not knowing this, they would cut you down; and when
occasion serves you may take passage in the first ship that touches here
and go where you will. Nay, we will be generous, although we like you
not. We are much indebted to you. We have profited by what we do
despise. We would reward you. Ask of me something that I may measure my
obligation for a daughter's honor saved, if you can realize or feel what
that may be."

"My lord, hear me," said the boatswain quickly. "There be reasons and
reasons for betrayals, and I have one. This man was my captain. I
perilled my life a dozen times to save his; I followed him blindly upon
a hundred terrible ventures; I lived but for his service. My soul--when
I had a soul--was at his command; I loved him. Ay, gentlemen, rough,
uncouth, old though I am, I loved this man. He could ask of me anything
that I could have given him and he would not have been refused.

"Sirs, there came to me a young brother of mine, not such as I, a rude,
unlettered sailor, but a gentleman--and college bred. There are
quarterings on my family scutcheon, sirs, back in Merry England, had I
the wit or care to trace it. He was a reckless youth, chafing under the
restraints of that hard religion to which we had been born. The free
life of a brother-of-the-coast attracted him. He became like me, a
buccaneer. I strove to dissuade him, but without avail. He was the
bravest, the handsomest, the most gallant of us all. He came into my old
heart like a son. We are not all brute, gentlemen. I have waded in blood
and plunder like the rest, but in every heart there is some spot that
beats for things better. I divided my love between him and my captain.
This man"--he pointed to his old master with his blunted finger, drawing
himself up until he looked taller than he was, his one eye flashing with
anger and hatred, as with a stern, rude eloquence he recited his wrongs,
the grim indictment of a false friend--"this man betrayed us at Panama.
With what he had robbed his comrades of he bought immunity, even
knighthood, from the King of England. He was made Vice-Governor of
Jamaica and his hand fell heavily upon those who had blindly