ity."

"I am ready now!" cried Morgan recklessly, furious because he had been
balked in his attempt. "Do with me as you will! I have had my day, and
it has been a long and merry one."

"And I mine, to-night. It has been short, but enough," laughed
Hornigold, his voice ringing like a maniac's in the hall. "For I have
had my revenge!"

"We shall take care of that in the morning," said Alvarado, turning away
to follow the Viceroy and Mercedes.

BOOK VI

IN WHICH THE CAREER OF SIR HENRY MORGAN IS ENDED ON ISLA DE LA TORTUGA,
TO THE GREAT DELECTATION OF MASTER BENJAMIN HORNIGOLD, HIS SOMETIME
FRIEND

CHAPTER XXV

AND LAST. WHEREIN IS SEEN HOW THE JUDGMENT OF GOD CAME UPON THE
BUCCANEERS IN THE END

Before it was submerged by the great earthquake which so tremendously
overwhelmed the shores of South America with appalling disaster nearly a
century and a half later, a great arid rock on an encircling stretch of
sandy beach--resultant of untold centuries of struggle between stone and
sea--thrust itself above the waters a few miles northward of the coast
of Venezuela. The cay was barren and devoid of any sort of life except
for a single clump of bushes that had sprung up a short distance from
the huge rock upon a little plateau sufficiently elevated to resist the
attacks of the sea, which at high tide completely overflowed the islet
except at that one spot.

Four heavy iron staples had been driven with great difficulty into holes
drilled in the face of the volcanic rock. To these four large chains had
been made fast. The four chains ended in four fetters and the four
fetters enclosed the ankles and wrists of a man. The length of the four
chains had been so cunningly calculated that the arms and legs of the
man were drawn far apart, so that he resembled a gigantic white cross
against the dark surface of the stone. A sailor would have described his
position by saying that he had been "spread-eagled" by those who had
fastened him there. Yet the chains were not too short to allow a little
freedom of motion. He could incline to one side or to the other, lift
himself up or down a little, or even thrust himself slightly away from
the face of the rock.

The man was in tatters, for his clothing had been rent and torn by the
violent struggles he had made before he had been securely fastened in
his chains. He was an old man, and his long gray hair fell on either
side of his lean, fierce face in tangled masses. A