ng to merit your gratitude, Mr.
Passford," said the chief prisoner.

"You are not? Why, my dear Captain, you could not have arranged
everything better than you did for the recapture of the Reindeer,"
replied Christy.

"I did not think that ten men with their hands tied behind them could do
anything to help themselves; but you Yankees are very ingenious, and it
seems that you found a way to liberate yourselves. Besides, I had a hand
here to watch you, with instructions to call me if there was any
trouble," added the captain, in an apologetic tone.

"When the trouble came he was not in condition to call you," the
lieutenant explained.

"No, sar! Dem beggars gagged me, and den robbed me of all my money!"
howled Quimp, whose greatest grievance was the loss of his fifteen
dollars.

"That was hardly justifiable, Mr. Passford," added the captain shaking
his head.

"It would not have been justifiable if the rogue had not first swindled
me out of the money," replied the naval officer.

"How was that?" asked the chief prisoner.

Christy explained the manner in which he had encountered Quimp, saying
that he had paid him five dollars for the loss of his boat, and ten for
the information that a steamer was loaded with cotton and ready to sail
behind the long key.

"Quimp is as smart as a Yankee," said Captain Stopfoot, laughing in
spite of his misfortune. "The flatboat was one we picked up on one of
the keys; and the information was precisely what I instructed Quimp to
give you, without money and without price. I promised to give him ten
dollars if he would pretend to be an honest nigger, and do the job
properly. I have no fault to find with him; but under present
circumstances I have not ten dollars to give him. I have lost the
steamer and the cotton, and it seems to be all up with me."

"I hope you will get into a safer business, Captain. I will suggest to
the commander of the Bellevite that you and your party be landed at
Gasparilla Pass; and I shall thus be able to reciprocate your good
intentions towards me."

Christy had sent some of his men forward, and he now followed them
himself. The engineers had remained in their room, and kept the
machinery in motion. As the Reindeer approached Egmont Key, the
Bellevite, followed by the Bronx towing a schooner, were discovered
coming out of the bay.

It was evident that the second lieutenant's capture had not been the
only one during the day, and he concluded that Mr. L