r captain and her crew, and had steamed
away with her.

Banker did not command the _Vittorio_, for he was not a seaman, but he
commanded her captain, and through him everybody on board. He directed
her course and her policy. He was her leading spirit and her blackest
devil.

It had been no part of Banker's intentions to cruise about the South
Atlantic and search for a steamer with black and white stripes running
up and down her funnel. His plan of action was to be the same as that of
the other pirate, and the _Vittorio_ therefore steamed for Kingston as
soon as she could manage to clear from Genoa. His calculations were very
good ones, but there was a flaw in them, for he did not know that the
_Dunkery Beacon_ sailed three days before her regular time.
Consequently, the _Vittorio_ was the last of the four steamers which
reached Jamaica on business connected with the Incas' treasure.

The _Vittorio_ did not go into Kingston Harbor, but Banker got himself
put on shore and visited the town. There he not only discovered that the
_Dunkery Beacon_ had sailed, that an American yacht had sailed after
her, but that a steamer from Vera Cruz, commanded by Captain Horn, now
well known as the discoverer of the wonderful treasure, had touched
here, expecting to find the _Dunkery Beacon_ in port, and had then,
scarcely twelve hours before, cleared for Jamaica.

The American yacht was a mystery to Banker. It might be a pirate from
the United States for all he knew, but he was very certain that Captain
Horn had not left Kingston for any reason except to accompany and
protect the _Dunkery Beacon_. If a steamer commanded by this man, whom
Banker now hated more than he hated anybody else in the world, should
fall in and keep company with the steamer which was conveying the
treasure to Peru, it might be a very hard piece of work for him or his
partner in command of the vessel from Toulon to get possession of that
treasure, no matter what means they might employ, but all Banker could
do was to swear at his arch-enemy and his bad luck, and to get away
south with all speed possible. If he could do nothing, he might hear of
something. He would never give up until he was positive there was no
chance for him.

So he took the course that the _Dunkery Beacon_ must have taken, and
sailed down the coast under full head of steam. When at last he
discovered the flag of his private consort hoisted over the steamer
which carried the golden prize, a