other of the horizon, the sea was
absolutely deserted. He remarked upon this to his friend Jacques. The
latter laughed.

"We are out of their course now, my lad. We passed the latitude of
Cape St. Vincent yesterday evening, and we are now pretty well off the
coast of Africa. Nine out of ten of the ships we have seen were either
bound to the Mediterranean or on their way home. Now that we have
passed the mouth of the strait we shall not run across many sail."

"Where are we going to, then?" Ralph said.

"Well, I don't think there is any harm in telling you now, that we are
bound south, but how far is more than I know. I expect first we shall
go west and try and pick up some prizes among the islands, and after
that perhaps go round the cape and lie in wait for Indiamen on their
way home. You see, one of those ships is worth a dozen of these
Mediterranean traders, and one is not bothered down there as one is
between the strait and the channel with your cruisers and privateers;
they swarm so there that one can hardly fire a gun without bringing
them down on us. I don't suppose the captain would have meddled with
that Indiaman if it hadn't been that he thought the owners would be
pleased by a prize being sent in so soon. As to the bark, we were
obliged to take her to get a new mast. It would never have done to
have started on a long cruise with a badly-injured spar."

"But I should think it would be difficult to send home prizes from the
West Indies," Ralph said.

"Well, you see, although you have taken most of our islands, there are
still two or three ports we can take prizes into. Beside, we can take
the best goods out, and if the ship isn't worth the risk of sending to
France burn her. Then, too, one can spare hands for prizes better
there; because one can always ship a few fresh hands--Spaniards,
Mulattos, or blacks--in their place."

"But you can't do that in the case of the Indiamen."

"No; but a single laden Indiaman is enough to pay us well for all our
trouble. We can put a crew of thirty hands on board her and send her
home. There is little risk of a recapture till we get near France. We
have only to hoist the English flag if we do happen to meet anything."

Ralph was glad to hear that the ship was bound for the West Indies, as
he thought opportunities for escape would be likely to present
themselves among the islands. Madeira was sighted three days later,
and after running south for another four or five hu