ow you out of the water;
and if I take you I will hang you for a pirate."

"Not the last, certainly," I said coolly.

"Look you, Sir," he cried, shutting his fist upon the palm of his other
hand, "if I take you I will hang you; and if you take me, you may serve
me in the same way. Is it a bargain, or are you a coward?"

"Gentlemen," I said to the officers present, "you must feel that your
countryman is not behaving well. He has insulted me grossly. I will,
however, consent to his terms on one condition, which is, that he will
permit one of you, after he has sailed, to make known the conditions
upon which we fight to his wife; and that one of you will pledge me his
honour that he will impart these conditions as soon as we are gone."

"Agree to do so--pledge yourself to do so, Xavier," cried the French
captain to one of the officers present.

"Since you wish it, certainly," he said.

"You pledge yourself to make the conditions known to Madam, as soon as
we have sailed?"

"I do, upon the honour of an officer and a gentleman," replied he,
"painful as it will be to me."

"Then, captain," I replied, "I agree to your conditions, and one or the
other of us shall hang."

You may suppose, Madam, that I must have been in a state of great
irritation to have consented to such terms. I was so, and could not
brook such insult in the presence of the French officers. Moreover, as
you will observe, in my conversation I did not commit myself in any way.
There was nothing dishonourable. I told him that I should haul down my
flag of truce, and I also told him that he would meet with his master,
which was true enough, as he would meet with the Arrow, commanded by
Captain Levee, as well as with my vessel; while he thought that he would
have to fight with my inferior vessel alone, and, making sure of
conquest, he purposely insulted me, to make me accept such conditions as
would administer to the revenge of his wife, who had evidently worked
him up to act in such a manner; and I accepted them, because I hoped the
fate would be his if Captain Levee joined me, and if not, I was
determined that I never would be taken alive.

After I had agreed to his conditions, they all took a very ceremonious
leave, and I bowed them out with great mock humility. I then bade
farewell to my passengers, who lodged in the same hotel, and went down
to my boat, and pulled on board. As soon as the tide served, the pilot
came on board, and we got und