s he would have made no scruple in taking it--but his object
was to trade with the natives, and to gather a store of such goods
as the islands furnished, in exchange for those of English make. He
had, too, fetched slaves from the western coast of Africa, and had
disposed of them to much advantage; and the ship was now about to
proceed on her way home, each man's share, of the profits of the
expedition, amounting to a sum which quite answered his
expectations.

It was two months later before the boys, to their great delight,
again saw the hills behind Plymouth. None who had seen them embark
in the Swanne would have recognized, in the stalwart young fellows
who now stepped ashore on the hove, the lads who then set sail.
Nearly three years had passed. The sun of the tropics had burnt
their faces almost to a mahogany color Their habit of command,
among the natives, had given them an air and bearing beyond their
years; and though Ned was but eighteen, and Gerald a little older,
they carried themselves like men of mature years.

It had been, indeed, no slight burden that they had endured. The
fighting which had formed the first epoch of their stay in the
island, serious as it had been, had been less wearing to them than
the constant care and anxiety of the subsequent quiet time. The
arrival of each fugitive slave was a source of fresh danger, and it
had often needed all their authority to prevent the younger, and
wilder, spirits of their little community from indulging in raids
upon the crops of the Spaniards.

Once in Plymouth, the lads said goodbye to each other, promising to
meet again in a few days. Each then proceeded to his home. Ned,
indeed, found that he had a home no longer; for on reaching the
village he found that his father had died, a few months after his
departure; and a new pedagogue had taken his place, and occupied
the little cottage.

The shock was a great one, although hardly unexpected, for his
father's health had not been strong; and the thought that he would
not be alive, when he returned, had often saddened Ned's mind
during his absence. He found, however, no lack of welcome in the
village. There were many of his school friends still there, and
these looked with astonishment and admiration on the bronzed,
military-looking man, and could scarce believe that he was their
playmate, the Otter.

Here Ned tarried a few days, and then, according to his promise to
Gerald, started for the part of the cou