spirit of boasting. He
would indeed be but a poor warrior who could not fell two men when he
took them unawares and in the dark. No; I feel half ashamed o' the work;
but I suppose it is my duty. So you see there will be just two men and
the pirate left for us to deal with. Four of you ought to be able to
overcome the two men without drawing blood, except, it may be, a little
surface fluid. The remaining nine of us will fall on the pirate captain
in a body. You will easily know him by his great size; and I have no
manner of doubt but that he will make himself further known by the
weight of his blows. If I happen to fall, don't look after me till you
have overcome and bound the pirate. The ropes are all ready, and my man
Sambo will carry them."

Having delivered this address to his followers, who by their "Ho's" and
grins indicated their perfect readiness to do as they were bid, Ole
Thorwald left them in ambush, and groped his way down to the beach,
accompanied by Sambo.

"Did you bring the chain and padlock. Sambo?"

"Yis, mass'r. But you no tink it am berer to take boat away--pull him
out ob sight?"

"No, Sambo; I have thought on that subject already, and have come to the
conclusion that it is better to let the boat remain. You see they have
placed it in such a way that as long as daylight lasted it could be seen
from the settlement, and even now it is visible at some distance, as you
see. If we were to remove it, they would at once observe that it was
gone, and thus be put on their guard. No, no, Sambo. I may not be fond
of ambushments, but I flatter myself that I have some talent for such
matters."

The master and servant had reached the beach by this time, where they
found the boat in the exact position that had been indicated by John
Bumpus. It lay behind a low piece of coral rock, fastened to an iron
ring by means of a rope, while the oars lay in readiness on the thwarts.

Sambo now produced a heavy iron chain, with which the boat was speedily
fastened to the ring. It was secured with a large padlock, the key of
which Ole placed in his pocket.

This being satisfactorily accomplished, they returned to the place of
ambush.

"Now, Mister Gascoyne," observed Thorwald, with a grim smile, as he sat
down beside his men and pulled out his watch, "I will await your
pleasure. It is just half-past eleven; if you are a punctual man, as Jo
Bumpus led me to believe, I will try your metal in half an hour, and
have you