d he was in full sympathy with
this idea.

The larder of the little steamer had been filled up at Alexandria, and
Pitts had prepared one of his best breakfasts. The party were in high
spirits; for the little Maud had run away from the pirate, though of
course there were other chapters to the narrative.

"As soon as we get the situation a little more settled, and you fellows
get your eyes braced wide open, one of you must tackle the island of
Cyprus, and get up a lecture on it; for the commander desired that we
should learn something about the place," said the captain.

"I move you, Mr. Commander, that Mr. Louis Belgrave be invited to
prepare and deliver the lecture," interposed Morris; and the motion was
put and carried.

"I have no objection; and my own curiosity would have prompted me to do
so without any invitation; but I thank you for the honor you confer on
me in the selection," replied Louis; and the company adjourned to the
forecastle.

"Well, Don, have you seen anything of the Moorish craft?" asked the
captain.

"Not a sign, sir," replied the engineer. "If she is looking for the
Maud, I don't believe she will find her in here very soon."

"I don't believe this is just the place to hold a consultation on a
delicate subject," said Louis, as he pointed to the scuttle which had
been removed from its place by Felipe. "I think we shall do better on
the hurricane deck."

As this afforded a better place to observe the surroundings, and
especially the approaches from the sea, the captain assented to it, and
the "Big Four" repaired to the upper deck. They seated themselves in the
little tender of the Maud, and all of them looked out in the direction
of the cape, from beyond which the pirate was expected to put in an
appearance.

"Our present situation is the subject before the house," the captain
began. "We have made the bay for which I shaped the course of the Maud
as soon as the gale began to make things sloppy. This is a mountainous
island, with nothing like a harbor on the west coast between Cape Gata
and Cape Arnauti. There are from twelve to twenty fathoms of water in
this bay, within a mile of the shore; and the rocks close aboard of us
reach out a mile and a half, with from ten to twelve feet of water on
them. There is no town within ten miles of the shore, and we are not
likely to see any natives, unless some of them come to this bay to fish.
That's where we are."

"We should like to have you tell u