The man who moves will be shot dead without further
warning. It is useless to dream of resistance, for my men are fully
armed, while you are not; therefore, to save unnecessary bloodshed, I
beg that you will at once surrender. You see the force of my argument,
I am sure, Monsieur Favart?"

"I do," he answered grimly; "and of course we surrender, since there is
nothing between that and being shot down. But, oh, if I had only
suspected this when you were aboard the brig--! Well, what do you want
us to do?"

"Have the goodness to march your men into the barracoon, monsieur," said
I. "It is but for half an hour or so, until I can make other
arrangements for your disposal. I assure you I have not the remotest
intention of detaining you there."

Favart turned and said a word to his men, and the whole party then
wheeled and shambled away across the compound and into the open door of
the barracoon, which was immediately shut and locked upon them.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

ANOTHER STROKE OF LUCK.

Having captured the Frenchmen, the next item on the programme was to so
arrange matters that they might be at once transferred to other and more
comfortable quarters--thus leaving the barracoon free for the reception,
if necessary, of the unfortunate slaves now close at hand without
running any risk of their getting the better of my little band of
invalids. This was not a very difficult matter, for there were plenty
of slave irons about the place; and, having procured the necessary
number of sets, I had the Frenchmen out of the barracoon, four at a
time, ironed them, and then marched them out of the compound to a large
empty shed which would answer the purpose of a prison most admirably.
In less than half an hour I had the entire party secured and in charge
of an armed guard of two men; and now all that remained to be done was
to obtain possession of the brig.

To accomplish this, I chose the soundest eight of the party who had
assisted in capturing the Frenchmen, and, leading them to the wharf
steps, ordered them down into the French captain's gig, which was, of
course, still lying alongside the wharf. Then, stepping into the stern-
sheets myself, we pushed off and headed for the brig, which we boarded a
few minutes later without let or hindrance, the small number of hands
still remaining on board having apparently gone below and turned in the
moment that they saw the chief mate clear of the ship. At all events
when we as