le with the natives; the
faithful, grateful creatures would follow their liberators everywhere.

The cleaning being finished, a council of all the whites--save the
three put into bonds--was held on the after-deck. Hernando, as prime
mover in the revolt, presided. As the Spaniard was a good seaman, he
was unanimously appointed captain; whereupon he chose Morgan, Jeffreys,
and a trustworthy Spaniard as his chief officers. Then, before the
whole assembly, he swore solemnly to do his utmost for the welfare of
his ship; and his three officers, having his promise to issue no orders
that a gentleman might hesitate to fulfil, solemnly swore to obey him
to the death. The others, according to their several stations, took
vows of faithful obedience to their officers.

The captain then proceeded to set matters in order. There were
prisoners in the cabins near them; these were brought forth one by one,
and examined with commendable fairness. Morgan was surprised at the
change in Hernando. He had expected to find him vindictive and cruel,
and he knew that not a soul in the fore-part of the galley had been
spared in the darkness of the previous night. But liberty had softened
the Spaniard; he remembered the injustice he had suffered, not with a
view to exacting "eye for eye" and "tooth for tooth" from others, but
with the resolve not to inflict injustice upon his fellows. The trials
of the prisoners took up the remainder of the day. Some who had been
cruel to the slaves were hanged with but little ceremony; it was hardly
to be expected that men whose backs still smarted would do otherwise.
The two boatswains had perished the night before; the chief boatswain
was doomed to share their fate; two others were hanged; the rest were
sent below to the slave-deck, and chained to one of the oars, far
enough away from the troublesome slaves who were undergoing punishment.

The night passed without alarm. Hernando and Morgan walked the deck
for hours in the starlight, planning for the future. They saw the
difficulties and dangers of their position, but could not clearly see a
way out of them. They had a ship, well manned and well armed, and
fairly well victualled. What should they do with her? Search would be
made for them, and galley after galley, ship after ship, coming into
Panama, would be sent in quest of them. It they continued in Spanish
waters, they must be overtaken at some time or other. What would the
result be? Th